Familiar Territory


Reviewed 12/30/05

Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre loves trotting out warhorses. After dusting off Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Camelot at the start of the season, they lead the surrey with the fringe on the top onto their stage with a bright and chipper Oklahoma! to carry them into the new year. Under the direction of Paul Gregory Nelson, this territory is in better shape than King Arthur’s muddled court. The voices are strong, the humor hammy, and Aimee Eckhardt and Lauren Loercher-Sobon’s choreography features a few highlights. Even with the few lowlights, this show is pretty much everything a dinner theatre production aims to be.

Nelson, Eckhardt and Loercher-Sobon give the audience what they came for with lots of high kicking hoedowns and snappy plot movement. There’s no lagging in pacing here. There’s none of the revisionist darkness that marks some of the recent revivals. Yes, that visit to the smokehouse and Laurey’s dream tread near dangerous territory, but no one need fear upset stomachs after their multiple trips to the buffet and dessert tables.

Featured instead are a Curly (Jordan Miller) and Laurey (Kate Feerick) who are as cute as two buttons on a gingham shirt; a brooding Jud Fry (Adam Clough) with a basso profundo like a thunderclap; a goofy Will Parker (Ben McMahon) as corny as Kansas in August—sorry, wrong show—and his Ado Annie (Katie Kalahurka) as broad as a prairie horizon; and an Ali Hakim (Paul Sadlik) as disappointing as a misfiring shotgun. Miller’s “Aw, shucks” sweetness did cover some wavering of voice on opening night, while Feerick is powerful both vocally and in presence. Clough is pretty much flawless, dark in tone and just creepy enough to cut the sugar high of the remainder of the evening. McMahon and Kalahurka are the comic cutups their characters need to be while also offering strong singing and dancing turns, but the third of their trio, Sadlik, lacks energy and funny choices; he seems to be marking time rather than trying to make it.

The ensemble smiles through all of their classic numbers. Highlights include “Everything’s Up to Date in Kansas City,” “The Farmer and the Cowman Should be Friends,” and the always-enjoyable ballet sequence.

There are no surprises from the design team. David Snyder’s set and Russell A. Thompson’s lighting are as earnest as the cast, and JR McAlexander’s orchestra professionally handles Rodgers’ lush music.

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