Young cast puts on classic musical

Starting Friday, a young cast of Ball State musical theatre students tackle “Oklahoma!,” a production that Director Karen Kessler, associate professor of theatre, said “changed the course of the American musical.”

“The show is so much fun and a privilege to be a part of due to the iconic nature of the piece," said sophomore musical theatre major Maggie Ludwig, who plays Laurey Williams in the show. “‘Oklahoma!’ was the first musical to truly bring together singing, dancing, and acting as a mode of storytelling and shaped the way musicals were structured from then on.”

Because of how well-known the musical is, Kessler said that “when you do ‘Oklahoma!’, you have to do ‘Oklahoma!’”

To make this production unique, the crew worked to create a set that capitalized on the wide open spaces of the state from which the show takes its name. For this reason, the houses and buildings will be more like outlines than solid structures.

“When we were doing research for the show, we found all of these pictures of the beautiful Oklahoma skies,” said Kessler. “We are trying to recreate the big open skies, the expansive space, the gorgeous landscape, the sense of the expansive sky.”

Ludwig said she is excited to be able to perform in one of her favorite musicals.

“I used to live in Oklahoma, so it carries a lot of nostalgia,” she said. “Also, the score by Rodgers and Hammerstein is beautiful and my personal favorite of the Golden Age dynamic duo.”

Like Ludwig, most of the cast members in this production are underclassmen, who “have been learning on their feet” throughout the process of putting this show together, said Kessler. As a director, Kessler has worked with mostly seniors and juniors in her recent productions, including “Guys and Dolls” and ‘”The Music Man.”

“It’s been a big transition for [the cast members] into this very professional learning environment with a lot of hard work,” she said. “We expect a lot, and they’ve all really risen to the occasion.”

Ludwig has learned from the process.

“My biggest challenge is getting out of my head,” said Ludwig. “There comes a point in the process when you have to stop worrying about your lines and where you are supposed to be on stage and just go out there and have fun. As a young actor, I am still figuring out how to let myself do this.”

This has also been an adjustment for Kessler as a director and as an educator.

“At the beginning, I had to adjust to saying a lot more and providing a lot more,” she said. “It’s these kinds of things that make productions interesting.”

Having fellow faculty member and Theatre Department Associate Chairperson Eva Patton in the cast has helped Kessler with this transition.

“Eva has really led the way on how we work,” said Kessler. “She’s been fabulous. Putting faculty members in with the actors—especially the professors with professional experience like Eva—is so awesome.”

Overall, Kessler said “Oklahoma!” conveys the message that “anything you belong to is important.”

“It’s a story of people working together to make a community and belonging to something bigger than just you,” said Kessler. “It’s about the idea of community and how when we work together, when we have each others’ backs, more can be accomplished.”

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