IN Pine-Richland Summer 2018 | Page 18

INEVENTS PINE-RICHLAND PRESENTS ‘OKLAHOMA!’ Pine-Richland High School students kicked up their boot heels, rehearsed their Midwestern drawls and harmonized their vocals for several performances of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s musical “Oklahoma!” The first musical created by famed composer Richard Rodgers and lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II, “Oklahoma!” is one of the most celebrated musicals of all time since its 1943 opening. The show ran on Broadway for more than 2,000 performances, longer than any previous musical. Based on the Lynn Riggs play “Green Grow the Lilacs,” the production has been revered for its triumphant melding of emotional storytelling with song and dance. The cast included 60 Pine-Richland High School students, and featured and an all-student orchestra and stage crew. Set in Western Indian Territory just after the turn of the 20th century, “Oklahoma!” tells the story of a headstrong farm girl named Laurey with whom cowboy Curly and farmhand Jud have fallen in love. When Laurey plays hard-to-get with earnest Curly and instead accepts dangerous Jud’s invitation to the upcoming social, tensions rise between the men and capture the interest of the whole town. In Pine-Richland’s “Oklahoma!”, senior Helen Krushinski portrayed Laurey and Gabe Schoone played Curly, while junior Bryan Bails was Jud Fry. Ado Annie Carnes (sophomore Paige Nelson) and Will Parker (junior Tyler Hepler) were the comic counterparts to Laurey and Curley, while Aunt Eller (senior Morgan Engle) was the matriarch and conscience of the show and Andrew Carnes (junior Parker Schubert) served as the patriarch. PHOTOS BY PRIMETIME SHOTS 16 724.942.0940 TO ADVERTISE ❘ icmags.com