Extracts and pictures from a program shown on UK Channel 4 TV December 2000

Introduction :

"With their instantly recognisable songs, the works of Rodgers & Hammerstein dominated the world of musical theatre for over 17 years. But it was their very first Broadway collaboration above all others which set the standard worldwide, a standard by which shows are judged even today.

"The purpose of Trevor Nunn's revival was to create a production that attempted to update the show that had re-written the rules of musical theatre.

"By making the most of the spirit of the original writing, Trevor Nunn's plan was to bring out subtleties of acting that might appeal to a modern audience."

Trevor Nunn :

"Oscar Hammerstein was such a wonderful dramatist and therefore his lyrics are very readily speakable as soliloquy, as dramatic exchange between characters.

"For the last 40 years or so certain elements of the original material traditionally have been cut and have disappeared. So knowing that there was a real breadth and a real seriousness, it was a wonderful project to do, knowing that there were things that could be reintroduced for a contemporary audience."

Ted Chapin, President of the Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization :

"People call the office all the time and ask about doing productions of Rodgers and Hammerstein shows, and our reputation is of a place that doesn't want anything changed, but when you have artists like Trevor Nunn approaching, or interested in approaching, works of ours, they want freedoms, and some of the talented people deserve certain freedoms. It's a collaboration.

"The story at it's very basis is - who's going to take this girl to the box social, is it going to be Curly or is it going to be Jud? That's kind of the story of Oklahoma! There are levels and there are sub-texts which have always been there but no-body's brought them out. I think Trevor has more than brought them out in this production."

Shuler on Jud :

"He basically wants what everyone else wants, which is to be loved and to find the right person, and I just don't think he has the social skills really to be able to relate to people.

"Anybody has the potential of being Jud I think, if given the certain circumstances."

Narrative : 

"Though Jud's role was shorter in the original movie, Trevor Nunn was keen to explore the character fully - his motives and their tragic consequences."

Shuler :

"What we've tried to do is give little moments of what everybody feels, of a person who is really not that much different, so having that in this production has really helped make it a completely different role."

Howard Keel :

"The part I loved mostly was the smokehouse - a lot of humour in the smokehouse, I found. It's a wonderful back and forth thing, and if the smokehouse didn't go well, I was upset. It was great fun to do.      

"The best Jud I've ever seen was the Jud in the Oklahoma! here with Trevor Nunn. Most play Jud just mean. Jud should be not just mean, he's sick, and there's a difference. He's a wounded person inside. It wasn't just the fact that he was a powerful man, but he was a sick man and you could see that, he would just explode. He was so in love with Laurey."         

Mary Rodgers Guettel, daughter of Richard Rodgers :

"We went to the first preview and I was so excited. I thought this is - and I still say it - this is a better production than the original, and I'm one of the few people alive and walking around who saw the original.

"They couldn't believe there hadn't been a lot of changes made, and the script - there was such depth and excitement and there were lines, I mean, we just knew they were new. They weren't new. He had just dug in and found them, and found a way to get those actors to deliver them which made them feel new."   

John Lahr, Theatre Critic, The New Yorker :

The style of performing these plays has changed. We on the whole want these performances now, in the new century, to be more realistic, to be darker, to take on, to explore the other side. Without the darkness, you can't get audiences now to accept these plays in the same way."  

Narrative : 

"Finding inspiration in the original lyrics and music to draw out new depths of character, Trevor Nunn's adaptation of this classic musical set a new standard, so along with co-director Chris Hunt, he set about capturing it on film for a wider audience".   

Trevor Nunn :

"The Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization were very keen that it should be preserved in some way. They kept saying - this is the version that we want a huge world-wide audience to see"

Mary Guettel :

"There's no way to write down what Hugh Jackman does or what Shuler Hensley does. To be able to have it recorded forever on camera is very valuable."

Trevor Nunn :

"The filmed version had the benefit of the best possible light for each sequence, the best possible sound for each sequence, and the best possible camera angles and developing shots, so that you have in every sense a record of the stage performance to a degree of subtlety that couldn't be achieved if you were just placing the camera in front of the stage.

"Oklahoma! was one of those experiences, probably among the two or three happiest experiences I've ever had in the theatre, and the happiness was of course very closely related to the sheer exhilaration and joy you get out of music."

John Lahr :

These songs find you. You don't have to go to a Broadway show to find a Rodgers and Hammerstein song. They find you, and you remember them, and you take them, not just home. You take them with you through life."

Mary Guettel :

"I think Oklahoma! was a tremendous departure. There had never been anything like it. There have been a lot of imitations since, but there still isn't anything like it."

Ted Chapin :

"Sit back and relax and enjoy it! There are some good things coming. Yield to it. Get your beer ahead of time. Sit there and have a good time, because it's an extraordinary journey, and I think the film has captured it wonderfully."

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