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The History of...

OKLAHOMA! is the first musical written by composer Richard Rodgers and librettist Oscar Hammerstein II. The musical is based on Lynn Riggs' 1931 play, Green Grow the Lilacs. Set in Oklahoma Territory in 1906, it tells the story of cowboy Curly McLain and his romance with farm girl Laurey Williams. The original Broadway production of OKLAHOMA! opened on March 31, 1943. It was a box-office smash and ran for an unprecedented 2,212 performances, a Broadway record that would not be surpassed until My Fair Lady in 1956. OKLAHOMA has award-winning revivals, national tours, foreign productions and an Academy Award-winning 1955 film adaptation.

This musical epitomized the development of the "book musical", a musical play where the songs and dances are fully integrated into a well-made story with serious dramatic goals that is able to evoke genuine emotions other than laughter. According to playwright and theatre writer Thomas Hischak, "Not only is 'OKLAHOMA!' the most important of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals, it is also the single most influential work in the American musical theatre. It is the first fully integrated musical play and its blending of song, character, plot and even dance would serve as the model for Broadway shows for decades." New York Herald Tribune writer, editor, literary critic William Zinsser observed that OKLAHOMA! broke the old "musical comedy conventions", with the songs "delving into character" and advancing the plot. OKLAHOMA! made Rodgers and Hammerstein "the most important contributors to the musical-play form."

At the time, roles in musicals were usually filled by actors who could sing, but Rodgers and Hammerstein chose the reverse, casting singers who could act. The production was choreographed by Agnes de Mille (her first musical on Broadway), who provided one of the show's most notable and enduring features: a 15-minute first-act "dream ballet" depicting Laurey's struggle to evaluate her suitors, Jud and Curly.

The original Broadway production drew raves from the critics. Brooks Atkinson wrote in The New York Times that the show's opening number, "Oh, What a Beautiful Morning" changed the history of musical theater: "After a verse like that, sung to a buoyant melody, the banalities of the old musical stage became intolerable."