Central City Opera’s production of the great Rodgers and Hammerstein musical “Oklahoma!,” which opened the company’s 80th summer festival season Saturday night, is so impressive. It is filled with such powerful vocal and instrumental musical moments, and a display of such amazing choreography, that it could serve as both a model and a resounding argument for opera companies taking on such repertoire.
The entire performance created a shattering impact that was both emotionally draining and spiritually uplifting. Director Ken Cazan placed the focus squarely on the performers and their gifts, eschewing elaborate sets and special effects, allowing the people on the stage to provide all the physical and musical pyrotechnics that were needed.
Christopher Zemliauskas, known as an excellent pianist and vocal coach, conducted the orchestra with radiant brilliance. More than anything, it is this aspect — the full symphonic accompaniment with which the show was meant to be heard — that epitomizes things opera companies can do that smaller community theater groups cannot. And in passages such as the extraordinary and tremendous ballet sequence that ends Act I, where nobody is singing but the musical element is vital, it is a contribution that is as essential to the overall effect as anything happening onstage.
When, as the lead character Curly McLain, baritone Matthew Worth makes his entrance from behind the audience, singing the familiar strains of “Oh, what a beautiful morning!” with resonant power, it is already clear that the experience is going to be something special.
Where: Central City Opera House, 124 Eureka Street
When: July 6, 19, 21, 27 and August 3 at 8 p.m. Also, July 4, 8, 11, 13, 31, August 10, 11 at 2:30 p.m. Additional performances at the Newman Center, 2344 E. Iliff Ave. in Denver, August 5 at 2:30 p.m. and August 7 at 7: 30 p.m.
Tickets: $30-$110 (Wed., Sat., Sun.); $20-$100 (Tue., Thu., Fri.), $23-$78 (Denver performances)
Info: Call 303-292-6700 or visit centralcityopera.org.
Throughout the production, Worth’s vocals carry much of the argument, never more strongly than toward the very end, when he launches into the signature title song. Everybody knows the song and could sing it on cue, but Worth’s performance of the first verse and chorus was so thrilling that it may as well have been a Verdi aria. The chorus, terrific throughout the show, escalates the energy initiated by Worth in the song.
Soprano Maureen McKay as the heroine Laurey Williams presents an extraordinarily sympathetic and attractive character. Worth’s vocals are so predominant that playing opposite him could have been intimidating, but McKay is equally beautiful and profound, both in her own numbers, such as “Many a New Day,” where she must engage in intricate stage business while carrying a difficult song, and in the familiar and beloved duet “People Will Say We’re in Love.”
Paul LaRosa is another fine foil for Worth as the creepy and disconcerting villain “Jud Fry.” Their duet, “Pore Jud is Daid,” is certainly a musical highlight, and dramatically, Fry raises the bar in the Act II auction scene, which is both comical and darkly threatening.
LaRosa’s solo, “Lonely Room,” is genuinely disturbing and adds an important psychological element in advance of the massive dream ballet sequence, in which LaRosa himself takes part (McKay and Worth have dance doubles).
Kaitlyn Costello, in the largely comic role of Ado Annie, is a revelation in her professional debut with the company. A splendid physical actor and singer, Costello brings smiles whenever she is onstage.
Her two foils, Curt Olds as Will Parker and Gene Scheer as the peddler Ali Hakim, play off Costello’s sparkling wit and charm. Olds particularly stands out in “Kansas City,” one of many numbers with absolutely stunning choreography by Daniel Pelzig. Scheer’s role is essentially non-singing, but his wonderful facial expressions and comic timing are as essential as the most virtuosic vocal displays.
Joyce Castle is a strong presence as the matronly Aunt Eller, and Thomas Goerz is unexpectedly warm and ingratiating as Ado Annie’s father Andrew Carnes, especially in the elaborate production number that opens Act II, “The Farmer and the Cowman.”
The setting provided by CCO’s unique opening night atmosphere was unusually suited to this particular show, and it will surely continue in repeated performances. It is a production that is spectacular in every way, and Boulder’s sizable musical theater and opera audiences should make every effort to take the trip up the canyon to experience it, with the warning that it does run very long and evening performances end very late.
