Okalahoma critical analysis Essay -- Drama

Okalahoma critical digestThe original production of Oklahoma opened at the St. James Theatre, New York, on Wednesday bound 31, 1943. The top ticketprice was $4.80.It ran on Broadway for over five years, besting the previous playscriptholder Hellzapoppin by more than two years. For fifteen years, from1946 until 1961, Oklahoma held the record as the longest running showin Broadway history.When Okalahoma closed on Broadway May 29, 1948 after 2,212performances, more than four and a half million quite a little had seen itthere.In our expressive arts lesson we watched a section of Okalahoma. Asour topic is dreams and nightmargons, we watched the section whereLaurey has her dream. In a swirl of dream images, Laurey sees herselfmarrying Curly when Jud invades the wedding he carries her off,thwarts Curlys attempts to rescue her, and, after a horrificstruggle, kills Curly. Laurey awakes from her nightmare with astart...and finds Jud ready to escort her to the Dance.In the beginning of this section we can see Laurey falling to sleep. consequently the livelys suddenly dim, this shows the audience that we havetravelled from reality to her dream.The lighting plays an important part in this melodyal, as itcommunicates to the audience Laureys mood and feelings. When Laureyis dreaming the light dims to a blue. Then hands appear from thecornfields they are being lighted up with gold smudgelights. She thenfollows them to a large stage, which is filled up with deformity light. Inher dream they lighting is calm and cool, and the mood is happy butwhen it changes into a nightmare the lights suddenly switch wild, andmakes the atmosphere alarming and unsettling. A spot light is alsoused on Curley when he enters to move with Laurey. This can symbolisethat he is the one for her, and that he stands out from everyone else.By using a white spotlight shows the audience that he is pure andgood. But the spotlights also build a feeling of confusion anddistress. This is in her nightmar e where the lighting is red and thewhite spotlights are darting around the stage. This shows the audienceLaureys feelings towards her nightmare.Music is crucial in her dream as there is no speaking involved, sothey music is the only thing that can be heard. In her dream they areplaying the song oh, what a beautiful morning. This is played inmaj... ...girls they dance in unison, to show they aretogether and under control. They use lots of turns, and leaps. Theyalso use a lot of ballet movements. This shows the audience a calm, period and graceful dream. In the dance with the showgirls, they areall dancing separately with separate movements. They use lots offlexible movements, and balances. This can show the audience that theyare separated and unorganised. When she dances the waltz with curlythey use lots of lifts, turns and graceful movements, on the otherhand when dancing with Judd she is being thrown around and manipulatedlike a rag doll. This also shows another contrast, which ma y relate tothe contrasts in dreams and nightmares.The musical communicated to the audience her feeling and emotionsthrough other means than verbal communication. They show it primarilythrough lighting, movement, and music. It relates to dreams andnightmares as is seems rather peculiar. The music seems out of tuneand distraught. And strange things and people appear throughout tomake the dream seem realistic. This critical analysis will help me torelate to dreams and nightmares throughout my performance withouttalking.