Downtown Jacksonville on a Friday night. It’s been a long time since I spent a Friday night downtown; I was pleasantly surprised at how busy it was. Don’t know what was happening at the Landing, but it was opening night for Oklahoma, staged concert version with the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra. In one word, it was AWESOME!
My buddy, EJG (aka “Miracle Man”, played the role of Andrew Carnes who is Ado Annie’s father. He was simply wonderful in the role. And in a tribute to Into the Woods (he realized after the show), he did scamper on stage. I had to keep myself from giggling when I saw him. (Little inside joke from Woods.)The rest of the cast was amazing as well. The voices – OMG! They were to die for good. And to hear the Rogers and Hammerstein score by our Orchestra… it just doesn’t get much better than this.
This was no doubt the best performance of Oklahoma I’ve seen. The ballet scene that ends Act I has always been a thorn in my side. I struggle not to fall asleep because it is so freaking long and for me, boring. In this show, they cut that scene down to under 5 minutes; it made sense and didn’t disrupt the story line at all. In fact, it enhanced it. While I missed some of the dance, the length was just perfect. And I know everyone in Symphony Hall was fighting to stay in their seats when the cast started singing “Oklahoma.” How can you not want to sing along …..Ooooooooklahoma where the wind comes sweeping down the plain ….
TTFN!
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