Please
note: I forgot to put in that John English is played by Andrew
Levy. And, of course, John English represents John French. This edit
will be made for the completed content in my new e-book Everyday
There's Something 2008 soon to be released on mystrawhat.com
Oklahomo: The Musical Starring
Mike Jerrick and ..
In an effort to try and
counter the democratic juggernaut running for president,
Hillary Clinton, as the republican party has no one to
compete, FOX is showing how “fair and balanced” it really is and
is trying to appeal to a more liberal population of the country
with its new musical, Oklahomo.
The superbly splendid show
is an updated version of the classic musical and is more like
Oklahoma meets Broke Back Mountain.
Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein
meets
Tennessee Williams. The songs are tight and relevant to
today and draw from such compassionate emotion and range of
strong feelings that cut like a knife until it tears your heart
in two.
Mike Jerrick defines what
talented actor he is playing the lead character, Curly McLain,
who is in love with the towns biggest cabaret star, Bill Scholz,
at the Life’s a Drag Cabaret Theatre. The theatre is owned by an
ex-Madame of a long gone brothel when the town was less
cultured. Scholz’s character, Mistress Laurey Williams, is both
funny and tragic and may be interpreted by some savvy theatre
followers as a clown from more traditional, ancient Roman and
Greek based theatre.
Oklahomo not only offers
one but two love triangles. Yes, Curly loves Mistress Laurey
Williams and Laurey Williams is loved by Jud fry played by Greg
Gutfeld. However, the other triangle is commentary on how a
cowboy just can’t openly love a drag queen cabaret star in a
place like
Oklahoma and needs to keep appearances by seemingly being
in love with a real woman.
Curly makes out like he
loves a beautiful blond anchorwoman named Julie West played by
Juliet Huddy. Again this is more of a show for appearances yet
again Curly surely realizes he needs Juliet Huddy’s character,
Julie West, and cannot make it without her. Thus, Curly despises
the two men also courting
Oklahoma’s hottest blond anchorwoman, Julie West, but
tolerates one more than the other as he realizes he can mold and
manipulate the obvious stupidity of the attention seeking brute,
Jake Lion.
Jake Lion played by
Animal Planet Dave is tired of being on the prowl and
tired of his career going unnoticed so he sees Julie West as a
perfect match to both help gain exposure and also simplify the
confusing world of dating. Though where Jake Lion may know how
to make wild animals submissive with his big dose of
testosterone and brute strength, he doesn’t know women and is
overly frustrated by most of them. And so he is totally smitten
when a gorgeous, smart, visible blond anchorwoman whose
desperate biological clock is ticking pays major attention to
him.
Curly basically allows
this to happen between Julie and Jake as he is fine with
courting Julie without having to actually commit to marriage so
he can keep things open enough for his blossoming relationship
with Mistress Laurey Williams. Just the same, Curly also wins
out by having Jake court Julie as this preoccupies the time of
Julie and allows Curly time to spend with Mistress Laurey
Williams whose demanding performance schedule has little time
for romance other than steamy sessions with Curly in her
dressing room or apartment above the cabaret theatre late late
at night. Curly easily manipulates the dumb Jake Lion who Curly
also likes because he has to frequently travel to exotic
locations which gives Curly his room to operate his schemes.
On the other hand, Curly
does not approve of a mysterious young poet who has caught the
attention of
Oklahoma’s hottest anchorwoman, Julie West, by emailing
poems and insightful and sometimes humorous commentary into the
newsroom of her television station, WXXP 8. Curly is
automatically threatened by this mystic poet and his engaging
ways which intrigues Julie West and the other women of the
station. The young mystic poet, John England, played by Andrew
Levy, represents the bigger world outside of
Oklahoma and poses the threat of Julie West leaving
Oklahoma behind to be based on the east coast and ramble
on to cover life on the road criss-crossing the States.
The tensions brew and rise
to a big blow-out during the town’s first “Multi Culture
Appreciation Day Parade.” Jud Fry is an easy scapegoat for
Curly. Nobody likes him or trusts him due to his seedy family
history and his loner, drunken ways, which has never done
anything other than add to his horrible, questionable existence.
Everybody knows Jud covets the beauty and fame of Mistress
Laurey Williams and despises the approval Curly receives from
her and everybody in general. In fact, Judy Fry speaks very
little other than words to startle Mistress Larey Williams in
such a creepy manner and to try and belittle and offend Curly
anyway he can to try and provoke him. Everyone knows he’d
probably like to kill Curly if given the opportunity. Jail would
be a haven for his miserable life.
The Multi Culture
Appreciation Day Parade is an all day affair in full throttle
and while the town is out in the streets celebrating, Curly
takes advantage of the ostracized Jud Fry who is drunk in the
ally behind the cabaret theatre, Life’s a Drag. Curly has
thought this up wonderfully and sets-Jud-up to be framed for
burning the place down. With total diabolical precision Curly
succeeds in luring John England to the point of origin while the
fire is raging on by making him think that his beloved Julie
West is trapped inside there.
Both Jud Fry and John
England die at the hands of Curly McLain who is the first to
discover the charred bodies and piece it all together for the
townspeople who unquestionably believe Curly and his all
American good looks and smooth talk.
Curly McLain wins out by
having two of his nemeses that loved his two loves perish in a
fire he started – In addition Curly wins by having Mistresses
Laurey Williams’ all encompassing venue for employment burn to
the ground. Mistresses Laurey Williams laments its loss and
feels there is nothing left in
Oklahoma for her now but bad vibes.
All along Curly McLain has
been working on Jake Lion to move to Las Vegas to work with him
in a show where the cowboy and animal trainer could dazzle a
packed house together night after night – And, now they would
have Mistresses Laurey Williams to work into the show –
Moreover, of course, Julie West wins the attention of a big TV
NEWS station in Vegas and is offered an anchor position there.
Therefore, in conclusion,
Curly, Mistresses Laurey Williams, Jake Lion and Julie West all
ride off into the sunset to start a new life in show business
out in Vegas.
The End.
Oklahomo: The Musical runs
120 minutes w/ one intermission.
Best of American
Beauty Roses,
"John French" / John Alan Conte Jr.
The New Media 2009