Rehearsals are underway in London for the August 19 and 20 concert performances of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma! at Theatre Royal Drury Lane, where the work made its original London debut in 1947. Bill Deamer is directing and choreographing the performances, which will feature the London Musical Theatre Orchestra playing Robert Russell Bennett's full, original 28-piece orchestrations under the baton of Ben Glassberg.
Phil Dunster (Ted Lasso) and Zizi Strallen (Mary Poppins) will lead the company as Curly and Laurey, respectively, sharing the stage with Christina Bianco (The Rise and Fall of Little Voice) as Ado Annie, Jordan Shaw (Les Misérables) as Will Parker, two-time Olivier winner Joanna Riding (Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends, Carousel) as Aunt Eller, Tosh Wanogho-Maud (The Drifters Girl) as Jud Fry, Irvine Iqbal (The Witches) as Ali Hakim, Nicole-Lily Baisden (Anything Goes) as Gertie, and Sebastien Torkia (Guys & Dolls) as Andrew. The cast is completed by George Beet, Ashleigh Graham, David McIntosh, Amonik Melaco, Carrie Willis, David Winters, and Jessica Wright with the London Musical Theatre Chorus. Casting is by Sarah-Jane Price.
Go inside rehearsals in the photo gallery below:
Sebastian Torkia and Irvine Iqbal
Zizi Strallen and Jordan Shaw
Cast of Oklahoma! in concert
Cast of Oklahoma! in concert
Cast of Oklahoma! in concert
Phil Dunster
Phil Dunster
Nicole-Lily Baisen
Nicole-Lily Baisen and Irvine Iqbal
Zizi Strallen, Jordan Shaw, and Tosh Wanogho-Maud
Ashleigh Graham
Jordan Shaw and Tosh Wanogho-Maud
Joanna Riding, Zizi Strallen, and Phil Dunster
Joanna Riding and Christina Bianco
Christina Bianco and Zizi Strallen
Carrie Willis, David Winters, and Amonik Melaco
Ashleigh Graham, David McIntosh, George Beet, Nicole-Lily Baisden, and Jessica Wright
Jordan Shaw
Joanna Riding
Joanna Riding
READ: Zizi Strallen Went From Abercrombie & Fitch Sales to West End Star
The production will also feature sound design by Tom Marshall, set and
costume design by Rebecca Brower, lighting design by Tim Deiling, and
stage management by Peter Barnett.
This concert is the second West End celebration marking the 80th anniversary of Rodgers and Hammerstein's collaboration, which began with Oklahoma! in 1943. An 80th anniversary concert was held in 2023, also at Theatre Royal Drury Lane, celebrating the duo's entire body of work. My Favorite Things: The Rodgers and Hammerstein 80th Anniversary Concert was filmed and has been screened in movie theatres worldwide and in an on-demand stream available in North America. Featuring performances from Audra McDonald, Aaron Tveit, Maria Friedman, Julian Ovenden, Marisha Wallace, Daniel Dae Kim, and more, the concert premiered on PBS in May, and is currently available to stream on PBS.org and via the PBS app.
Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II began collaborating with 1943's Oklahoma!, a landmark musical that is considered the genre's first to fully integrate the book, lyrics, and choreography as agents of forwarding the plot. They would go on to dominate Broadway over the next two decades as both a writing and producing team, writing a string of classic musicals including Carousel, South Pacific, Allegro, The King and I, and The Sound of Music; and producing I Remember Mama and Annie Get Your Gun.
JAS Theatricals, Fourth Wall Live, and London Musical Theatre Orchestra are producing the event.
Tickets are available at OklahomaConcert.co.uk.
