Oklahoma-Oklahoma! by Broadway cast

On January 26, 1931, a “folk play” written by Lynn Riggs opened on Broadway under the title Green Grow the Lilacs. It had been produced by the Theatre Guild and celebrated the birth of the State of Oklahoma, formed from two territories. Initially, what is now Oklahoma had been deeded to Indian tribes that had been removed from their tribal lands. Mostly run by the Five Civilized Tribes (Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Seminole, and Creek Nations), it was called the Indian Territory. According to Wikipedia, in 1890, Congress passed an act that divided the Indian Territory into two parts: In the east, the Indian Territory was still run by the Five Civilized Tribes; while the western part was now called the Oklahoma Territory and was under the supervision of the United States and administered by a Governor. In 1907, the two territories were combined and admitted into the United States as Oklahoma.

Eleven years after the Theatre Guild produced Green Grow the Lilacs, two principals from the Guild approached Richard Rodgers to discuss the possibility of adapting the play into a musical. Rodgers immediately liked the idea of composing music for the new show, as he points out in his autobiography, Musical Stages. His collaborator, Larry Hart, was not as enthusiastic and wanted to take a trip to Mexico. The two men had been working together since the mid-1920’s; and they both sensed that it was time to part ways, as difficult as that might seem. Larry asked his friend who he might work with on the new project. Dick responded, “Oscar Hammerstein.” Larry responded, “Well, you couldn’t pick a better man.”

And that is how the team of Rodgers and Hammerstein was formed. Their first show was the 1943 production of Oklahoma! In many ways, it changed the world of musical comedy forever, so much so that we think of 1943 as the line of demarcation between Old Broadway and the modern era. But don’t get the idea that the new show had always been seen as a great step forward. In the New Haven tryouts, Mike Todd had to leave after the first act, leading Walter Winchell to write “No legs, no jokes, no chance.”

Between New Haven and Boston, Rodgers recalls changing the finale from a solo for Curly into a “rousing chorale for the entire company.” The musical contrasts the aspirations of the cattle ranchers and the farmers, but ends in the belief that the territory is big enough for everyone. “Gonna give you barley, Carrots and pertaters–Pasture for the cattle–Spinach and termayters!”

There is unbridled optimism in the opening segment: “Startin’ as a farmer with a brand-new wife–Soon be livin’ in a brand-new state.” This is echoed in the final line of the introduction: “Plen’y of heart and plen’y of hope.”

While the show opened on Broadway on March 31, 1943, we need to remember the historical context of that opening. From May 4-8, 1942 the navies and air forces of Australia and the United States denied the Japanese control over the Coral Sea, making Australia and New Zealand momentarily safe from invasion. This temporary reprieve was followed by the decisive victory in the Battle of Miday on June 4-7, 1942.

Between August 7, 1942 and February 9, 1943 the battle for control of Guadalcanal raged. It is unclear when the press reported our final victory in that great battle. However, the struggle to take back the islands of the South Pacific had just begun, and no one knew the outcome there.

In Europe, Hitler had been stopped at Stalingrad in the winter of 1942, but the defense of Kursk was not to come until the summer of 1943. The invasion of Sicily would not occur until July 1943. The Normandy invasion would not occur until a year later.

In fact, on March 31, 1943, the outcome of World War II was very much in doubt. In the midst of this “devastating war,” Rodgers said: “People could come to see Oklahoma! and derive not only pleasure but a measure of optimism. It dealt with pioneers in the Southwest, it showed their spirit and the kinds of problems they had to overcome in carving out a new state, and it gave citizens an appreciation of the hardy stock from which they’d sprung.”

Here is a shortened version of the finale that could fit into the time allotted for a song (78 rpm side); it is from the first original cast album for a Broadway show. Please listen to how the orchestration and vocal arrangement used a mixed chorus. The men’s and women’s parts are sung separately and in unison. Listen to the building momentum in the repetition of “Okla” and “Homa” toward the end. There is so much to love and appreciate here.