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SCARSDALE, N.Y. Broadway has come a long way in the past century, but Edgemont Junior-Senior High School will reach back to one of the Great White Way's landmark productions this weekend when it presents "Oklahoma!"
The show will be staged at 7 p.m. Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 2:30 p.m. Sunday in the auditorium at the school, 200 White Oak Lane.
The 1943 Rodgers and Hammerstein classic the first of many collaborations has been credited by Broadway historians with marking a transition on Broadway from light, frothy comedies with music to coherent plays evoking a full range of emotions while weaving in songs that are part of the plot.
Edgemont teacher Rick Cantatore, in his seventh year producing the school's musicals, said he, Director Kelley Morse and Orchestra Director John Catoliato chose "Oklahoma!" from a preliminary list they compiled on the skills and talents of the current students.
"It's a great classic," Cantatore said. "It's Rodgers and Hammerstein and it will bring out the best in the students."
Cantatore said past shows have run the gamut, from "The Pajama Game" and "Guys & Dolls" to "Grease."
Morse, Catoliato and Cantatore were joined on the production team by choreographers Alexander M. Schwartz and Rebecca Woll, costume designer Elizabeth Mullin, set designer Peter Kane and lighting designer Sebastian Adamo.
"Oklahoma!" is set in the Oklahoma Territory around 1906, just prior to Oklahoma gaining statehood. It features two love triangles one between farm girl Laurey (Sunny Kutcher), cowboy Curly (Ethan Kempner) and farm hand Jud Fry (Isaac Marshall), the other between cowboy Will Parker (Jonathan Shapiro), Laurey's flirty friend Ado Annie (Evie Tzelios) and Ali Hakim (Zachary Palomino), a peddler. The musical score's best-known songs include "Oh, What a Beautiful Morning," "Kansas City," and the title song.
Tickets are $15 and may be purchased online or at the door.
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