Theater Review—

Oklahoma Allows Richter To Go Out On A Very High Note

By Julie Stern

DANBURY —  From the moment Matthew Grills, as Curly, ambles up the center aisle singing “Oh What A Beautiful Morning,” audiences know that they are in for a treat with Musicals at Richter’s final production of the season.

Mr Grills has a voice, and he can act – bringing the charming, cocky, swaggering cowboy to life. And, he is well matched by the others in the quartet of leads: Lucy Horton, as the farm girl Laurey, makes it clear that while she is playing hard to get, it is Curly on who her heart is set.

In addition to this romantic duo,  Kicholas Kier and Bridget Krompinger add plenty of boisterous energy to the comic pair of Will Parker, the dim-witted cowpoke just back from Kansas City (where everything’s up to date…), and Ado Annie, the farmer’s daughter who just “cain’t say no.”

There are so many wonderful and memorable songs in this Rogers and Hammerstein celebration of the Oklahoma Territory and the farmers and cowmen who populated it — “The Surrey With the Fringe on Top,” “People Will Say We’re In Love,” “Poor Jud is Daid,” “The Farmer and the Cowman (must be friends),” “All Er Nothin (Is it all er nothing fer you?)” and the title song — and every one of them is rendered beautifully.

The other character actors do a fine job as well. Beth Bria Salvador as Laurey’s wise Aunt Eller; Damian Long as Ali Hakim, the Persian peddler who gets more deeply involved with Ado Annie than he had in mind; Bryan Prywes as the brooding hired hand, Jud; and Ted Schwartz as Ado Annie’s bad tempered, shotgun toting father, all help to flesh out the story.

It’s a young cast, on the whole, but a talented one, and under the leadership of director Donald Birely and choreographer Matt Farina, the ensemble of cowboys and the farmers’ daughters they court, have a spirited good time and they make the show come to life. 

You can’t go wrong with Oklahoma!, and this Richter production really gets it right.

(Performances continue Thursday through Sunday evenings at 8:30, although grounds open at 7:15 for picnics. Call 748-6873 for ticket details.

On August 12, Richter Rising Stars will offer a special pre-show performance, performing selections from contemporary musical theater. The show is included with the evening’s tickets.)