Okalahoma critical analysis Essay -- Drama

Okalahoma critical analysis The original production of Oklahoma opened at the St. James Theatre, New York, on Wednesday March 31, 1943. The top ticket price was $4.80. It ran on Broadway for over five years, besting the previous record holder Hellzapoppin by more than two years. For fifteen years, from 1946 until 1961, Oklahoma held the record as the longest running show in Broadway history. When Okalahoma closed on Broadway May 29, 1948 after 2,212 performances, more than four and a half million people had seen it there. In our expressive arts lesson we watched a section of Okalahoma. As our topic is dreams and nightmares, we watched the section where Laurey has her dream. In a swirl of dream images, Laurey sees herself marrying Curly when Jud invades the wedding; he carries her off, thwarts Curly's attempts to rescue her, and, after a horrific struggle, kills Curly. Laurey awakes from her nightmare with a start...and finds Jud ready to escort her to the Dance. In the beginning of this section we can see Laurey falling to sleep. Then the lights suddenly dim, this shows the audience that we have travelled from reality to her dream. The lighting plays an important part in this musical, as it communicates to the audience Laurey’s mood and feelings. When Laurey is dreaming the light dims to a blue. Then hands appear from the cornfields; they are being lighted up with gold spotlights. She then follows them to a large stage, which is filled up with blur light. In her dream they lighting is calm and cool, and the mood is happy but when it changes into a nightmare the lights suddenly switch red, and makes the atmosphere alarming and unsettling. A spot light is also used on Curley when he enters to dance with Laurey. This can symbolise that he is the one for her, and that he stands out from everyone else. By using a white spotlight shows the audience that he is pure and good. But the spotlights also build a feeling of confusion and distress. This is in her nightmare where the lighting is red and the white spotlights are darting around the stage. This shows the audience Laurey’s feelings towards her nightmare. Music is crucial in her dream as there is no speaking involved, so they music is the only thing that can be heard. In her dream they are playing the song â€Å"oh, what a beautiful morning†. This is played in maj... ...girls they dance in unison, to show they are together and under control. They use lots of turns, and leaps. They also use a lot of ballet movements. This shows the audience a calm, flowing and graceful dream. In the dance with the showgirls, they are all dancing separately with separate movements. They use lots of flexible movements, and balances. This can show the audience that they are separated and unorganised. When she dances the waltz with curly they use lots of lifts, turns and graceful movements, on the other hand when dancing with Judd she is being thrown around and manipulated like a rag doll. This also shows another contrast, which may relate to the contrasts in dreams and nightmares. The musical communicated to the audience her feeling and emotions through other means than verbal communication. They show it mainly through lighting, movement, and music. It relates to dreams and nightmares as is seems rather peculiar. The music seems out of tune and distraught. And strange things and people appear throughout to make the dream seem realistic. This critical analysis will help me to relate to dreams and nightmares throughout my performance without talking.