- Performances: 2,212.
- Open / Close: March 31, 1943 – May 29, 1948
- Theater: The St. James Theatre.
- Tony Awards: The first Tony Awards ceremony was held in 1947 while “Oklahoma!” was still running. Agnes de Mille, the choreographer for the show, won a Tony at the first ceremony for her work on “Brigadoon.”
- Fun Fact: The show’s first title was “Away We Go!” which was used during tryouts in New Haven. Another option considered was “Yessirree” before the final production number “Oklahoma!” was revamped and chosen as the title.
Podcast
During this Thanksgiving week, it is appropriate to be talking about “Oklahoma!” The most American of musicals deserves to be celebrated during the most American of holidays (we can discuss Independence Day some other time…) If you know anything about musical theater history, you know that “Oklahoma!” changed everything. Theater makers had been building up to the fully integrated book musical for years but, with this show, the evolution that would become the standard finally arrived.
My guest, the eminent historian Dr. Kristin Stultz Pressley, has covered “Oklahoma!” in depth through not just one but two episodes on her podcast, “Dr. Broadway.” If you want to dive deep into the history of the partnership of Rogers and Hart that led to Roberts and Hammerstein or get into the weeds about all the revolutionary aspects of “Oklahoma!” I would highly recommend listening to those episodes.
In out chat, as is appropriate in consideration of Broadway’s longest-running shows, we focus our conversation on questions related to why this show was so popular and drew crowds for more than 5 years, an unprecedented feat at the time. And we start by considering one of the show’s revivals that was distinctly less popular and find many clues as to why the original production run for so long.