Tickets on sale now for the award-winning, cowboy hat-tipping epic!
Celebrating the groundbreaking and award-winning, epically beyond OK musical’s 80th year, Theatre Bristol presents Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! at The Paramount Center for the Arts weekends September 22 through October 1, 2023. Tickets are on sale now at Paramountbristol.org/event/oklahoma/.
Musical favorites Oh, What A Beautiful Mornin’, People Will Say We’re In Love, the catchy The Surrey With The Fringe On Top, and epic Oklahoma, fill the prairie air with talent from around the region.
“In a Western territory just after the turn of the 20th century, a high-spirited rivalry between local farmers and cowboys provides a colorful background for Curly, a charming cowboy, and Laurey, a feisty farm girl, to play out their love story. Their romantic journey, as bumpy as a surrey ride down a country road, contrasts with the comic exploits of brazen Ado Annie and hapless Will Parker in a musical adventure embracing hope, determination and the promise of a new land” (concordtheatricals.com).
With music by Richard Rodgers, book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and original choreography by Agnes de Mille, the musical was based on the play “Green Grow the Lilacs” by Lynn Riggs. “Oklahoma! was greeted by critics and audiences alike as a watershed – the first successful truly unified musical, in which all creative elements worked together to support the story. The Hamilton of its day, the show elevated the art form of musical theatre and kicked off a Golden Age of American musicals that lasted for several decades. Oklahoma! won numerous awards, from a special Pulitzer Prize to the 2019 Tony Award for its innovative Broadway revival” (rodgersandhammerstein.com).
Oklahoma! is directed by Kenn Naegele, most recently director of Theatre Bristol’s Elf The Musical, The Wizard of Oz, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and ANNIE, with music direction by Bandy Brownlee, and choreography and costume design by Camille Gray.
Oklahoma! opens September 22, and runs for two weekends at The Paramount Center for the Arts, Fridays at 7:30 pm, Saturdays at 7:30 pm, and Sundays at 2:30 pm, closing on October 1. Tickets are $16 for adults plus fees ($21.50 total) and $12 for seniors and students plus fees ($17.50 total), and are available at Paramountbristol.org/event/oklahoma/.
Theatre Bristol’s is pleased to present Oklahoma! as part of its family-friendly 58th season of ARTspace and The Paramount Center for the Arts shows, including Mark Twain’s The Diaries of Adam and Eve, The Diary of Anne Frank, Winnie-The-Pooh, The Seussificiation of Romeo and Juliet, A Christmas Carol, PLAYtime in the ARTspace weekly children’s show, School of Theatre Arts classes and workshops, and The StART of Adventure Summer Camp.
Oklahoma! is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of The Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization, http://www.concordtheatricals.com.
Founded in 1965 by Cathy DeCaterina, Theatre Bristol is a community theatre serving all ages that also has the distinction as the oldest continually running children’s theatre in northeast Tennessee. Located on historic State Street in Bristol, it also serves southwest Virginia. Its Main Stage season consists of drama, comedy, and musical productions that take place in the 100-seat blackbox ARTspace and at the Paramount Center for the Arts. Theatre Bristol is a volunteer-operated community organization and we invite you to get involved.
For tickets and information, visit www.theatrebristol.org, follow TheatreBristolTN on Facebook, call 423-212-3625, or email info@theatrebristol.org.