Oklahoma! at The Bristol Hippodrome Review
Our Verdict: Fantastic casting makes this perfect, easy watching theatre
Our Rating: 8/10
A buoyant cast carefully watched by the wonderfully matriarchal Belinda Lang as Aunt Eller, yeehaw their way through this perfect escapism production of Oklahoma.
It’s a simple show about the timeless and back-to-basics love story and muddles between men and women. It won’t matter, if like us, you have never seen the 1955 movie. The storyline is about as simple as is possible to follow, but with enough drama to keep you watching.
Charlotte Wakefield is a feisty, no nonsense and likeable Laurey from the start. She transitions brilliantly to damsel in distress for Ashley Day’s optimistic and smiley Curly.
Through the trials and tribulations of falling in love, the cast trill perfectly through classic numbers such as Oh, What A Beautiful Morning, People Will Say We’re in Love and figurative show stopping number Oklahoma.
There are some difficult scenes in this mainly relaxing and easy watch of a show. These, in particular feature the fabulously dark and misunderstood Jud Fry, played in brilliantly sociopathic and Phantom style by Nic Greenshields.
For lighter comedy moments Gary Wilmot as Ali Hakim and Lucy May Barker as the ditzy Ado Annie, make a great duo together.
In an era of block busting West End big-name touring productions, it would be a shame to overlook this bright little gem in the calendar.
It’s running at The Bristol Hippodrome from the 14 – 18 July 2015.
www.oklahomatour.co.uk
