THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME

Everyone in theatre has the stage where they know they've achieved a goal. Not a stage in the abstract sense but a physical theatre that they've dreamed of playing. Mine is the Spokane Opera House. Since seeing Carol Channing in 'Hello Dolly' (I know, so me isn't it) I've dreamed of coming through Spokane with a show.

I remember the feeling I got watching the show for the first time in Ft. Lauderdale in October of '04. That feeling is back and I don't think you could wipe the smile off my face this entire weekend if you tried. Well I was a little tired and irritable yesterday but other that you can't wipe the smile off.

I'm so proud of this company. They've been plugging along through a string of one-nighters with admirable aplomb. Sunday night will mark 17 shows in a row without a day off. You're typical show week is 8 then a day off. I could not be more happy with these great actors, technicians and musicians.

Below is the review from the Spokesman Review:

So outstanding, it's reborn

"Oklahoma!"

Spokane Opera House, Thursday night

Jim Kershner
Staff writer
April 15, 2006

This national touring production of "Oklahoma!" is so
good that one cynic, who has endured this old warhorse
way too many times, said at the curtain: "And I never
even knew I liked 'Oklahoma!' "

I was that cynic. This production – based on the
Cameron Mackintosh-Trevor Nunn Royal National Theatre
revival – is superior in almost every way. The
costumes are dusty and realistic; the sets are
windblown and imaginative; the lighting evokes an
Oklahoma sunset; and the Susan Stroman choreography
has a Ray-Bolger-in-Oz comic exuberance.

Advertisement
Yet the sheer talent in the lead roles is what hooked
me from the first two numbers. Spencer Plachy is the
best Curly any director could ask for, with an open,
good-natured face, an aw-shucks demeanor and the kind
of singing voice that comes along rarely.

He has a powerful baritone, perfect pitch control and
impeccable diction. He made "Oh What a Beautiful
Mornin' " sound brand-spanking new, which is quite a
feat, considering the song is 63 years old.

Plachy and the two equally marvelous female leads –
Jessica Lavin, as the tomboyishly endearing Laurey,
and Pat Sibley, as the lovable-irascible Aunt Eller –
turn "The Surrey With a Fringe on Top" into a
comic-dramatic short story. Plachy's use of dynamics
is particularly effective; he can drop to a whisper
and still have us hanging on his words.

If Sibley looks familiar, it's because she was once a
Spokane actress – as Bella in the Spokane Civic
Theatre's 1996 "Lost in Yonkers," and Madame Arcati in
Interplayers' 1995 "Blithe Spirit." Even then, it was
obvious that she had national-class talent. It's hard
to imagine any actress, with the possible exception of
Patty Duke, creating a more strong-willed and
admirable Aunt Eller.

I mention Duke because she played Aunt Eller three
years ago in the Broadway production on which this
tour is based.

Andrew Lebon displays an eerily stunted and effective
speaking voice as the American theater's ultimate
creepy stalker, Jud Fry.

As for Lavin, she can not only sing and act, she has
serious ballet chops as well, as she proved in the
"Out of My Dreams" ballet sequence to close Act One.

That Stroman-choreographed ballet, by the way,
exemplifies the difference between this and most other
productions of "Oklahoma!" It is far more gritty,
hallucinatory and frightening than the original, with
disembodied hands beckoning Laurey into the cornfield.
At one point, it descends into Fosse-like decadence,
with scantily dressed dance-hall floozies representing
the dark side of life, in comparison with the open and
sunny American wholesomeness celebrated by "Oklahoma!"

Don't get me wrong – this is still the beloved and
cheerfully corny "Oklahoma!" with all of those tuneful
Rodgers and Hammerstein songs. The plot still revolves
around a box social. Yet this production manages to
make it compelling instead of silly.

One final note: Spokane's own Kasey RT Graham, the
tour's musical director, does a fine job of presiding
over the seven-piece pit orchestra. He received a warm
ovation from his hometown crowd.

That was followed by a standing ovation that erupted
on the final "Yeooww!" of the final curtain encore. No
doubt about it, people just love this show. Yeah, I
get it, finally.