The newly conceived tour — adapted from the Cameron Mackintosh/Trevor Nunn/Susan Stroman staging — begins anew at the BJCC Concert Hall in Birmingham. It will play the Alabama venue through Sept. 19 before heading to stops in Michigan, Florida, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Connecticut and North Carolina. Directed by Fred Hanson with choreography by Ginger Thatcher, the production employs the original designs of Anthony Ward (sets and costumes) and David Hersey (lighting), which have been re-created for this tour.
The principal non-Equity cast features Harold Barnard II (Cord Elam), Julie Burdick (Laurey), Jeremiah James (Curly), Carrie Love (Ado Annie), Brenda Martindale (Aunt Eller) and Sorab Wadia (Ali Hakim).
The 2004 tour dates follow:
Sept. 14–19 at the BJCC Concert Hall in Birmingham, AL
Sept. 21–26 at the Wharton Center in East Lansing, MI
Sept. 28 –Oct. 3 at the Bob Carr PAC in Orlando, FL
Oct. 5–17 at the Broward Center in Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Oct. 18–24 at the Kravis Center in Palm Beach, FL
Oct. 24–31 at the Tampa Bay PAC in Tampa, FL
Nov. 2–7 at the Times-Union Center in Jacksonville, FL
Nov. 9 at the Tallahassee-Leon CC in Tallahassee, FL
Nov. 12–14 at the PPAC in Providence, RI
Nov. 16–21 at the Orpheum Theatre in Memphis, TN
Nov. 23 –24 at the Whiting Auditorium in Flint, MI
Nov. 26–28 at the Stamford Center for the Arts in Stamford, CT
Nov. 30–Dec. 5 at the Memorial Auditorium in Raleigh, NC
Dec. 7–12 at the Philharmonic Center in Naples, FL
Oklahoma! was one of the first of many splashy revivals of classic American musicals that Trevor Nunn produced as the artistic director of the National Theatre. The mounting was praised as a fresh rethinking of a show which had over the years become a museum piece. The interpretation's most startling shift with the past involved Susan Stroman's choreography. Stroman was hired with the understanding that she would redesign the famed Act One ballet sequence from the ground up, eschewing Agnes DeMille's famous footwork. In Stroman and Nunn's conception, the actors dance in the show's dream ballets, a break with the tradition of when a "Dream Laurey" and "Dream Curly" would be cast. The musical was later remounted in New York.
For more information visit www.oklahomaontour.com.
