Okalahoma critical analysis

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Okalahoma critical analysis

The original production of Oklahoma opened at the St.

James Theatre, New York, on Wednesday March 31, 1943. The top ticket

price was $4.80.

It ran on Broadway for over five years, besting the previous record

holder Hellzapoppin by more than two years. For fifteen years, from

1946 until 1961, Oklahoma held the record as the longest running show

in Broadway history.

When Okalahoma closed on Broadway May 29, 1948 after 2,212

performances, more than four and a half million people had seen it

there.

In our expressive arts lesson we watched a section of Okalahoma. As

our topic is dreams and nightmares, we watched the section where

Laurey has her dream. In a swirl of dream images, Laurey sees herself

marrying Curly when Jud invades the wedding; he carries her off,

thwarts Curly's attempts to rescue her, and, after a horrific

struggle, kills Curly. Laurey awakes from her nightmare with a

start...and finds Jud ready to escort her to the Dance.

In the beginning of this section we can see Laurey falling to sleep.

Then the lights suddenly dim, this shows the audience that we have

travelled from reality to her dream.

The lighting plays an important part in this musical, as it

communicates to the audience Laurey’s mood and feelings. When Laurey

is dreaming the light dims to a blue. Then hands appear from the

cornfields; they are being lighted up with gold spotlights. She then

follows them to a large stage, which is filled up with blur light. In

her dream they lighting is calm and cool, and the mood is happy but

when it changes into a nightmare the lights suddenly switch red, and

makes the atmosphere alarming and unsettling. A spot light is also

used on Curley when he enters to dance with Laurey. This can symbolise

that he is the one for her, and that he stands out from everyone else.

By using a white spotlight shows the audience that he is pure and

good. But the spotlights also build a feeling of confusion and

distress. This is in her nightmare where the lighting is red and the

white spotlights are darting around the stage. This shows the audience

Laurey’s feelings towards her nightmare.

Music is crucial in her dream as there is no speaking involved, so

they music is the only thing that can be heard. In her dream they are

playing the song “oh, what a beautiful morning”. This is played in

maj...

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...girls they dance in unison, to show they are

together and under control. They use lots of turns, and leaps. They

also use a lot of ballet movements. This shows the audience a calm,

flowing and graceful dream. In the dance with the showgirls, they are

all dancing separately with separate movements. They use lots of

flexible movements, and balances. This can show the audience that they

are separated and unorganised. When she dances the waltz with curly

they use lots of lifts, turns and graceful movements, on the other

hand when dancing with Judd she is being thrown around and manipulated

like a rag doll. This also shows another contrast, which may relate to

the contrasts in dreams and nightmares.

The musical communicated to the audience her feeling and emotions

through other means than verbal communication. They show it mainly

through lighting, movement, and music. It relates to dreams and

nightmares as is seems rather peculiar. The music seems out of tune

and distraught. And strange things and people appear throughout to

make the dream seem realistic. This critical analysis will help me to

relate to dreams and nightmares throughout my performance without

talking.

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