BATH’s award-winning and talented Operatic and Dramatic Society has chosen the timeless Rodgers and Hammerstein musicalOklahoma! For the spring production at Bath Theatre Royal from Tuesday 4th to Saturday 8th February.
Full of wonderful and memorable songs, the rousing score features the famous title number Oklahoma!, alongside Oh, What A Beautiful Mornin’, The Surrey With The Fringe On Top, I Cain’t Say No, Many A New Day and People Will Say We’re In Love.
One of the most popular and enduring shows in musical theatre history, Oklahoma! is set in America’s Western territory, just after the turn of the 20th century, against a background of high-spirited rivalry between local farmers and cattlemen.
The show perfectly integrates song, dance and story to tell the tale of farm girl Laurey and the two rivals for her affections, happy go-lucky cowboy Curly and the sinister farm-hand Jud. Laurey and Curly’s 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 this story of hope, determination and the promise of a new land.
Oklahoma! was the first musical written by Richard Rodgers, who composed the music, and Oscar Hammerstein II, who wrote the book and lyrics. Based on the Lynn Riggs play Green Grow the Lilacs, the original Broadway production opened in 1943 and was an immediate box-office hit, winning Rodgers and Hammerstein a Pulitzer Prize. In 1955 the film adaptation of Oklahoma! won an Academy Award and the stage show was awarded a special Tony Award in 1993 on its 50th anniversary. The duo went on to create a host of legendary shows including Carousel, South Pacific, The King and I and The Sound of Music.
The BODS production has a cast of 35 performers aged from 18 to 72, drawn from Bath, Bristol, Wiltshire, Somerset and Gloucestershire. One of the most acclaimed and well-established amateur companies in the region, BODS’s recent productions include 9 to 5 The Musical, Guys and Dolls, Crazy For You (which won the Rose Bowl Award for Best Musical Production), Legally Blonde, and Fiddler on the Roof.
Director Helen Halliday returns to Bath 25 years after playing Aunt Eller for BODS in their 1999 production of Oklahoma! Helen, who trained at Guildford School of Acting, has performed professionally in productions nationwide. She returned to Guildford School of Acting as assistant head of music running specialist voice clinics and was musical director for several productions. She now directs professionally across the country, as well as writing plays for stage and radio.
Matthew Graham and Lydia McCotter play Curly and Laurey. Matthew has performed in many stage productions in Frome and Warminster. Oklahoma! is his second show with BODS, after appearing in their 2023 production of Guys and Dolls. Lydia, who works by day as the Theatre Royal Bath’s operations manager, has been performing with BODS for 10 years with previous roles including Charity in Sweet Charity, Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire, Tzeitel in Fiddler on the Roof and the Baker’s Wife in Into the Woods.
Ed Corbishley and Sabrina Messer play the roles of Will Parker and Ado Annie. Ed, who works in the box office at the Theatre Royal, performs with a number of theatre groups in Bath, most recently playing Freddy Eynsford-Hill in My Fair Lady with Bath Light Operatic Group. Sabrina, who was Violet in BODS’ production of 9 to 5 The Musical last year, trained at The Drama Centre in London.
Barbara Ingledew, who appears as Aunt Eller, teaches speech and drama by day, and first appeared with BODS as Golde in Fiddler on the Roof. Making his BODS and Theatre Royal debut, Andrew Grimes plays Jud Fry, marking his first stage role since 1997. A personal trainer by day, Tom Burge plays the role of peddler, Ali Hakim.
The professional orchestra is conducted by musical director James Finbow, his third production at the Theatre Royal, following 9 to 5 The Musical in 2024 and Guys and Dolls in 2023. Harriet Lowe makes her choreographic debut with BODS.