Westlake students revive Old West




OOOKLAHOMA!—Rei Vardi (Curly) and Megan Rittenhouse (Laurey) perform in Westlake High’s production of the classic musical.

OOOKLAHOMA!—Rei Vardi (Curly) and Megan Rittenhouse (Laurey) perform in Westlake High’s production of the classic musical.

Rodgers and Hammerstein’s 1943 production of “Oklahoma!” is now nearly 70 years old, but it remains the most important and influential musical of the modern Broadway era. Despite its age, it is most rewarding when you see it progress to another generation of performers, as it did when it was presented by the students of Westlake High School last week.

The story of “Oklahoma!” goes back to 1906, when the state was still a territory and farmers and ranchers squared off against each other, Montague/Capulet style, making it difficult for its hero—lanky, laconic cowpoke Curly McClain—to admit to his feelings for the winsome farmer’s daughter, Laurey Williams.

The plot is insignificant, really; the magnificence of “Oklahoma!” is in its crisp characterizations and the smooth integration of the songs into defining and developing the characters.

Simply put, the students of Westlake High nail this show.

Despite its distance from today’s modern world, “Oklahoma!” has much today’s teenagers can identify with. Girls play hard to get and won’t go out with a guy unless he had a fancy rig (“Surrey with the Fringe on Top”). The “Little Wonder” that Will Parker brings home from Kansas City to show off to his friends might easily be the latest version of the iPhone. And the song “People Will Say We’re in Love” could just as well represent a century-old equivalent of Facebook gossip.

The chief speaking/singing roles were played by two rotating casts, the “Rodgers” and the “Hammerstein.” Thursday night featured the Hammerstein cast, which was led by Megan Rittenhouse as Laurey and Rei Vardi as Curly.

Rittenhouse is a charming and attractive Laurey; she shines in her solo “Many a New Day,” in which she tries to convince her friends of her disinterest in Curly. Vardi plays his role well and proves to be a smooth dancer; he’s especially good in the smokehouse scene with the brooding, brutish farmhand Jud Fry, played by Colin Carpenter.

Carpenter plays his part like James Cagney in “White Heat,” a seething, scowling sociopath, who doesn’t mind wearing his self-pity on his sleeve. His solo on “Lonely Room,” a song that was cut from the film version, gives his character a poignant sense of tragedy, although it does not absolve him from his vicious actions.

Stealing the show in nearly every scene are the delightful Mike Ghaussy as the rube Will Parker and Courtney Allen as the giddy Ado Annie. Ghaussy is good-natured and goofy, with a remarkable comedic sense, while Allen is simply brilliant as the fickle-but-innocent gal who “cain’t say no.” In addition to her outstanding timing and facial expressions, Allen presents a beautiful voice beneath her Okie drawl.

Meagan Chew is solid as town matriarch Aunt Eller, and she hefts a mean rifle as well. Diego Rivera is Ado Annie’s reluctant Persian suitor Ali Hakim and gets much of the laughs with his on-again, off-again courting of her. Marley Macon is Gertie Cummings, she of the giggly, obnoxious laugh, while Daniel Nebens plays Ado Annie’s judge father.

The producers were helped out immeasurably by other production companies such as the High Street Arts Center, Conejo Players, Cabrillo Music Theatre, Moorpark College, and Young Artists Ensemble, who provided costumes and props for the show. The lush pit orchestra was ably led by Liz Blake. Kim Morgan Greene designed the appealing and well- executed choreography.

Director DeDe Burke corralled the entire production, with special commendation for the wonderfully designed dream sequence. Critical set pieces, including the peddler’s cart and a functioning surrey were superbly crafted by Burke’s husband, John. One need look no further than the exclamation point in the title to describe this winning production.


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