The Stage

Oklahoma!

Published Thursday 1 April 2010 at 12:45 by Chris High

This production of Oklahoma! is without question, a bright golden haze of a show packed with memorable performances from all involved and so provides an evening’s entertainment to rival anything currently on the road.

From the opening strains of Oh, What A Beautiful Morning, TV’s Your Country Needs You finalist Mark Evans’ vocal and acting ability is plain to see, imbibing the character of Curly with a rich mischievousness, that superbly mingles with the assertive shyness of the angel-voiced Gemma Sutton, who makes her musical debut here as Laurey.

Marti Webb has a lesser singing role than might be expected of a performer with her pedigree but nonetheless commands the stage as Aunt Eller when necessary and takes great delight in engaging with the younger actors around her when she doesn’t.

For the fun factor, Vas Consanti is all but perfect as Ali Hakim with his pre-Trotter salesman shenanigans and noncommittal flirting with Michelle Crook’s delightfully naive Ado Annie Carnes, which brings laughs and sighs aplenty.

These are then superbly offset by the moody, broody Pete Gallagher as Jud Fry, who richly deserves his panto-style booing at the curtain call.

If there are quibbles it is in the fact that the first act runs a little too long and that the title tune doesn’t really need to be reprised immediately as this only serves to lessen its impact.

Yet with that said this remains a rich, vibrant, exquisitely choreographed toe-tapper of a show, crammed with more recognisable show-stoppers than many of its peers put together.

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