Oklahoma! - The Road to Success

[jo]

[jo]

If you look closely - at the upper left hand corner (midway to the top) it seems to be a photo or something (reflection from a mirror?) of Hugh with maybe his new look for the movie he is filming. Maybe the occasion was a special screening of the remastered version of OKLAHOMA! intended for release in the cinemas in July - complete with popcorn buckets?

I have always thought that he would not be sharing any photos while filming because it would disclose how the new Wolverine would look like


Jo

[jo]

@illoydwebber is Imogene LloydWebber.



www.broadwayworld.com/article/1998-Production-of-OKLAHOMA-Starring-Hugh-Jackman-is-Coming-to-Cinemas-This-Summer-20230510

The National Theatre's acclaimed, Olivier Award-winning production of Rodgers & Hammerstein's Oklahoma! is headed to cinemas worldwide this summer. Starring then-newcomer Hugh Jackman (Les Misérables, The Greatest Showman) as Curly, this riveting stage revival was filmed following its record-breaking 1998 run in London.


Tickets are on sale now at OklahomaInCinemas.com.

The film will be screened in more than 800 cinemas around the globe for two days only, on Sunday, July 16 and Wednesday, July 19 - including the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Ireland, Norway and Australia.



Directed by theatre legend and three-time Tony Award winner Trevor Nunn (CATS, Les Misérables) with new choreography by five-time Tony Award winner Susan Stroman (The Producers, Crazy for You), the film also stars Maureen Lipman as Aunt Eller, Josefina Gabrielle as Laurie, Tony and Olivier Award winner Shuler Hensley as Jud Fry, Vicki Simon as Ado Annie, Jimmy Johnston as Will Parker and Peter Polycarpou as Ali Hakim. The stage production transferred to London's West End in 1999 and won four Olivier Awards, including Outstanding Musical Production.


This 25-year-old production of Oklahoma! - coinciding with the 80th anniversary of the musical's groundbreaking 1943 premiere on Broadway - features some of the most delightfully hummable songs by the legendary team of composer Richard Rodgers and librettist/lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II, including "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'," "The Surrey with the Fringe on Top," "People Will Say We're in Love" and the joyous title tune, "Oklahoma."

The creative team includes set and costume designer Anthony Ward, lighting designer David Hersey, music director John Owen Edwards and orchestrator Robert Russell Bennett, with additional orchestrations by William David Brohn and new dance music arranged by David Krane.

The 1998 production is considered Hugh Jackman's breakout musical role. "It's hard to imagine a more immediately charming Curly than Jackman," wrote Variety in 1998. "He's as pliable, the staging suggests, as Jud is rigidly doomed, and Jackman makes an appealing (and beautifully sung) case for a man who won't be left behind by the winds of change in 'this here crazy country.'"

"The 80th anniversary of Rodgers & Hammerstein's Oklahoma! allows us to share this quintessential slice of Americana with global fans," said Kymberli Frueh, SVP of Content and Programming Acquisitions at Trafalgar Releasing. "This particular production is acknowledged as one of the best through the eight decades of performances in theatres around the world. All the talent in this classic version of Oklahoma! hit their mark brilliantly and musical theatre fans can experience for themselves why it is credited with launching Hugh Jackman's stage career. We're proud to be a part of this momentous anniversary".

"This musical is the living, breathing proof that important works will find and impact multiple generations in meaningful ways," said Sophia Dilley, SVP of Concord Originals. "We couldn't be more proud to champion this anniversary re-release of Sir Trevor Nunn's stunning 1998 revival with Trafalgar Releasing."

"80 years after first premiering on Broadway, Rodgers & Hammerstein's Oklahoma! is recognized as a theatrical landmark," said Imogen Lloyd Webber, SVP at Concord Theatricals on behalf of The Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization. "It was the first successful, truly unified musical - a seamless integration of song, story and dance. This 1998 production masterfully combined those three elements, and the resulting film is a treasure trove for musical theatre fans of all ages."

[jo]

[jo]

[jo]

The filmed version has been rated on IMDB, with reader reviews available. This will guide those who may want to see the filmed show when it is shown in cinemas in July.

Fairly high rating ( 7.8 ).

www.imdb.com/title/tt0216048/

[jo]

One of the reviews --

Yes, I'll say it-it's a revelation.
rrb8 December 2004
Oklahoma was never my favorite musical. By the time I was aware of it, Oklahoma & all of the Rodgers & Hammerstein canon seemed dated, superseded by the darker, more modern Sondheim musicals.

But Trevor Nunn's re-imagining of this American classic makes it so fresh & vibrant, it could've opened yesterday. What seemed sappy in the 50s film version now seems innocent, charming, believable-thanks to Nunn's keener dramatic vision & an exceptional cast.

Hugh Jackman reinvents the swaggering male musical lead with an irresistible magnetism and ability to infuse a song with emotional realness. When he sings O What a Beautiful Morning, it seems totally spontaneous-a young man singing from the depth of his soul his love of life & everything in it-and we feel this song we've heard for decades is being sung for the first time.

The decision to play Laurey (Josefina Gabrielle) as a shy tomboy in overalls, in contrast to the assertive, gingham-clad lasses we've seen in the past, is a wonderfully right one. The attraction between the lovely, thoughtful young girl and the radiantly confident Curly is palpable, and their different temperaments make the parries & shifts of their courtship utterly believable.

Gabrielle is an impressive triple threat-a trained ballerina who is also a good actress and a fine singer. Nunn no doubt wanted an accomplished all-round performer to play Laurey so that the Act I ballet could be danced by the same performers who act and sing the parts-not, as is usually done, by dancing alter egos. That alone makes this famously integrated show that much more integrated, and dramatically satisfying.

As Aunt Eller, Maureen Lipman is tough, wry, funny, touching, wise -hers is the most captivating performance of Eller one can imagine. She is perfect.

Like Laurey, the portrayal of Jud has been rethought. He is still brutal, but you feel the wretchedness, the yearning for acceptance, behind the brutality. Shuler Hensley realizes this brilliantly.

He is one of only 2 Americans contributing to this quintessentially American musical (though all American accents are impeccable, and it's refreshing that the script's phony country pronunciations have been pared down to an unnoticeable level). The other is the choreographer Susan Strohman, whose work here is joyous, spectacularly inventive, and (as in the case of the Act II opener The Farmer & The Cowman) electrifying. The dancing, & there's lots of it, conveys the galvanic energy of these very physical frontier folk. It's thrilling to watch the cast's highly skilled dancers doing numbers that build and build to an explosive rapture that makes you wish you could only be up there with them.

Strohman, with Nunn and their talented, almost exclusively English team, offer us what must be the finest production of Oklahoma ever staged. How fortunate our cousins across the Atlantic have cast a different light on this national treasure, and revealed new splendors it contains!

[jo]

In case it is showing in your vicinity --

a reminder!

[jo]

[jo]

[jo]

To be honest, I am not a fan of LION KING. I got a third row seat to see it a long time ago on Broadway - -but came away disappointed. Only the first 15 minutes enthralled me...the rest was not as lively or interesting. Sorry.

Why the long run ( the same way as Wicked/Beauty&TheBeast/etc) -- because it appeals mainly to the young/adolescent generation -- and every year, we have a new generation coming in who might want to see it.

Jo

[jo]

If the show extended, presumably with Hugh Jackman in the lead... would WOLVERINE be still be your career-defining role? By late summer/fall 1999, they had alreday started filming the first XMen movie.

Btw, what were you doing at Covent Garden, Hugh

Revisiting memories?



Jo

[jo]

It's gotta be fate/kismet/destiny - the turn of events - for Hugh Jackman!




Jo

[jo]

[jo]

rudy auerbach
@rudolphauerbach
·
2h
This is the role of Curly in "Oklahoma." Starring as Curly in the 1998 revival of this 1943 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical launched Hugh Jackman's career.




JoAB
@joab46466753
Lucky to have seenOklahoma!(London'99).
Didn't know the lead - but what a commanding stage presence&a powerful legit stage voice!
XMen producerLDonner also saw HughJackman in the show...who eventually suggested him as Wolverine replacement when DScott failed to meet filming date.



rudy auerbach
@rudolphauerbach
·
1h
It was amazing how without changing a word but playing Laurie as sort of a tomboy and Curly an unserious peacock made so much more sense of the relationship than any production of I've seen and also upped the sexual dynamics between them.



JoAB
@joab46466753
·
3m
But you know that despite their supposed attitudes against the other that they were nursing romantic feelings for each one. The song "People Will Say We're In Love" depicts those hidden feelings so well. But my favorite is the courting song "The Surrey w/ the Fringe on Top".



JoAB
@joab46466753
·
53s
The musical used to be my least favorite among the
most famous Rodgers&Hammerstein shows as I thought the film version was kind of boring. The RNT Oklahoma! changed my attitude towards this landmark American musical because of the characterizations.

[jo]

Tansy Kelly Robson
@artemisapphire
·
1h
I do always love the mile surprise of some of the replies. It's like when a friend was absolutely stunned I'd seen Hugh Jackman in Oklahoma in the 1990s (brilliantly so).

They're actors! This is what they do!




JoAB
@joab46466753
·
56m
Hi - fellow audience for Oklahoma!
Saw it on a London trip but did not know the lead. It was R&H music w/c drew me to the show.
But what a commanding stage presence &a powerful legit stage voice!
Waited for him to come back to theWestEnd.
Nah -he went more westward-to Hollywood!




Tansy Kelly Robson
@artemisapphire
·
53m
I vaguely remembered his name but years later dug out the old programme and was like "It was him!!!"

He was AWESOME. I almost feel like Hollywood wasted his talents. He was born for the musicals era




JoAB
@joab46466753
Excellent in musicals(saw him recently in MusicMan on Bway)but he's also an exceptional dramatic actor. I saw him at MusicMan stagedoor & wished him luck for TheSon. He put his hand on his heart to confirm what the film meant to him. He has range - film&stage & different genres.

[jo]

robbybottoms
@robbybottoms
·
53m
Replying to
@shawnnorlando
I spotted Hugh Jackman at Refreshment Corner once. My friend was playing the piano, and had some fan girls of his own. I told him to give Hugh a clue that we knew he was there. He played songs from Oklahoma...his last show. Hugh laughed at us, then the girls chased Hugh away.

Wasn't Hugh at Disneyworld Orlando but practically unrecognizable because of his PAN-Blackbeard bald hair & mustache?


Jo

[jo]

x.com/RGuillimanXIII/status/1753619808371740855?s=20

If you ever want to watch it, I recommend the recording of the 1998 stage production starring Hugh Jackman and Josefina Gabrielle if you can find it. Jackman's version of "Surrey With the Fringe On Top" has lived rent-free in my head for years tbh.





JoAB
@joab46466753
·
"Surrey With The Fringe on Top" is my favorite song performance in Oklahoma!🥰
A courting song that teases&romances. It fits HughJackman's Curly - not yet ready to declare his love fully but on the verge of proposing to her😍
Lucky to have seen the live production at the Lyceum.



JoAB
@joab46466753
·
And hey, did you know who was also seduced by Curly 😊
XMen producer LSDonner saw the production & met HughJackman. When DScott could not meet filming date for the movie due to injury while filming MI2, Donner suggested HJ as replacement Wolverine 🥳



JoAB
@joab46466753
·
HJ did audition for the role several times. He was initially wearing his Curly "hair" when he did his 1st audition. The last audition was a reading with director Bryan Singer and a screen test with "Rogue".

[jo]

In case you haven't seen it --

Zacary™️
@zacarywithnoh
The London production of Oklahoma starring Hugh Jackman is on Prime video. This is not a drill!

[jo]

1998!





2024!

[jo]

A celebration of the story of OKLAHOMA!




The Musical that would eventually change Hugh Jackman's career trajectory!

XMen producer Lauren Shuler Donner saw him in the London show ...and when they were recasting Wolverine, Donner suggested Jackman as replacement for the injured Dougray Scott ( originally cast as Wolverine).

Choreographer Susan Stroman : "Hugh Jackman didn't even need the spotlight! He just was filled with light!"

It was meant to be


Jo

[jo]

I thought we have lost the clip of Hugh Jackman singing Oh What A Beautiful Mornin' for the tribute concert for Cameron Mackintosh.

It seems this topic included an upload of the entire concert ( Hey, Mr.Producer). It was a Royal Command Performance ( attended by Queen Elizabeth II & Prince Philip - shown earlier at the Royal Box).

Here's the part where Hugh Jackman sings. At 1'29"56.




Jo

[jo]

In 1998 - Hugh poses for this photo, with a daisy behind his ear, likely plucked from Ado Annie's strawboater.



Twenty-six years later, the charm is still there -- charming people in his latest movie Deadpool & Wolverine ( especially during the intensive promo tour).

Jo

[jo]

Patrick Wilson as Curly in the Broadway transfer of the Trvor Nunn Oklahoma!





Hugh Jackman as Curly in the original revival by Trevor Nunn with the Royal National Theatre.

[jo]

Patrick seemed more like the old-fashioned Oklahoma! character portrayed by Gordon McRae - more like an innocent young man in love with his environment. A good young man who is a settler in the early settling of the West!

He sings to the audience.

Hugh projects a more cocky but charming Curly -- maybe more what the original creator of the story and the original composer of the musical intended portrayal? You'd know he would be the flirty and cocksure cowboy... who becomes unsure as to how he could win Laurey?

He sings to the other characters in the play


Hugh is the much better and natural actor, if I may say so.


Jo