Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.0
Audio		3.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Oklahoma! Blu-ray Movie Review

You Can't Say "No"

Reviewed by Michael Reuben December 6, 2012

The 1943 musical Oklahoma! was the first show in the long and fruitful partnership between Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. Along with Showboat, Hammerstein's 1927 collaboration with Jerome Kern, Oklahoma! is the progenitor of the musical as we know it today. Before Hammerstein, musicals tended to be plays periodically interrupted by songs. It was Hammerstein who insisted that the songs be part of the story, that they express the character(s) singing them, and that the performers in musical theater be actors first, singers second. Like many innovations, Oklahoma! feels familiar now, but it was startling when it first appeared.

Despite—or rather, because of—its familiarity, Oklahoma! has never gone out of style. Its durable score has ensured it a permanent life in revivals, both professional and amateur. At the same time, productions in major theater centers like Broadway and the West End had largely disappeared in the final decades of the 20th Century, for several reasons. Economics were a major factor; Oklahoma! is an expensive show requiring a large cast. As backers watched too many "can't miss" productions fail to return their investment, even with major stars attached, they became wary of risk—and Oklahoma! seemed like more of a risk as time went on. Its frontier optimism suited the national mood perfectly when the show opened to an audience facing the prospect of World War II, but times had changed. Most Americans no longer imagined their country in visions of "waving wheat" that "can sure smell sweet". If they did, they certainly didn't imagine it among the dust and oil wells of Oklahoma.

Enter British director Trevor Nunn. Already acclaimed for such productions as Nicholas Nickleby, Les Misérables and the musical of Sunset Boulevard, Nunn saw shadings in Oklahoma! that he believed would bring it alive for contemporary audiences. When he became artistic director of the Royal National Theatre in September 1997, where government funding allowed him to take greater risk, Nunn approached the Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization with his ideas, where he received an enthusiastic response. The result was a successful 1998 production in London that, among other notable elements, featured a memorable lead performance by a then-unknown but charismatic Australian actor named Hugh Jackman.

Nunn's revival eventually made it to Broadway in 2002, although Jackman did not, because the production was largely recast with Americans. After the West End run concluded, however, Nunn took his cast to a London film studio, where they recreated the show on film, but with ideal lighting conditions and camera placement. The resulting record of their performance has been shown all over the world and was released on DVD by Image Entertainment in 2003. Image has now released the same filmed performance on Blu-ray.

The plot of Oklahoma! is almost as corny as the fields in the farm country where it’s set, which may be why the original play by Lynn Riggs, entitled Green Grow the Lilacs, flopped in 1931 and quickly disappeared. But Oscar Hammerstein saw potential in the play for interesting character studies among the cornstalks, and he gave Rodgers wonderful lyrics to set to music.

It’s 1906, and Oklahoma is about to become the 46th state. The story’s center of activity is the ranch inhabited by Laurey Williams (Josefina Gabrielle) and her Aunt Eller (Maureen Lipman), a commanding figure (at least in this production) who knows how to make people listen. It’s the day of the “box social” dance, at which lunch baskets prepared by local women will be auctioned off to men eager to dine with whoever prepared the basket. The proceeds will go to building a new schoolhouse.

Everyone assumes Laurey will be attending with Curly (Jackman), the best cowboy on the ranch, who opens the show singing its famously optimistic anthem (“Oh What a Beautiful Mornin’”). But Curly and Laurey spend much of Oklahoma! fighting with each other (“People Will Say We’re in Love”), and Laurey even tries to convince her friends she doesn’t care about Curly (“Many a New Day”). They end up attending separately, even though Curly has gone to the expense of renting a special carriage just for the occasion (“Surrey with the Fringe on Top”).

Laurey’s other admirer, Jud, is a farmhand, and he’s considerably less appealing than Curly. Indeed, as played by the versatile Shuler Hensley, Jud is only a few steps away from becoming a serial killer from a Thomas Harris novel. In this production, when Curly jokingly suggests to Jud that he should hang himself, it’s not only cruel, but reckless, because Hensley’s Jud seems capable of anything. The bidding war that ensues between Curly and Jud at the box social feels like more than just romantic rivalry; it has the flavor of actual combat. (That comes later.)

One of Oklahoma!’s famous innovations is the dream sequence that closes Act 1, where Laurey, under the influence of “smelling salts”, sorts through her confusions about Curly and Jud. The award-winning choreography that embodies Laurey’s dream is enhanced here by the fact that no dancing doubles were needed, as is usually the case for this sequence. Jackman, Hensley and Gabrielle all did their own dancing in a lengthy interlude that departs entirely from the country style of the rest of the show. Their skill is evident in the filmed version, which wouldn’t have worked with doubles.

Paralleling Laurey’s story is that of her friend Ado Annie Carnes (Vicki Simon), the formerly skinny girl who’s rapturous over the attention she enjoys from men now that she’s filled out. Annie promised herself to a cowboy named Will Parker (Jimmy Johnston), who has just returned from an eye- opening trip to Kansas City (“Kansas City”). But while Will was gone, Annie was swept off her feet by a Persian peddler named Ali Hakim (Peter Polycarpou) for the simple reason that she can’t resist flattery (“I Cain’t Say No”). When Annie’s father, Andrew Carnes, discovers the new relationship, his shotgun comes out, and Ali Hakim finds himself unwillingly affianced (“It’s a Scandal! It’s a Outrage!”). The machinations for untangling this triangle become part of the action at the box social.

Before the end of Act 2, there’s been a fight, proposals, a wedding and a trial. But don’t get too caught up in those details. Listen to the songs and look at the hopeful faces of the crowd. They’re what Oklahoma! is really about.

Oklahoma! Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

A hallmark of this version of Oklahoma! was the curved set by production (and costume) designer Anthony Ward, which was intended to suggest the expansive horizon of the new territory that the characters in the story had only recently settled. The show's pastoral colors were suggested by Hammerstein's lyrics with such phrases as the "bright golden haze on the meadow". Director Nunn didn't attempt to improve on his success, merely to re-create it for the cameras with the help of veteran TV cinematographer Paul Wheeler. Detailed information regarding the shooting format was unavailable, but it is obvious from the "making of" documentary, as well as the appearance of the finished product and the date of production, that the project was shot on film.

The image on Image's 1080p, AVC-encoded Blu-ray is film-like and detailed, with a softness that should not be mistaken for lack of definition. Digitally sharp edges would create the wrong impression for this production, which was lit for a gently nostalgic sensation, even when darker themes intrude. When Nunn wanted to convey darkness, he used actual darkness. Occasions for deep black and trailing shadows are rare, but when they occur, the Blu-ray is equal to the task. The various lighting shifts that signal changes in mood and emotional tone are effectively conveyed, as are the subtle changes in color palette, some of which register only subliminally. Image has used a BD-50, allowing the compressionist plenty of room to deal with the extensive dancing sequences, which require high bitrates and have been well accommodated here, without artifacts.

A noticeable falloff in visual quality occurs during the end credits, which scroll over the curtain call. This portion of the program does not appear to have been rescanned for Blu-ray, because the image behind the credits is considerably less detailed. If nothing else, it makes you appreciate the quality of the rest of the film.

Oklahoma! Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The only soundtrack on the Blu-ray is a lossless stereo track encoded as DTS-HD MA 2.0. Image's previous DVD of Oklahoma! offered a choice between DD 5.1 and DD 2.0. Why the Blu-ray contains no 5.1 track is a good question, but it's one for which I have no answer. This is not the first time we have encountered such a sonic "rollback" in the move from DVD to Blu-ray, and it's possible that the source materials were not available from which to create a proper lossless 5.1 encode. However, this is pure speculation on my part.

In any case, the lossless stereo track provides a fine reproduction of the orchestra and vocals, with clarity, wide dynamic range and a general sense of presence that fills the listening space. The sound mixers have made the odd choice to treat the sound as if it were almost disembodied, an effect not unlike that experienced in a typical contemporary Broadway theater, where aggressive miking places the singers' voices throughout the listening space and diminishes the sensation that the voices emanate from the bodies on stage. You may find this jarring at first, but you will quickly adjust to it, as people do in the theater. (Try reducing the volume for the first ten minutes, then raising it again.)

Oklahoma! Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• The Making of Oklahoma! (480i; 1.33:1; 24:10): Made in 1999, this documentary traces the origin of the revival and features extensive interviews with Nunn and representatives of the Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization, including Mary Rodgers, the composer's daughter. Shorter clips are included with Jackman, Hensley and other members of the cast and crew.

Oklahoma! Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

When Nunn's production of Oklahoma! arrived on Broadway, it won acclaim and awards and toured nationally for several years even without most of its original cast. Shuler Hensley was one of the few holdovers, and his Jud won him the Tony award for best featured actor. Patrick Wilson took over the part of Curly. By that point his predecessor in the role, Jackman, had other commitments, having traded Curly's saddle for Wolverine's claws. A star had indeed been born. Jackman would conquer Broadway a few years later headlining The Boy from Oz, and he now has a standing invitation from theater owners to return anytime to the Great White Way. The Blu-ray of Oklahoma! offers a chance to see Jackman performing a classic of American musicals for a fraction of what tickets cost when he appears before the footlights today. Recommended.