Getting To Know... Oklahoma!
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CD CONTENTS:
- Oh, What A Beautiful Mornin'
- The Surrey With The Fringe On Top
- Kansas City
- I Cain't Say No
- People Will Say We're In Love
- Pore Jud Is Daid
- Out Of My Dreams
- Dream Ballet
- The Farmer And The Cowman
- Reprise: People Will Say We're In Love
- Oklahoma
Cast of Characters
- Aunt Eller is a sturdy farm woman who has managed to make a life on the frontier for herself and her niece, Laurey. She knows the value of cooperation and plays the role of peacemaker between the conflicting farmers and cowboys. She's a big-hearted woman who can easily empathize with others but who can also be tough when she has to be.
- Curly is a confident cowboy with the kind of affable personality that people are drawn to. His strong ego sometimes causes him to be too sure of himself. He has a stubborn streak that keeps him from letting Laurey know how much he cares for her. However, when he sees Laurey in distress, he is able to drop his defenses and open up to her emotionally.
- Laurey is a strong, spunky farm girl. She has been raised by her Aunt Eller and has learned to be self-sufficient. Unlike some of her girl friends, she doesn't feel the need for a man to take care of her. Like Curly, she is too stubborn to let him know how she really feels about him. But when she is threatened by Jud, it's Curly she turns to for comfort.
- Jud Fry is Laurey and Aunt Eller's surly hired hand and he has his eye on Laurey. He has a dark, possibly criminal past and his sullen, volatile nature frightens Laurey. He leads a solitary life of emotional isolation and, not being used to interacting with people, his social skills are limited. He feels a need to change his life but is uncertain of how to go about it. Although Jud is the putative villain of the story, there is an underlying emotional complexity that makes him, ultimately, sympathetic. Jud is a non-singing role.
- Ado Annie is a boy-crazy farm girl. She's too naïve to know how to handle herself around men, which gets her into trouble. She tends to favor whichever boy she's with and although she has strong feelings for Will, her head is easily turned by any man who pays attention to her.
- Will Parker is a good-natured cowboy and champion steer roper. He's in love with Ado Annie and not afraid to express his feelings. He may not be the brightest guy around but his high-spirited energy and affectionate personality make him a good friend to everyone. There's no doubt that he'll be a good husband to Ado Annie.
- The Peddler is a traveling salesman who's a bit of a shyster, his merchandise often being bogus. He fancies himself a ladies' man and when he gets too entangled with a girl, he simply moves on to the next town. So when he makes a pass at Ado Annie and her father takes it as a proposal of marriage, it looks like his days as a roving Casanova are over, much to his dismay.
- Andrew Carnes is Ado Annie's protective father and he is determined that no man will take advantage of her innocent nature. He has never taken the dopey Will Parker seriously as a prospective son-in-law. When the Peddler tells Ado Annie that he wants to ride with her "to the end of the world," Carnes takes that as a proposal of marriage. He's also a good friend to Aunt Eller and if she ever needed help with anything, he'd be there in a shot.
- Gertie Cummings is a silly flirt from a nearby town with the most annoying laugh in the Territory. She's too full of herself to realize that most people would rather not be in her company.
- Chorus includes farmers, ranchers, cowboys and townspeople.