Isn’t it odd that a simple state like Oklahoma could have so many affinities with New York theater? When people think of Broadway shows, they might not realize how much of Oklahoma has elbowed its way in there. Did you know that:
1. Kristen Chenoweth first portrayed Cunegonde in a Lyric Theater production of Candide?
2. Matthew Alvin Brown’s stage adaptation of Rainbow Around the Sun recently played in the New York Musical Theater Festival?
3. August: Osage County, Tracy Letts’s 2008 Tony Award winner for Best Play and the Pulitzer Prize winner for Drama, was written by an Oklahoman about Oklahoma?
4. The Reduxion Theater group is building an OK—NY bridge right now?
5. There’s also that musical about Oklahoma that seems to never go away. Hillbillies do have a proclivity for singing and dancing.
Even though there are plenty of DVDs to watch around here, people in Oklahoma still enjoy going out to theaters to watch live entertainment. And for those of us lucky enough to attend an evening at the Lighthouse Theater in Edmond, Oklahoma, the live entertainment provided by this unique endeavor will live long past its unfortunate closure.
“Lighthouse” was so named not because of its proximity to seawater, but because the theater director sought to focus on “light” entertainment in a “house” environment rather than dramatic pieces in a traditional theater. The last Lighthouse production, Greater Tuna, featured the amazing talents of two well-regarded local actors who made the play a showcase for their own fun and amusement, as is the purpose of the piece. Written by Jaston Williams, Joe Sears and Ed Howard, Greater Tuna is an uncanny portrait of small town Americana, and for those of us who live here it is an unsettlingly accurate image of our neighbors and relatives.
Just as the residents of Tuna, Texas think the world outside their town is “just plain weird,” many Oklahomans find big-city life complex and confusing. But as it is with so many relationships, opposites often attract, and we inevitably find ourselves drawn to that which we find so beguiling. The enchanting spell of New York City shall likely draw Oklahomans, in all number of ways, for years to come.
This article was originally published on The House Next Door.
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