Southern story sizzles at Arden

A bit of the wide-open spaces will gallop onto the Arden stage as the Paul Kane Musical Theatre Arts students present Oklahoma Jan. 6 and 7.

On the surface, Rogers and Hammerstein’s wildly successful musical, first produced in 1943, is plug full of corny dialogue and cheesy lyrics. But in peeling back the layers, this script is about the transformation of Oklahoma into a state that parallels the changes its characters undergo when cupid’s arrow strikes.

While the lingo might be dated, the musical theatre arts students have taken to the dialogue like ducks to water. “They’ve all got these accents that sound like a southern twang. It’s not that difficult because the accent is written into the script. It’s just a matter of refining it,” says director Lisa Whitson.

For Whitson, this two-hour musical connects with the cast on a romantic level, something that seems to dominate high school life. Another connection is the landscape of wide-open spaces similar to Alberta’s never ending sky.

“This play is quite relevant to today. Each character looks inside themselves and who they want to be. It gives kids a chance to explore their character and look at who they are and who they want to be. Self-identity is a theme all kids can relate to,” says Whitson.

Set in the early 1900s, this musical is partially about Oklahoma’s coming of age. In it Curly McLain is a shy, hard-working cowboy in love with the beautiful farm girl Laurey Williams. Both have deep feelings for each other, but because they’re stubborn they have difficulty expressing themselves.

Thrown into the mix is Jud Fry, a sinister and dark-hearted farmhand whose tortured, unrequited love for Williams flickers from comedy to tragedy. And in a secondary plot line, Will Parker, a cowboy in love with Ado Annie returns from a trip to Kansas City to find his girl has been flirting with Ali Hakim, a peddler that considers himself a ladies’ man. “Throughout the play, there’s the idea that change is coming and to accept it and embrace it.”

Co-director and choreographer Angee Lockhart, who taught dance at Stage Works for 12 years and created a choreography for the Winter Special Olympics, emphasizes the tunes with big, showpiece dances. Accompanying the dancers is a 23-piece orchestra from musicians within the community.

In Farmer and Cowman, a seven-minute showstopper that leaves the actors breathless, Lockhart mixes patterns of square dancing with step touches, heel clicks and barrel turns. “I love showing the kids steps and having them go out of their comfort zone,” Lockhart says.

Another more abstract work is The Dream Ballet where Williams drinks an elixir that plunges her into a dream sequence that foreshadows a death in her future. “It’s a very stylized, surreal dance. It’s kind of weird. But it works.”

And this year, the play is full of school participation. The fashion studies program has sewn many of the prairie skirts and bloomers. Cosmetology researched period hair and gave a tutorial. And production students have built set pieces that include a porch, windmill and barn crates.

As Whitson says, “We strive for professional quality theatre. And this is authentic entertainment.”