Oklahoma! in Concert | Review

It’s less than a year since the West End transfer of Daniel Fish’s polarising, wilfully anti-romantic and blood-splattered production of Oklahoma! finished its run. So many images from that production have become seared into my mind whether I want them to be there or not and I wasn’t expecting to see another staging so soon. However, no excuse is needed to give the music a full-bodied orchestral treatment (played by London Musical Theatre Orchestra conducted by Ben Glassberg), particularly at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, the venue where the show made its London premiere in 1947.

Produced by Fourth Wall Live and directed and choreographed by Bill Deamer (Hello, Dolly!), it’s billed as a concert but it’s more than that, featuring staging, costumes, full choreography, and most of what I would argue is the best book in the Rodgers and Hammerstein canon in its entirety. A production in which Laurey and Curly absolutely do love each other is as valid as it’s ever been.

As cowboy hero Curly, Ted Lasso star Phil Dunster has a crooning voice that feels exposed in ‘Oh What a Beautiful Mornin’ but he has plenty of charm and becomes more vocally assured as the evening progresses. Zizi Strallen, who has talked about being influenced by Josefina Gabrielle’s Laurey in the National Theatre production as a child, is headstrong, witty and doesn’t need a man (the character actually had far less agency in Fish's interpretation); she sings with a powerful soprano voice and dances and acts the dream ballet brilliantly.

With her tremendous comedy and vocal skills, Christina Bianco brings a hilarious wide-eyed innocence to Ado Annie, the girl who cain’t say no, paired with Jordan Shaw’s scatty Will Parker. And the always marvellous Joanna Riding, who previously starred at Drury Lane in The Witches of Eastwick and My Fair Lady, is a wonderfully wry Aunt Eller.

The concert treatment does expose how difficult it is to get the blend of earthy humour and menace right. Much of the first act is treated as pure romantic comedy, due to some tinkering with the book, the troubled Jud Fry, played by Tosh Wanogho-Maud as an imposing figure with operatic vocal qualities, only becomes present towards the end.

It’s a marvel as to how much work and care has been poured into this project for only two nights and a matinee. These concerts are staged because the cast and creatives love the material wholeheartedly and audiences come for the same reason. Oklahoma! is the best of the best and to paraphrase Shakespeare: ‘Age cannot wither it, nor custom stale its infinite variety’. There’s always something new to uncover, whether the approach is avant-garde and disorientating or more traditional and nourishing.

Production credits

Oklahoma! by Richard Rodgers (music), Oscar Hammerstein II (book and lyrics)

Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, 18 August 2024

Starring Phil Dunster, Zizi Strallen. Christina Bianco, Jordan Shaw, Tosh-Wanogho-Maud, Joanna Riding

Directed by Bill Deamer