Oklahoma

Looking back at America’s heartland in OKLAHOMA we see a kind of paradise, a kind of sweetness. The fair-haired boy wins the girl of his dreams. This simplistic plot obliterates our tolerance for evil as it defies political correctness.

Susan Stroman captures the story’s emotional thread in the dream ballet, made famous by Agnes DeMille. As choreographed here, the dance sequentially depicts the bounty of marriage, the virility of cowboys, the intensity of sexual connection, and the rivalry of dueling lovers. Surpassing sheer narrative, it bursts forth with character and buoyancy.

Richard Rodgers’ music together with Oscar Hammerstein’s lyrics is contagious. When Curly, the smitten cowboy sings, "the sound of the earth is like music" we know his destiny is to marry the girl and to tend her farm. But the book itself is laden with self-fulfilling righteousness as when Aunt El asks the judge to "bend the law a little" upon the murder of Curly’s rival.

The musical about "America, where the wind comes blowin’ through the plain" is sufficiently jingoistic without the evocation of the stereotypical traveling salesman, Ali Hakim, a scheming Persian womanizer. Trevor Nunn’s direction takes us on the happy trail of surrender to the American dream that has better pay-offs than that.

There’s Patrick Wilson for instance who creates a Curly whose love of the land breeds beautiful music. Similarly, Shuler Hensley brings depth and psychological truth to his role as Jud, the malevolent and twisted farmhand.

Hensley is imported from the London production, as is Josefina Gabrielle, the tomboyish cowgirl who ignites the play’s conflict. Ms. Gabrielle, a surprisingly delicate dancer, brings fluidity to this production. Together with a terrific chorus and memorable music, OKLAHOMA evokes our need for contrition and the hope that our vision remains true.

That’s This Week on Broadway. I’m Isa Goldberg.