Oklahoma!!

Pre show publicity shots to be found here Please take the time to check out the site if you have the time!!

So my second entertainment event of the weekend was the LHS production of Oklahoma! The lead was played by my wife's cousin Liam, and damn well at that. Now I know that both family and friends read this blog, and I could skew my blog today away from my full impression of the show, but I won't.

First of all, that Liam can ACT!. Now this is important, for those of you who have seen HS productions before. I felt that in his portrayal of Curley that he was actually "being" Curly and not Liam doing Curley's lines. That’s the essence of acting, suspending the belief of the viewer so that the viewer does not see the actor but the role.

Second of all, that Liam can SING! In the year since I heard him last his voice has matured greatly, and he is carrying those difficult notes well. I think he is a tenor, but I'm never sure of those definitions of voice. Either way all of his songs Sat night were in key and very clear.

Now.. his co-star. This girl missed everything Liam hit. As Laurey she has a good voice, but her lines were mumbled and sounded like she was reading from a cue card. I've watched her for five years now, maybe six, and unlike Liam, she doesn't "get" the idea of acting. I sincerely wish her well in college, but hope she doesn't pursue acting. As Ado Annie the supporting actress if I can call her that, on the other hand, was just brilliant for a HS performance. Either she affected her voice, or her voice is truly irritating, but she seemed to hit the part right on the money. Finally as Will Parker the supporting actor role, again I use these terms because I don't have the program in front of me, was good as well. He would have seemed better if Liam was not on the stage.

Two other notables I can't avoid mentioning were the actors playing Aunt Eller and Ali Hakim. The girl playing Aunt Eller has always been wonderful in all the roles I’ve seen her in over the years, but she really hit her stride in this. She has a beautiful singing voice and does the acting thing. The guy playing Ali was very funny, affecting the amusing role in a very strong way, and brought along a lot of laughs.

The music was wonderful, played by an orchestra of mixed older and younger players from the district. Oklahoma has quite a few dance numbers and Liza and I were impressed at the level of choreography that we saw, though it was hard to get every dancer to hit the numbers. But this isn't Broadway and we don't expect that.

So this was the last show before Liam goes off to college. The good news is that his brother Connor is following in his footsteps and we have at least four more LHS shows to look forward to, perhaps more, as Alex will be in HS by then as well!

Just starting with a strong Oscar and Hammerstein score and script isn't enough. I thought the LHS production this year was the most enjoyable I've had excepting their My Fair Lady. (Towards which I am biased because it's my fave Broadway musical of all time).

Great job Liam!!