Monterey High goes big in its production of the groundbreaking musical 'Oklahoma!'

Take a deep breath, there is a lot to take in here.

In a producing partnership with PacRep and in collaboration with the Monterey Peninsula College Theatre Department, Monterey High School’s theater department is presenting Oklahoma!, the musical, at the Outdoor Forest Theater in Carmel. There are 70 students involved—30 on stage, the rest part of the band or crew.

“It’s all the labor of Monterey High and MPC students,” says Alicia Welch, who is part of theater departments in both schools. 

This is the fourth year that MHS is utilizing the Outdoor Forest stage for their spring performance. “It’s a challenge because it’s outdoors,” Welch admits. “[But] the theater is so beautiful, and it’s a great experience every time.” 

Welch chose Oklahoma!—the first collaboration between composer Richard Rodgers and lyricist-dramatist Oscar Hammerstein II, debuting on Broadway in 1943—because it’s a classic that changed the world of musicals forever. Before that, musicals were often lighthearted. Oklahoma! introduced a dramatic element.

The musical takes place in an Oklahoma on the verge of statehood. It is a full-of-struggles love story between a farm girl, Laurey (Mahala Wilde), and cowboy Curly (Charles Lassen).

The musical has memorable song-and-dance numbers, and the Outdoor Forest Theater, with its large size, takes the experience for young actors to a whole different level. For this ambitious production, Welch appealed to the entire local theater community for assistance, including a professional master carpenter, choreographer, production manager and painter. PacRep helped tremendously, making props and costumes available. 

The participating students fell in love with Oklahoma! This relatively modern American take on Romeo and Juliet shows cultural clashes in the United States. It’s a story about communities learning to live together and deal with the differences between them. The union between Laurey and Curly represents the hope of unification and symbolically leads to Oklahoma statehood. 

All the students receive college credit for their work, including 21 musicians led by Monterey High’s music program director, Chuck Fleming. 

Oklahoma! 7pm Thursdays-Saturdays and 4:30pm Sundays, April 24-May 4. Outdoor Forest Theater, Mountain View Avenue and Santa Rita Street, Carmel. $28; $13/students. 622-0100, pacrep.org.