Oklahoma!

Oklahoma! is a musical by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, set in Oklahoma Territory around 1906. Its integration of songs, dance, and dramatic action helped shape the modern musical.

Curly McLain: Curly McLain is a cowboy who courts Laurey Williams in Oklahoma!. His courtship of Laurey anchors the musical’s central romance.
Musical theatre: Musical theatre combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance in staged drama. Oklahoma! helped establish a model in which these forms advance one integrated story.
Green Grow the Lilacs: Green Grow the Lilacs is Lynn Riggs’s 1931 play about settlers in Oklahoma Territory. It supplied the characters and basic story adapted for Oklahoma!.
Agnes de Mille: Agnes de Mille was an American choreographer and dancer whose work transformed Broadway dance. Her choreography, especially the dream ballet, made dance central to the show’s storytelling.
Laurey Williams: Laurey Williams is a farm woman who must choose between Curly McLain and Jud Fry. Her choices connect the romantic plot to the musical’s darker conflict.
Book musical: A book musical organizes songs and dances around a sustained dramatic plot. Its scenes, songs, and dances develop one continuous narrative.
Lynn Riggs: Lynn Riggs was an American playwright and poet from Oklahoma, best known for Green Grow the Lilacs. His play provided the source material for the musical.
Tony Award: The Tony Awards honor achievement in American Broadway theatre. Oklahoma! received the first Tony Award for Best Musical in 1949.
Jud Fry: Jud Fry is a hired farmhand whose desire for Laurey turns him into Curly’s rival. His isolation and violence complicate the musical’s idyllic community.
Integrated musical: An integrated musical makes songs and dances serve the action and characterization of its story. Oklahoma! is a landmark example of music and dance functioning as dramatic action.

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