Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II, Josefina Gabrielle, Hugh Jackman - Oklahoma! (1998 London Cast)

Following up their landmark 1993 revival of Carousel, London's Royal National Theatre delivers another pillar of the Rodgers and Hammerstein canon with their 1998 production of Oklahoma! As on the earlier CD, Oklahoma! provides a generous amount of music (74 minutes) by including integral dance music (including Laurey's dream ballet and passages of "Kansas City") and connecting dialogue, resulting in a more complete theatrical experience than most recordings provide. It also includes two songs that were cut from the film, the grammatically incorrect but vigorous chorus number "It's a Scandal, It's a Outrage" and Jud's powerful lament, "Lonely Room." Hugh Jackman excels as Curly, while Josefina Gabrielle is an effective Laurey. Filling out the strong cast are Maureen Lipman as Aunt Eller, Jimmy Johnston as Will, Vicki Simon as Ado Annie, and Shuler Hensley as Jud; and thankfully, British accents are not prevalent on this plain. The booklet includes production notes and a synopsis with photos, but no lyrics. Of course, the question in most minds might be whether you need to make room on your shelf for another recording of Oklahoma! When it's this well done, the answer is yes. --David Horiuchi Amazon.com

Oh What a Beautiful Recording!

For fans of OKLAHOMA and/or this London revival especially, this recording is a must. The cast is excellent and in top-notch vocal form. For X-Men fans, it may come as a bit of a surprise that the actor famous for playing Wolverine, the ripped Hugh Jackman, was actually a song and dance man before he came to Hollywood. He shows off his musical theatre chops here, and is in great voice. His Curly is cocky, careless, flirty, and surprisingly sensitive to his own emotions, while Josefina Gabrielle's Laurey is earthy, tom-boyish and surprisingly strong whereas the character usually comes across as two-dimensional; not so here. Gabrielle often gets flack for not being Shirley Jones a la the film version, but I enjoy Gabrielle's voice more in this role. Her rendition of "Many a New Day" and "Out of My Dreams" are amazing, esp. her delivery of the last couple of measures in "Out of My Dreams" - clear and silvery as a bell. She falters only slightly on "People Will Say We're In Love" with moving from her chest voice to her head voice, but almost every actress has that slight break when sliding up quickly like that, except for the great Marin Mazzie. Although you can't see it on the recording, but can in the filmed version of this production, Gabrielle is the first Laurey to do her own dancing in The Dream Ballet, making her the most well-rounded and only triple-threat actress to play the role. As Ado Annie, Vicki Simon gives the best vocal rendering of "I Can't Say No" and gives us an Oklahoma accent that isn't over-the-top; her comic timing is also great. Shuler Hensley, this production's Jud, is the best actor to step into the role. He isn't so much the villain of the piece as a broken man driven to madness out of loneliness, and his rendition of the oft-cut "Lonely Room" is one of the recording's highlights. I also cannot offer enough praise to the ensemble of this show - they blend perfectly to give us one big, booming, beautiful voice, as all the best ensembles do. All in all, a great and highly recommended recording of Trevor Nunn's ground-breaking opening-up of this R&H classic. November 12, 2008

Americans do this better.

Not on a par with the RSC earlier masterpiece revival of Carousel. With the exception of Hugh Jackman,who can't seem to take one wrong step on a stage, this version doesn't compare to the 1979 revival. This cast isn't in the same league as the American cast of Christine Andreas, Martin Vidnovic and particularly Christine Ebersole as Ado Annie. July 22, 2006

Darker than the original maybe, but definately worth owning!

I loved this!! I'm sure that some people will not like the fact that this Curly has a darker side to him and that Jud is not all evil. To have the three leads also doing the ballet/dream sequence just made this movie that much better. I can definately recommend this to anyone who is a fan of the original Oklahoma. This will not take anything away from the original but can only add to your enjoyment. March 25, 2006

A Great Album

I have been involved with theatre in different capacities over the last 30 years. Trevor Nunn's production is by far the best I've seen or heard. The cast outstanding. Mr. Jackman and Mr. Hensley have a great presence. Their duet of "Pore Jud is Daid" is both funny and touching. February 25, 2006

Give a full-throated O.K.! to this Oklahoma!

This recording of the groundbreaking first R&H musical should arguably considered as one of the finest of its many recordings. It's true that the film soundtrack gives a definitive performance of the score, but this energetic, peppy version gives the musical its maximum oomph. The cast gives a stellar rendition of the score, and act out their parts charismatically and convincingly, even though the accents are not always authentic Southern accents. Hugh Jackman heads the cast with a rich, sumptuous portrayal of Curly, shining vocally from the first phrase of Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'. He is well-partnered by the pert, ambivalent yet tender Laurey of Josefina Gabrielle. Gabrielle also shines vocally on Many a New Day and exudes a wonderful chemistry during People Will Say We're in Love. The supporting cast is equally characterful, with Maureen Lipman a caustic Aunt Eller, contrasting against the dark hues of Shuler Hensley's Jud. Hensley's vivid portrayal of Jud adds an extra dimension to the character during the rarely-heard Lonely Room. Vicki Simon and Jimmy Johnstone make a perfectly delicious and comic pairing of Ado Annie and Will, and their moments individually and together are always a delight to hear, especially I Cain't Say No and All er Nothin'. The orchestra under John Owen Edwards is top-notch and plays this score superbly, especially the new dance arrangements that sound newly-minted, yet respectful of the originals. The presentation is splended, with a lavish booklet packed with photos, and a crisp, clean modern recording. All told, this version of Oklahoma! should certainly be highly recommended, and should elicit a spontaneous "YEOW!" from anyone who is willing to be charmed by it. I'm sure that more people will come to appreciate it and give this version its long-overdue O.K. February 23, 2006

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