The first words of Gilroy High School’s “Oklahoma!” musical aren’t spoken – they’re sung as lead Curly McLain belts out “Oh What A Beautiful Mornin’” as he tries to catch the attention of farm girl Laurey Williams.
The cast of roughly 30 students runs the gamut from special education to advanced placement and includes a future Stanford student, a GHS track star and a baseball player in leading roles. It’s also the second time in the last eight years, that a student has designed the costumes for the cast.
“It doesn’t look like a high school play,” said Ethan Stocks, the theater department director who has lead GHS plays for eight years. “It’s really good. We haven’t had one like this in a while.”
The musical features two love triangles set to classic songs, such as “Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin,’ ” “The Surrey with the Fringe on Top,” and “Oklahoma.” The main story involves leads Laurey Williams and Curly McLain, who like each other but don’t want to admit it, while hired hand Jud Fry tries to steal Laurey’s heart. Meanwhile, Laurey’s best friend, Ado Annie, is also torn between two men: cowboy Will Parker and a peddler who is a ladies man.
Students auditioned for parts in December, then began reading lines for their parts in January and now – roughly 10 weeks later – it’s showtime.
“We’re going to try to do this without stopping,” announced Stocks at the Monday dress rehearsal.
Coordinating rehearsals with two star athletes in the cast proved to be a bit of a logistical challenge as the cast had to schedule things around games and practices, Stocks explained.
“It stinks,” said Jacob Una’Dia, 16, the sophomore track star who plays cowboy Will Parker. “I had to get right off of track and run here.”
Una’Dia is not the only athlete cast in a leading role who is struggling to fit sleep and homework into a busy schedule.
Senior GHS baseball player Austin Lauber, 17, plays Curly McLain – and on Monday night he was running through lines with the cast while still in a baseball uniform, smeared with dirt.
“Austin, your costume is spot on,” teased Kyle Robinson, 17, who plays Lauber’s opposing lead in the play and who also designed the costumes for the entire cast.
Robinson is a senior and plans to go to Stanford University next year. This will be her last high school play, and she took a leadership role as costume designer, creating sketches of all the outfits, along with a list of items each cast member would need to find. Then, she helped students piece together costumes from Salvation Army, Savers, and Goodwill.
“There is something about being in costume that makes you more willing to be the character,” Robinson said, as she embellished a purple skirt with lace during the rehearsal.
Typically, GHS hosts a fall play and a spring musical. This year, Stocks knew the quality of his students – many of which had been working with him for four years – so he picked a classic: “Oklahoma!” The show was the first collaboration of the famous musical theater writing team Rodgers and Hammerstein who went on to write the music for “Carousel,” “The King and I,” and “The Sound of Music.”
“I feel like part of my job is to expose kids to things I think are important,” Stocks said. He noted the play is famous for the way it uses music not just to entertain but to move the plot forward.
The students agreed the music was good.
“I really like all the songs,” said freshman Nicole Dan, 14, who is part of the ensemble and wore a flowered dress and boots for the Monday dress rehearsal. “They’re fun to sing. I’ll be at home in the shower singing ‘OOOOklahoma!’”
The show will hit the GHS theater stage at 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 7 and Saturday, March 8 with a matinee performance at 2 p.m. Sunday, March 9. Next week, there will be 7:30 p.m. performances Thursday, March 13, Friday, March 14 and Saturday, March 15. Tickets are $10 for students and $12 for adults.
“I think there’s just something about this play,” Stocks said. “People like it, and people know the songs.”
