1.2 Oklahoma!

The Gospel of Musical Theatre

This week, we launch our Season 1 tour through some of the major musicals of Richard Rodgers (1902-79) and Oscar Hammerstein II (1865-1965), who are often credited with pioneering the “integrated musical” that largely defined the great musicals of the mid-20th century.

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In Oklahoma! (1943), we talk about:

• Definitions of “the land” and who occupies it
• The cultural impact that Oklahoma! had, and how it reinvented the Broadway musical
• The hidden history of Oklahoma, “Indian Territory,” and the queerer, darker history of what lies underneath the surface of a deliberately white-washed world
• Rene Girard, James Allison, and the theological underpinnings of the scapegoating narrative

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Check out some of our all-time favorites!

• Phantom of the Opera
• Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
• Jesus Christ Superstar!
• Schmigadoon! (Season 1 / Season 2)
• West Side Story!
• Yentl!
• Frozen!
• Barbie!

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