I dreamt of Oklahoma

Abstract

The University of Hawaii at Manoa's production of Oklahoma! is especially unique, presenting a rare opportunity: premiering my creative ideas and choreography in "The Dream," serving as the thesis concert portion of my Master's Degree of Fine Arts in Dance. The motivation for, and intention of, "The Dream," is to clearly develop and distinguish characters, as they are most truthfully represented in the play's script (including dialogue, texts, songs, and notes), and of course, as they are genuinely envisioned by the director, Lurana O'Malley. The goal of this crossreferencing, with the actual script and director's choices, is to provide the most organic, yet still inspired, interpretation of "The Dream;" it must tell a story, but the challenge, and fun, is in how it will be told. Aiming to fill the void of knowledge regarding Oklahoma!, research, visuals, review, and conversations with the director and the production team, have proven extremely helpful towards understanding every aspect of this famed musical. A paper copy of Rogers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma!, which includes Agnes Des Mille's original choreography notes, as well as a paper copy of Lynn Riggs', Green Grow the Lilacs, the play from which Oklahoma! was originally inspired, have also been greatly influential.