Oklahoma! by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II
Rodgers and Hammerstein’s groundbreaking musical “Oklahoma!” will be performed by the SummerStock company at the Ritz. SummerStock at the Ritz is an educational theatre arts training program that provides accomplished professional instruction to young people ages 16 through 29 who aspire to a higher level of performance in acting, singing, dance and technical theatre. “Oklahoma” is directed by SummerStock artistic director David Hope with music direction by Gene Anne Gifford and choreography by Matthew Kiel.
Set against the backdrop of ranching Oklahoma in the early 1900s, Oklahoma! tells the story of farm girl Laurey Williams and her courtship by two rival suitors, cowboy Curly McLain and the sinister and frightening farmhand Jud Fry. A secondary romance concerns cowboy Will Parker and one of Laurey's friends, Ado Annie.