The last time Mark Dockery saw a good stage production of “Oklahoma!” was in the windy city of Chicago. So it came as a pleasant surprise for him that the next time he would he see a production of similar stature would be in Kimball. “I thought it was fantastic,” Dockery said. “This is just fantastic for a small-town theater.” His feelings reflected the general reaction this past Friday night as members of the audience left the Kimball Area High School Cafetorium after being treated to three hours of the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic. Before the show began, Kimball Community Playhouse (KCP) chairwoman Betty Nystrom came on stage and invited the audience to drift 100 years back to Oklahoma, which may not have been too difficult a task. From the moment lead character Curly, played by Tom Schreiner, entered singing a heartfelt rendition of “Oh, What a Beautiful Morning,” a spell was cast onto the audience right until the very last chorus of “Oklahoma!” sung by the whole cast. “Oklahoma!” is set in the beginning of the 20th century in Indian Territory now known as the state of Oklahoma. The story centers on the character Laurey Williams (Kari Todnem) who is caught between two rivals for her affection. One of them is Curly, whom she too secretly admires. The other is Jud (Kevin Hagen), a burly and recluse character whom she fears. Both men want to bring her to the box social. In a dream, Laurey chooses Curly over Jud, but the consequences are severe because Jud then kills Curly out of jealousy. Fearing that her dream may be a sign of the future, she goes to the box social with Jud instead of Curly. At the box social, Jud’s increasingly suspicious behavior convinces Laurey she has put herself in harm’s way and Curly comes to the rescue. Finally, Curly and Laurey are united and marry three weeks later. After the wedding, Curly and Jud confront each other for the last time with Curly again emerging victorious. Wayne and Leslie Rathje of Annandale said they were very impressed with Todnem’s portrayal of the main character Laurey. They had also come to see their nephew, Schreiner, in the lead male role. “He did a good job and always does,” said Leslie Rathje. “We always see his plays.” In Ned Root’s opinion, the musical production and the acting turned out better than he had expected. “He (Hagen) was a great Jud,” said Root, who has been involved in past KCP productions. “And the dream sequence was lovely.” For David Klein, this was something different for him to watch. The Kimball man doesn’t watch musicals on a regular basis, but was pleased to see the story line and songs complement each other. He felt that it was only fitting that the musical turned out as good as it did because of all the hard work the cast and crew had put in to it. His daughter Kelsey was in the dream scene and he had to bring her to the high school the past six weeks for rehearsals. Like Klein and the Rathjes, many who attended had relatives acting in the play. To Klein, this illustrates the importance of having a community theater in a small town. “Theater is an important part of the community,” Klein said. “People get to be part of it and connect.” See more photos from “Oklahoma!” in the Photo Gallery.
