‘Oklahoma!’ provides for patrons, youth

Who would have thought there would be such a stir over a box-lunch social?

The New Surry Theatre’s presentation of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Oklahoma!” at the Union Street Brick Church in Bangor, provides audiences with the now-famous box-lunch auction, a robust square dance, a few reckonings with a pistol, a wedding shivaree, and a close-up look at nearly disastrous love.

Director Bill Raiten of Blue Hill, a veteran of Maine theater, has delivered a spirited production of the beloved musical, to benefit Shaw House of Bangor, a shelter for at-risk children.

Most of the performers have theater experience in the Belfast area, and many have worked with Raiten in previous productions.

“Oklahoma!” will be shown at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 9, and 6 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 10.

The play opens with Aunt Eller, played by newcomer Leslie Stein, working a churn and wiping sleep from her eyes. The rosy, new-dawn lighting plays off a scrim that hides the nine-piece orchestra, nestled out of view in a choir loft directly behind and above the stage.

The quiet moment lasts but a second. For the next three hours, those who grew up with “Oklahoma!” can hum it in their heads. The others can see and hear what has become a national treasure in U.S. theater – and film – history.

Curly, played by Woodruff A. Gaul, a student of theater and English at the University of Maine, commands the stage with “Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’,” bouncing off Stein’s slightly curmudgeonly character. The action takes place in front of a white clapboard house and shed, complete with trailing vines, a window box of geraniums and a window dressed with lace.

The scenic design is by Matt Witting, who recently returned from San

Francisco, where he designed for Don Johnson’s TV show “Nash Bridges” and for the San Francisco Opera. He created a tricky-but-effective backdrop for Jud Fry’s smokehouse shack, a panel that stagehands could pull out of the stage floor and return it, invisibly, when the scene was over.

After the familiar “Poor Jud is Dead,” and the stage guns are fired, Aunt Eller races down from the house and opines, “Just a pair of fools swappin’ noises.” Then the lights dim for Jud’s powerfully delivered song of a man’s social alienation.

Jud’s number is followed by Laurey’s dream sequence of mismatched lovers. She finds herself overpowered by the rough and oafish handyman Jud, when it is really Curly she loves. In the sequence there is a dance routine that nods to the choreography of Agnes de Mille, followed by a fun can-can number, with satiny black and red costumes that perhaps reflect the sexual fantasies of Jud, who has pin-up pictures in his smokehouse shed.

In Act Two, the village comes together for “The Farmer and the Cowman Should Be Friends,” with nearly 30 people on stage, breaking out in a rousing square dance, which shows the costume design to great advantage. Soon, Jud catches up with Laurey and threatens her. She finds the gumption and fires him. “You’ll never get rid of me,” he yells, threateningly. Fearful, Laurey (played by Desneige Hallbert) finds Curly and begs protection. He proposes, she accepts. Then a cheerful wedding scene occurs, with a sparkling rendition of “O-K-L-A-H-O-M-A!”

Curly and Laurey disappear into a house, but townsmen won’t let them in peace on their wedding night. What follows is a look at an old-fashioned pot-banging shivaree (a wedding-night mock serenade) by the men of the town. But the tenacious Jud shows up, drunk and disorderly, and gets into a fight with Curly.

What happens next is, if you don’t already know, a secret.

The entire production is generous and fun. Voice coach Karen Eisenhauer, who just returned from seven years working as an opera singer in Germany, said, “It’s been so fantastic working with these people. They are so willing to apply themselves to make it work. Some, who didn’t have voice technique, but only acting technique, responded really well and worked hard. They all had to come to practice in Camden once a week.”

Raiten, who has been working in theater in Maine since 1972, said this is the first musical he has attempted since the death in 1999 of his friend and theater colleague Richard “Paz” Pasvogel. Paz, he said, was music director for the Penobscot Theatre summer camp and for many theater productions in the area, including “Annie,” “Fiddler on the Roof,” “Music Man,” and “Oliver!.” The production was dedicated to his memory.

Costume design is by Elena Bourakovsky, lighting by Pete Wood and Christie Wood and choreography by Maureen Lynch Robinson.

Shaw House, located across the street from the 150-year-old Union Street Brick Church, has several programs to aid young homeless people. Executive director Douglas Bouchard said they include a shelter, medical care, outreach and a day program that provides services to homeless and at-risk youth.

Tickets are available at the door, or from Shaw House, for $12, $10 and $8 for students. Call 941-2876 for more information.