MFHS students get ready for 'Oklahoma!', a timeless play about community

By Emily Hilley-Sierzchula

Marble Falls High School (MFHS) musical theater students are ready to resurrect another timeless play, starting Thursday, Jan. 21 at 7 p.m. Although written and set in the 1930s and first performed on Broadway in 1943, students’ version of the classic musical Oklahoma! is still relevant.

Oklahoma! “describes us,” said Bryce Gage, MFHS choir teacher, who has teamed up with MFHS theater teacher Jon Clark to direct the show.

Gage recalled Agnes de Mille, the show’s original choreographer, saying the show was easily understood by everybody. “It really wasn’t about Oklahoma; it could easily have been called Arkansas or New York, because it’s about community, being proud of where you’re from, and learning how to live with others,” he said.

The first musical written by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, Oklahoma! remains one of the pair’s most-loved creations. In the plot of the play, based on “Green Grow the Lilacs,” by Lynn Riggs, tensions arise when two men fall in love with the same woman, a situation eventually affecting the whole town.

“It’s just one of those classic musicals with hit song after hit song,” Gage said. Almost everyone can sing along with “Oh, What a Beautiful Morning,” but “please don’t,” he said with a laugh.

For a show about community, it’s only natural so many folks have helped on the production.  

For more on this story and more photos, see The Highlander, Tuesday, Jan. 19.

Students will be performing Oklahoma! at the MFHS auditorium, 2101 Mustang Drive, Marble Falls. Show times are: Thursday, Jan. 21, 7 p.m.; Saturday, Jan. 23, at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.; Sunday, Jan. 24, 2 p.m. Tickets are available by contacting the MFHS box office at 830-798-3664 or at the door.

Tickets are $8 for adults and $5 for students.