Well for someone who likes a good musical I’ve discovered I was a little dopey when it came to Oklahoma. I always thought that the big showstopping title number was the finale…but it seems not. (I’m guessing the majority of the cast were aware of this long before me!) As we worked our way through Act 2 last night it seems that the song is the high point of the second act after which there are two fights, one resulting in a death – and then the actual finale. I think this is an unusual dramatic arc for a musical…and perhaps explains why Oklahoma is considered a classic – for the way it developed the genre.
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SOmeone at rehearsal stating that back in the old days the actors had to stop before 9:30 and thus they had the big number before the end of the show to ensure that the big actors were in the number. Don’t know how factual that is but might be worth a google!!!
yes…I’m going to look that up…could be true!