Sam Palladio and Lizzie Wofford join the company of Oklahoma
The reimagined production has had an amazing run so far
Following a critically acclaimed run on Broadway and at the Young Vic, Daniel Fish's production of Oklahoma! transferred to the West End at the start of the year.
The cast includes Star of ABC’s smash-hit musical drama Nashville, British actor and musician Sam Palladio taking over the role of Curly McLain, currently played by Olivier Award Winner Arthur Darvill, from 3rd of July, with Lizzie Wofford taking over the role of Gertie Cummings.
They join the company alongside James Patrick Davis (Will Parker), Stavros Demetraki (Ali Hakim), Greg Hicks (Andrew Carnes), David King-Yombo (Mike), Anoushka Lucas (Laurey Williams), Marie-Astrid Mence (Lead Dancer), Paige Peddie (Ado Annie), Sally Ann Triplett (Aunt Eller) and Patrick Vaill (Jud Fry) with Andrew Berlin, Arthur Boan, Shani Cantor, Anna-Maria de Freitas, George Maddison, Brianna Ogunbawo, Finlay Paul, and Helen K Wint. Arthur Darvill and Rebekah Hinds play their final performance on 1 July.
The production is running at the Wyndham’s Theatre until 2nd of September.
Reimagined for the stage by Daniel Fish, the production played a sold-out run at the Young Vic last year, having previously transferred to Broadway from St. Ann’s Warehouse winning the Tony Award for Best Musical Revival.
Eva Price, Sonia Friedman and Michael Harrison said: “Very occasionally a production comes along that redefines a classic musical for a generation – Daniel Fish’s revelatory reimagining of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s masterpiece Oklahoma! will be forever stamped in the memories of those that see it.
The show is the most awarded show of 2022 and 2023, the production won the 2023 Olivier Award and WhatsOnStage Award for Best Musical Revival and collected the Critics’ Circle and Evening Standard Awards for Best Musical. Arthur Darvill won the Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical, and Patrick Vaill won the Evening Standard Award for Best Musical Performance.
Oklahoma! is Co-Directed by Daniel Fish and Jordan Fein, with Orchestrations, Arrangements by Daniel Kluger and Co-Music Supervision by Daniel Kluger and Nathan Koci, Choreography by John Heginbotham, Co-Set Design by Lael Jellinek and Grace Laubacher, Costume Design by Terese Wadden, Lighting Design by Scott Zielinski, Sound Design by Drew Levy, Projection Design by Joshua Thorson, Musical Director Tom Brady and Casting by Jacob Sparrow, with Associate Choreographer Shelby Williams.
The production originally ran at the Richard B. Fisher Center in New York state and then Brooklyn's St. Ann’s Warehouse before the production transferred to the Circle in the Square Theatre on Broadway in 2019. The production then came to London for a run at the Young Vic in 2022.
The Broadway production was nominated for eight Tony Awards winning two including Best Revival of a Musical. When theatres began to re-open in 2021, the production went on a U.S tour which continues though until October 2022.
To book tickets you can go the Oklahoma website.
Scroll through Rogers & Hammerstein's iconic musicals:
Oklahoma!
The first musical the legendary writing duo worked on was Oklahoma! which was based on Lynn Riggs' 1931 play, Green Grow the Lilacs. The musical first opened on 31st October 1943 at the St. James Theatre and went on for 2,212 performances which was unprecedented at the time.
Oklahoma! continues to be revived to this day with the most recent UK revival being the 2022 revival at the Young Vic.
Carousel
The second musical that Rodgers and Hammerstein wrote was Carousel. The musical was based on the 1909 play Liliom by Ferenc Molnár and told the story of carousel barker Billy Bigelow 's romance with millworker Julie Jordan. Carousel premiered at the Majestic Theatre on 19th April 1945.
Carousel features the song 'You'll Never Walk Alone' which has become a football anthem with Liverpool F.C. fans since the 1960s.
The most recent UK production of Carousel was Regent's Park Open Air Theatre's revival which ran in the summer of 2021. Their version of the show moved the story's setting from the American state of Maine in the 1870s to the UK in the mid-20th century.
South Pacific
Based on James A. Michener Pulitzer Prize-winning novel 'Tales of the South Pacific', South Pacific opened at the Majestic Theatre on 7th April 1949.
The most recent revival seen in the UK was the Chichester Festival Theatre's 2021 production which returns in 2022 for a West End run and UK tour.
The King and I
Based on Margaret Landon's novel Anna and the King of Siam, The King and I tells the story originally inspired by Anna Leonowens' memoirs of her time as the governess to the children of King Mongkut of Siam (now Thailand) in the 1860s.
The musical first opened on Broadway in 1951 at the St James Theatre and first arrived in the West End two years later with a run at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane.
The musical hit the big screen in 1956 with Deborah Kerr as Anna and Yul Brynner reprised his role as King Mongkut of Siam which he originated on Broadway.
Cinderella
Rodgers and Hammerstein took on the classic fairy tale of Cinderella for a musical that first went to the small screen instead of the stage. Cinderella was originally broadcast live on CBS in the United States in 1957 and starred Julie Andrews in the titular role.
Two more television films were made in 1965 and 1997 with the latter starring Whitney Houston as the Fairy Godmother.
The musical finally got the Broadway treatment decades later when it ran at The Broadway Theatre in 2013 with an updated book by Douglas Carter Beane. The production is set to get its UK premiere in late 2022 when it runs at the Hope Mill Theatre in Manchester.
The Sound of Music
The Sound of Music is one of the most beloved musicals written by Rodgers and Hammerstein. Based on Maria Von Trapp's memoirs The Story of the Trapp Family Singers.
The musical opened at the Shubert Theatre with Mary Martin as Maria, the musical opened in London two year later at the Palace Theatre.
The 1965 film adaptation starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer is regarded as one of the most beloved movie musicals of all time.
Oscar Hammerstein II passed away nine months after the musical premiered on Broadway making The Sound of Musical the last musical written by the pair.
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