From wooden floors to a dusty plain, it is safe to say that what lies behind the curtains at Sion has transformed to the land just south of the Kansas border. Together, the cast and crew have spent eight weeks auditioning, acting, and rehearsing Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Oklahoma!”.
According to musical director Penny Selle, “Oklahoma!” was chosen for the fall musical because of its well-written music and new story plot.
“Never has Sion created a musical that was set in the early 1900s,” Selle said. “The whole idea of cowboys, farmers, and territory folks is completely different than anything we’ve done previously.”
In addition to the music and story, Selle and the rest of the musical department always take into consideration the idea of having a musical with multiple female, dominant roles.
“It is probably the hardest challenge we have when choosing a musical production,” she said. “Luckily, for us, there are specific websites where you can search for the type of musical you want.”
From the actors and actresses to stage managers, Selle said that the team approach, when creating “Oklahoma!”, has been really nice. Stage manager Marina Dennis said that they have put so much hard work into creating the musical. Dennis is in charge of everything behind the “big red curtain”, whether it be managing the panthers, organizing props, or queuing the people working the lights.
“Granted they are all independent components, they all need to be fluidly working together,” Dennis said.
What lies in front of the ‘big red’ is still, yet to come.
Lead actress, Natalie Wood said that her biggest fear is forgetting her lines on stage. On top of daily practices and memorizing lines at school, Wood occasionally has her mom read the script to her at the dinner table.
“I tend to do anything that will keep my lines in my head so that I will remember them on stage,” she said.
Acting as a farm girl who plays ‘hard to get’ with a cowboy named Curly, Wood sees many similarities between herself and her character.
“She’s very sassy,” Wood said. “I think I’ve got that with her.”
With the challenges of remembering lines, managing the backstage, and blocking positions behind them, all the musical production has left to do is wait for the reaction of their audience. And musical manager, Shawn Watts, said that everyone should come see the musical because there is a lot of music, dancing, and great costumes.
“There are even some really cute Rockhurst boys in it,” she said.
Selle said that everyone is going to love Oklahoma! because so many people have been on stage working very hard and spending so much time and effort into creating a great musical.
She said, “Who wouldn’t want to see it?”