AUDITION FOR OKLAHOMA!

Dig out those dancing shoes! Dust off your cowboy hat! Oh, and if you happen to have a surrey we’d like to borrow that too! The Village Players announces auditions for OKLAHOMA!, a rousing musical set in the old west! Join us on August 17, 4pm or August 19, 6pm to audition for the revival of the first musical produced by the Village Players.

Directed by Kathleen Hill and Produced by Carol Bense, OKLAHOMA! is sure to be fun for everyone. To add to the fun Carol and Kathleen are assisted by: Jay Sydow, assistant director, Tyler Wade, assistant director, John Savage, music director, Diane Mork, stage manager, Diane Sullivan, costume designer and Betty Sherwood, props mistress.

This wonderful western musical broke new ground in musical theater, introducing a whole new genre of terrific musicals, many of them written by that amazing team of Rodgers and Hammerstein. Some of the great songs they wrote for this show are “Oh, What a Beautiful Morning”, “The Surrey With the Fringe On Top”, “I Cain’t Say No”, “People Will Say We’re In Love”, “Kansas City”, and many more.

The characters needed for the show are many and varied. Curly is the young male lead and sings several solos, also duets with his chosen, the young and lovely Laurey, who also has several solos. Second bananas are Will Parker, a young cowman, and Ado Annie, daughter of a farmer (she cain’t say no), who also have solos. Aunt Eller is an older, motherly woman who has some solo work. Ali Hakim is the slightly older Persian salesman who has some solo work. Jud Fry is the villain of the piece and also has a solo. The chorus consists of farmers wives and daughters, cowmen, and farmers and there is room for any number of any age who are interested. There are no roles for young children, but teen-agers could certainly find a spot in the cast.

Synopsis

On a radiant summer morning in Indian Territory not long after the turn of the century, Aunt Eller sits on her porch churning butter. Curly, a local ranch hand, comes to call. Curly and Eller's niece, Laurey, are smitten with the other, and are too proud and stubborn to admit it. When Curly grandly offers to take Laurey to the box social that evening, Laurey claims that he can't escort her in style and refuses to believe that he has rented a classy rig for the occasion. Jud Fry, Laurey's hired hand, settles the matter by announcing that he will take her to the social and because she is scared of Jud, who has a morose, vindictive temperament, she is too frightened to turn him down. Curly invites Aunt Eller to ride with him.

Laurey's friend, Ado Annie, is caught between two fellows too. Will Parker has just returned from Kansas City where he earned $50 in a rodeo - the exact sum Ado Annie's father told Will he had to come up with if he wanted to marry her. However, during Will's absence Ado Annie has become transfixed by the Persian peddler man, Ali Hakim.

At the box social that night lots of men bid for Laurey's hamper but, as the bidding rises, so does the tension as Jud and Curly square off. Curly sells his saddle, his horse and then even his gun to raise enough cash to buy the hamper and the right to escort Laurey, which frustrates and angers Jud. When Jud corners Laurey in the barn later on, her frightened calls for help bring Curly to her side. Jud runs off, and finally, Laurey and Curly confess their love for each other.

Three weeks later, Laurey and Curly are married. The wedding festivities pall, however, when Jud Fry stumbles in, uninvited, unwelcome and drunk. He gets into a fight with Curly and, in the ensuing melée, the drunken Jud falls on his own knife and is killed. Curly's friends don't want him to have to spend his wedding night in jail and so, a trial is quickly held on the spot and Curly is acquitted. With their friends and loved ones waving them on, Curly and Laurey drive off on their honeymoon, "in a surrey with the fringe on top".

Characters

AUNT ELLER	A middle-aged down-to-earth 'mother to everyone'. She is Laurey's aunt and confidante, and has a very friendly personality.
CURLY	The young cowman in love with Laurey. His heart is in the right place and he is strong in facing up to Jud.
LAUREY	Our heroine. She is confused about Curly and seems always to be waiting for him to make the first move; she is too innocent to see that her acceptance of Jud's invitation will mean trouble.
IKE SKIDMORE	A ranch-house cowman.
SLIM FRED	Cowman friends of Ike and Curly's.
WILL PARKER	A hapless young cowman who is very much in love with Annie. He has a pleasant happy-go-lucky disposition, but needs to assert himself strongly to get her full attention.
JUD FRY	The hired hand on Laurey's farm. Sullen, mysterious and dangerous. Nobody likes him and he lives a lonely depressive existence in the smokehouse, dreaming broodily of real women, not the pin-ups on the walls.
ADO ANNIE	A flirtatious girl who cannot resist any man, particularly if a wedding ring is in prospect.
ALI HAKIM	A Persian peddler and a shrewd salesman. A great one for the girls, but not too adept at avoiding shotguns!
GERTIE	Another flirt whose presence is always announced by her ear-piercing laugh. Like Annie, she just wants to get married to someone.
ELLEN, KATE, SYLVIE,ARMINA, AGGIE	A group of fun-loving farmer's daughters who form the ensemble at the Box Social and the ballet at the end of Act One.

Musical Numbers

Oh, What a Beautiful Morning! - Curly

The Surrey With the Fringe On Top - Curly

Kansas City - Will Parker

I'm Cain't Say No - Ado Annie

Many a New Day - Laurey

It's a Scandal! It's a Outrage!

People Will Say We're In Love - Curly and Laurey

Pore Jud Is Daid - Curly and Jud

Lonely Room - Jud

The Farmer and the Cowman - Company

All Er Nothin' - Will Parker

Oklahoma! - Company -