Download Oklahoma! And The Integrated Book Musical

OKL AHOMA! AND
THE INTEGRATED
BOOK MUSICAL
F R O M A M E R I C A N M U S I C A L T H E AT R E B Y J A M E S L E V E
CHAPTER ONE
Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! opened in 1943
and ran for 2,212 performances.
Produced by The Theatre Guild
Book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II (1895-1960)
Music by Richard Rodgers (1902-1979)
Choreography by Agnes DeMille (1905-1993)
Directed by Rouben Mamoulian (1897-1987)
OVERVIEW
• When the Theatre Guild promoted the show in Boston, it was
called Away We Go! and advertised as a musical comedy
• When it arrived on Broadway it was called Oklahoma! and
billed as a musical play
• Producers did not want to scare off audiences because the
show was different from standard musical fare in many ways
– A simple atmospheric opening
– Ballet sequences
– A death scene
– A concise and believable plot
THE BOOK OF A MUSICAL
Technically speaking, the book of a musical refers to the
spoken dialogue. Published scripts of musicals contain both
the spoken dialogue and the lyrics, which are rarely by a
single person. Historically, the writer of the dialogue has
been credited as “book writer,” a term that reflects an early
attitude that writers of musical comedy did not merit the
more esteemed label “playwright.” A book writer today
might be called a ”librettist” (borrowed from opera) or
“scriptwriter” but rarely “playwright.” The distinction
between the two is not entirely without justification…in
particular, writing musical theatre, unlike writing spoken
drama, is a highly collaborative process.” (LEVE, p. 3)
A NEW WAY OF WORKING
The new collaborators began with a painstaking assessment of
what made the characters tick, where songs would fit and
what the style and content of each number should be. They
also visualized possibilities for casting, set design, lighting and
staging. Once they had agreed on these points, each headed
home -- Rodgers to his farm in upstate New York,
Hammerstein to his farm in Pennsylvania.
INNOVATIONS
• Unity of vision: “the orchestrations sound
the way the costumes look.” (Rodgers)
• Integration of song and dance into the story
• After Oklahoma! the old practice of
showcasing a performer’s special talent or
plugging a song to boost sheet-music sales
came to be seen as a violation of the new
musical theatre aesthetic
• Writers began to pay closer attention to
how songs functioned in the story.
THE INTEGRATED MUSICAL
A definition
• The songs advance the plot
• The songs flow directly from the dialogue.
• The songs express the characters who sing them.
• The dances advance the plot and enhance the dramatic meaning of the songs that precede
them.
• The orchestra, through accompaniment and underscoring, parallels, complements, or advances
the action.
Geoffrey Block, “Integration,” OXFORD HANDBOOK OF THE AMERICAN MUSICAL
ORGANIC UNITY
• A concept that stems back to 19th-century symphonic and opera composes such as Beethoven
and Wagner, has figured large in the discourse regarding integration theory.
• Organic unity can extend to all elements of a musical
– Motive
– Theme
– Foreground and background structures
• WEST SIDE STORY (1957) is often regarded as the finest examples of the organic musical
• On the other hand, top-notch musicals like GUYS AND DOLLS (1950) feature eclectic
scores—a collection of songs that might have a unity of purpose but no musical unity
DIFFERENCES IN BOOK TIME AND
LYRIC TIME
Rodgers and Hammerstein instinctively knew the difference between book time (the time that
transpires as the action unfolds) and lyric time (the suspension of real time). Language operates
differently in each. Songs like “Many a New Day” and “Out of My Dreams” don’t move the action
forward so much as they provide us with insights into Laurey’s feelings about Curly.
CHARACTER DRIVES STORY
When Oklahoma's Laurie and Curly admit their
love by singing "Let People Say We're In Love,"
audiences become a sea of smiles and moist eyes.
This same holds true for the other classic musicals
by R&H and their successors – the major
characters are believable individuals that we can
empathize with. Rodgers and Hammerstein often
dealt with serious themes, but they knew that the
first duty of theatre (musical or otherwise) is to
tell interesting stories about fascinating characters.
SUSPENSION OF DISBELIEF
• People who disparage the musical theatre are bothered by the fact that the characters, unlike
real people, break out into song at any time and any place. They do not allow themselves the
suspension of disbelief that is prerequisite for all forms of musical theatre.
• In the early days of the musical theatre, the songs and dances interrupted the story without
dramatic justification
• Oklahoma! definitively rendered such disregard for continuity unacceptable.
RODGERS AND HAMMERSTEIN
Rodgers and Hammerstein first
met each other in 1916 at
Columbia University and
collaborated on a few songs in
1920, but OKLAHOMA! was
the beginning of their legendary
collaboration.
Despite the success of
OKLAHOMA!, it was the death
of Lorenz Hart that cleared the
way for the partnership to
continue and flourish
Richard Rodgers - Irving Berlin - Dorothy Fields - Oscar Hammerstein II
STATE FAIR (FILM, 1945)
In 1945, a Technicolor musical film
version of Phil Strong's novel State Fair,
with songs and script by Rodgers and
Hammerstein, was released. The film, a
remake of a 1933 non-musical Will
Rogers film of the same name, starred
Jeanne Crain, Dana Andrews, Dick
Haymes, and Vivian Blaine. This was the
only time the pair ever wrote a score
directly for film
FIVE OF THEIR SHOWS ARE
MAINSTAYS IN THE CANON
CAROUSEL (1945)
Rodgers and Hammerstein re-united to create
Carousel, the story of Billy Bigelow and Julie Jordan,
young New Englanders who fall into a passionate but
abusive marriage. When Julie becomes pregnant, Billy
tries to provide for his unborn child by taking part in a
robbery – and dies by falling on his own knife.Years
later, Billy returns from heaven for one day to help his
wife and daughter get on with their lives.
SOUTH PACIFIC (1949)
As the 1940s ended, New York was the undisputed center of
the theatrical world, and Broadway's last musical hit of the
decade was one of the biggest ever. Working with co-librettist
and director Josh Logan, Rodgers and Hammerstein wrote a
musical based on two stories in James Michener's Tales of the
South Pacific.
With powerhouse stars Ezio Pinza and Mary Martin, a well
crafted script, and a score that included "Some Enchanted
Evening," "Younger Than Springtime," "Bali Hai," and "I'm In
Love With A Wonderful Guy," South Pacific proved to be a
sensation, creating an unprecedented demand for tickets.
AN UNUSUAL SHOW
South Pacific was unusual in many ways. There
was almost no dance, two equally important
love stories, and the dramatic tension was not
provided by any single antagonist (a.k.a. - a
"bad guy") or "silly misunderstanding." Both
love stories were thwarted by "carefully
taught" racial prejudices. These reflex hatreds
drive key characters to push away from the
people they love. In the case of a young
Lieutenant and his native girl, the results are
tragic, but Nellie and Emile are finally
reunited.
THE KINGS OF BROADWAY
South Pacific confirmed Rodgers and
Hammerstein's command of the genre. Along
with worshipful reviews, it won the Tony for
Best Musical and became the second musical
to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Tonys
also went to the authors, as well as Pinza,
Martin and other company members. Rodgers
& Hammerstein's knack for creating
innovative and entertaining hits came to be
called "The RH Factor," and it would keep
them on top through the next decade.
THE KING AND I (1951)
The King and I was based on Anna Leonowens real life experiences tutoring the royal family of
Siam in the 1860s. The clash of Eastern and Western cultures sets Anna and the King on a
collision course, further complicated by their unspoken feelings for each other. Gertrude
Lawrence, who had suggested the project, played the Welsh schoolteacher. At Mary Martin's
urging, the little-known Yul Brynner was cast as the King. The score included "Whistle a Happy
Tune," "Hello Young Lovers," "I Have Dreamed," and "Something Wonderful." In the show's most
memorable moment, "Shall We Dance," depicted an impromptu dance lesson between Anna and
the King that exploded with romantic tension. The musical theater lost one of its most luminous
stars when Lawrence succumbed to cancer during the run. Brynner made a career of playing the
King, appearing in the 1956 film version and numerous revivals until his death in 1985.
YUL BRYNNER
At Mary Martin's urging, the little-known Yul Brynner was
cast as the King. The score included "Whistle a Happy Tune,"
"Hello Young Lovers," "I Have Dreamed," and "Something
Wonderful." In the show's most memorable moment, "Shall
We Dance," depicted an impromptu dance lesson between
Anna and the King that exploded with romantic tension. The
musical theater lost one of its most luminous stars when
Lawrence succumbed to cancer during the run. Brynner
made a career of playing the King, appearing in the 1956 film
version and numerous revivals until his death in 1985.
THE SOUND OF MUSIC (1959)
The Sound of Music (1,443
performances) was inspired by
the story of Austria's Trapp Family
Singers and their escape from the
Nazis in the 1930s. The score
included "Do Re Mi," "Edelweiss,"
"My Favorite Things," and the title
tune. With Mary Martin heading
the cast, The Sound of Music won the
Tony for Best Musical (in a rare tie
vote with Fiorello).
A SENTIMENTAL, OLD-FASHIONED SHOW
Critics who dismiss this show's sweet story have missed the
real point. Amid all the sentiment, The Sound of Music offers
an entertaining but devastating condemnation of those who
empower evil by refusing to oppose it. The real bad guys are
not the Nazis, but the so-called "decent" people who
acquiesce to them. A superb and literate musical, The Sound
of Music remains a beloved cultural landmark.
Oscar Hammerstein II died due to stomach cancer a few
months after The Sound of Music opened, ending a career
that spanned the golden age of musical theatre and film.
After working with the innovative Jerome Kern and
operetta master Sigmund Romberg, he did his finest
work with Rodgers, and later coached young Stephen
Sondheim.
RODGERS BEFORE HAMMERSTEIN
Prior to his work with Hammerstein, Richard
Rodgers (1902-1979) collaborated with lyricist
Lorenz Hart on a series of musical comedies
that epitomized the wit and sophistication of
Broadway in its heyday. Prolific on Broadway, in
London and in Hollywood from the '20s into
the early '40s, Rodgers & Hart wrote more than
40 shows and film scores. Among their greatest
were ON YOUR TOES, BABES IN ARMS, THE
BOYS FROM SYRACUSE, I MARRIED AN
ANGEL and PAL JOEY.
HAMMERSTEIN BEFORE RODGERS
Throughout the same era Oscar Hammerstein II
(1895-1960) brought new life to a moribund
artform: the operetta. His collaborations with
such preeminent composers as Rudolf Friml,
Sigmund Romberg and Vincent Youmans resulted
in such operetta classics as THE DESERT SONG,
ROSE-MARIE, and THE NEW MOON. With
Jerome Kern he wrote SHOW BOAT, the 1927
operetta that changed the course of modern
musical theatre. His last musical before
embarking on an exclusive partnership with
Richard Rodgers was CARMEN JONES, the
highly-acclaimed 1943 all-black revision of
Georges Bizet's tragic opera CARMEN.
THE PARTNERSHIP
OKLAHOMA!, the first Rodgers &
Hammerstein musical, was also the first of a
new genre, the musical play, representing a
unique fusion of Rodgers' musical comedy and
Hammerstein's operetta. A milestone in the
development of the American musical, it also
marked the beginning of the most successful
partnership in Broadway musical history, and
was followed by CAROUSEL, ALLEGRO,
SOUTH PACIFIC, THE KING AND I, ME AND
JULIET, PIPE DREAM, FLOWER DRUM SONG
and THE SOUND OF MUSIC.
MOVIES AND TELEVISION
Rodgers & Hammerstein wrote one
musical specifically for the big screen,
STATE FAIR, and one for television,
CINDERELLA. Collectively, the Rodgers &
Hammerstein musicals earned 35 Tony
Awards, 15 Academy Awards, two Pulitzer
Prizes, two Grammy Awards and 2 Emmy
Awards. In 1998 Rodgers & Hammerstein
were cited by Time Magazine and CBS
News as among the 20 most influential
artists of the 20th century and in 1999
they were jointly commemorated on a U.S.
postage stamp.
A LASTING LEGACY
Despite Hammerstein's death in 1960, Rodgers continued to write
for the Broadway stage. His first solo entry, NO STRINGS, earned
him two Tony Awards for music and lyrics, and was followed by DO
I HEAR A WALTZ?, TWO BY TWO, REX and I REMEMBER MAMA.
Richard Rodgers died on December 30, 1979, less than eight
months after his last musical opened on Broadway. In March of
1990, Broadway's 46th Street Theatre was renamed The Richard
Rodgers Theatre in his honor. At the turn of the 21st century, the
Rodgers and Hammerstein legacy continues to flourish, as marked
by the enthusiasm that greeted their Centennials, in 1995 and 2002
respectively.
While Rodgers and Hammerstein were not saints, they had genuine
faith in the qualities espoused in their shows – goodness, fairness,
romance, etc. Now dismissed as cornball or "hokey," such things
meant a great deal in the mid-20th Century, and they keep the
works of Rodgers and Hammerstein popular today.
ARTISTIC COMPONENTS OF
OKLAHOMA!
• Book is efficient and dramatic
• Characters are psychologically complex
• Humor, romance and pathos are in balance
• Humor emanates from the characters and situations
• Songs and dances arise naturally from the story
• Dialogue was realistic
GREEN GROW THE LILACS TOO
SERIOUS?
Rodgers and Hammerstein felt that the unsuccessful play
Green Grow the Lilacs needed something other than the
standard musical comedy treatment. The plot involved an
Oklahoma Territory farm girl of the early 1900s (Laurie)
deciding whether she will go to a dance with the farmhand
she fears (Jeeter in the play becomes Jud in the musical) or
the cowboy she loves (Curley).
• Structure of the musical same as the play Green Grow the
Lilacs upon which it was based
• By enlarging character of Will Parker, Hammerstein adds a
second love triangle
• Jud’s death and Curley’s marriage to Laurie are simplified
from the play, but serve the musical
OPENING SCENE
Play began with Curly singing “Get Along Little Doggies” and having a conversation with Aunt
Eller. Hammerstein transformed the opening into an extended scene starting with “Oh What a
Beautiful Morning” and anchored by the song “Surrey With the Fringe on Top.”
This scene epitomizes
R&H’s ability to weave
together speech and
song in the service of
the territory.
THE PLOT
ACT ONE
On a radiant summer morning in Indian Territory not long after the turn
of the century, Aunt Eller sits on her porch churning butter and looking
out over her farmstead. Curly, a local ranch hand, comes to call. Curly and
Eller's niece, Laurey, have a lot in common - both are equally smitten with
the other, and both 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, Andrew Carnes, 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, whose sales
pitches always leave her swooning. Ado Annie may not know which way to
turn but her father does: Will, since he already spent the $50 on wedding
gifts for Annie and technically no longer has the cash, has lost his chance at
marriage - while Ali Hakim has been so forward with Annie that nothing
short of a shotgun wedding will do!
THE PLOT
ACT ONE (continued)
Laurey is confused about her love for Curly, and about Jud, of whom she is terrified, but has
used his invitation just to make Curly jealous. After a short reconciliation between the two,
Curly goes to see Jud in his smokehouse. Curly paints a beautiful picture of just how popular
Jud would be - at his own funeral and there is an angry confrontation about Laurey. Feeling
mocked, alone now in his room, Jud confronts himself, his lonely fantasies, his bleak existence
that fills him with anger and violence.
Laurey still wants to clear her mind between Curly and Jud. Her girl friends ridicule her and
offer their own homely advice; she drifts into a dream - a ballet sequence in which she is to
marry Curly, but he is killed by Jud, who abducts her. As she wakens, both men arrive, and Jud
hauls her off to the party, leaving Curly dejected.
THE PLOT
ACT TWO
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. Ali Hakim, still
trying to manoeuvre his way out of marrying Ado Annie, contrives to bid $50 for all the gifts Will
bought in Kansas City. With cash in hand, and a few rules in mind, Will approaches Ado Annie again,
and this time they set the date.
Three weeks later, Laurey and Curly are married. Gertie Cummings, an annoying flirt who couldn't
get her hands on Curly, has managed to also snare a husband - Ali Hakim. Will and Ado Annie are
hitched as well and everyone is celebrating. 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".
THE MUSIC
• Rodger’s score for OKLAHOMA! marked a departure in his compositional style.
• With Hart, he generally wrote the music without lyrics to guide him. Hammerstein, in contrast
wrote the lyrics first. As such the content dictated the musical style and form for Rodger’s
music.
• Like most songs of the era, Rodger’s had written in the AABA song form. (See the variations in
Table 1.2 on page 15) Only two songs in OKLAHOMA! have the standard AABA form.
• Perhaps the biggest innovation was the choice to begin with a mostly bare stage, a woman
churning butter and a singer offstage singing a capella.
CHOREOGRAPHY
Agnes DeMille
AGNES DE MILLE
Choreographer, director
b. Sept. 18, 1905 (NYC) - d. Oct. 6, 1993 (NYC)
This onetime classical dancer choreographed a regional revival of The Black Crook in 1929. She staged numbers
for Cole Porter's London musical Nymph Errant (1933), and worked on several unremarkable Broadway
projects before her innovative work on Aaron Copeland's cowboy ballet Rodeo caught the attention of Richard
Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. They chose DeMille to choreograph their landmark hit Oklahoma! (1943).
Aside from blending modern and classical dance styles, she redefined the role of dance in musical theatre. Instead
of being thrown in as a diversion, dance was suddenly part of the musical's story telling process. Her ingenious
"dream ballets" brought audiences into the inner minds and souls of key characters. These were often imitated
but never surpassed. Theatre wags still refer to dances reminiscent of her style as "run of DeMille.”
DeMille went on to choreograph One Touch of Venus (1943), Bloomer Girl (1944), Carousel (1945), Brigadoon (1947),
Allegro (1947 - also directed), Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1949), Paint Your Wagon (1951) and 110 in the Shade (1963).
Her working manner was often harsh, and earned her as many enemies as admirers. DeMille's last new Broadway
musical was the ill-fated Come Summer (1969). She authored a series of books that offer unique insights into the
theatre and dance cultures of the 20th Century. A stroke left DeMille wheelchair bound in her final years, but she
remained active in modern dance and staged revivals of her classic musicals until her death at age 88. It is fair to
say that by making dance a key storytelling element in musical theatre, De Mille ushered in a new age, paving the
way for what Jerome Robbins, Gower Champion, Bob Fosse, Michael Bennett and others would do in years to
come.
THE DREAM BALLET
See description of dances in Table 1.3, page 19
INTERPRETATION
• Fragmented community ruled by two factions – the farmers and the cowmen
• Appeal to American nationalism during the war years of mid-20th century
• Recent scholarship emphasizes how race, assimilation and isolationism play out
• Oklahoma! also explores personal identity (Ali Hakim and Jud Fry were outsiders - a Persian
and a dark “other”)
• Nonetheless, the musical espouses the utopian ideal of a diverse and inclusive America yet
excludes Native Americans…the formation of a new society