REVIEW: Oklahoma! - Gold Coast Little Theatre

Written by Rodgers & Hammerstein

Directed & Choreographed by Lucy Martin

Vocal Direction by David Valks

Additional Choreography by Natalie Cassaniti

“Don’t talk purty to me!”

GCLT closes their 2025 season, celebrating their massive 75-year milestone, with a production of the comforting classic Oklahoma! The season is basically sold out, and it only takes about ten seconds into “Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’” to understand why.

Now, confession time: I have never seen Oklahoma! before. Not the film, not a school version, nothing. I walked in a blank slate, and I walked out thinking, “Oh… this is why it’s been revived since dinosaurs roamed the Earth.” So before we dive in, a short synopsis of the classic tale: Oklahoma! is set in early 1900s America, following the romance between Curly, a charismatic cowhand, and Laurey, a strong-willed farmgirl who is far less immune to flirting than she pretends. As the community heads toward statehood, tensions simmer between farmers and cowmen, all while the brooding, volatile Jud Fry lurks at the edge of Laurey’s world. It is a story of young love, rivalry, community spirit, and the darker undercurrents beneath the prairie sunshine.

Sean Curran’s set is a total GCLT special: detailed, immersive, and charming, like a toy-box prairie town that looks real enough to move into. A farmhouse and a barn façade straight from an old sepia photograph are paired with AV projections of rolling countryside and a cozy dance hall. The whole thing creates a subtle forced-perspective illusion that makes this modest stage feel twice its size, beautifully lit by Michael Sutton’s warm sunset tones and moody shadow cuts.

Lucy Martin’s costumes are frilly, floral, flannel, and beautifully considered. The colour palettes suit each performer with uncanny accuracy. Isabella glows in soft pastels, and Elysium pops in bright blue and golden yellow that echo the sky and fields. It feels like early-1900s prairie couture with a modern eye for what flatters.

Lucy Martin’s direction is light-footed and intentional. She leans into the light joy of Act I: the community riffs, the flirtations, the optimism... while letting the shadows creep in slowly at the edges. There is no live orchestra this time around because the stage simply cannot hold one, so the production leans on the R&H tracks instead. Under David Valks’ vocal direction, the cast sounds steady, strong, and wonderfully unified.

Noa Fogarty, a bright young talent heading to the QLD Con next year, steps out to deliver “Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’”. His tone is warm and golden (and dare I say deliciously James Marsden-coded). You can practically feel the sunshine cracking through the stage walls at his voice.

Isabella Wiesenthal’s Laurey is pretty in pink, soft-spoken but steel-spined, and her crystal-clear, supported soprano is the kind of voice that makes you instinctively fix your posture. As the original will-they-won’t-they, Curly and Laurey’s duet “People Will Say We’re in Love” is sweet, flirty, and brimming with early-love coyness. Isabella plays Laurey as demure, but her eye-acting betrays the whole game. She adores every second of Curly’s attention.

“Many a New Day” glimmers with sincerity, and the ladies’ dance break that follows is sweet and spirited, all perfect smiles and hopeful twirls. Shoutout to the duo choreography team of Natalie Cassaniti and Lucy Martin. And I believe all the hairdos are real? Ringlets everywhere! Shoutout to hair designer Ann-Britt Riget.

If Laurey is subtle charm, Ado Annie is pure chaos and sunshine. Elysium Hipwood steals Act I with “I Cain’t Say No,” a wildly energetic, giggle-laced ode to being a hopeless flirt who simply cannot help herself. She is the original loveable dork who just so happens to have an astonishing belt! Her chemistry with Torrek Elbeb’s Will Parker is absurdly cute, especially in “All Er Nuthin’,” a duet that feels like watching two golden retrievers attempt to discuss exclusive dating. Torrek also leads the lads in a hilariously hyperactive “Kansas City,” a full song-and-dance expulsion of restless boy energy.

Ashley Williams as Ali Hakim is a comedic gift. He plays the sleazy travelling peddler with a gravelly Harvey Fierstein-style voice and the timing of someone who has been doing vaudeville since birth. His big number “It’s a Scandal! It’s an Outrage!” is pure musical-theatre serotonin. Louise Thorpe grounds the entire town with a firm hand and a soft centre as Aunt Eller. She is both referee and heartbeat, offering warmth and authority in perfect balance. Then there is Gertie, with Nicolette Ditchburn weaponising perkiness with a giggle that should come with a warning label.

Then... the lights shift, the humour drains, and something prickles. Jake Stubbs enters as Jud Fry, the unwashed, isolated, intimidating farmhand. “Lonely Room” becomes an unsettling glimpse into his twisted inner world, alongside beautifully lit staging. His presence around Laurey is genuinely uncomfortable to witness, exactly as it should be. Jud is the embodiment of everything simmering beneath the town’s wholesomeness, and Jake commits fully to the role. The tonal whiplash of Curly singing “Pore Jud Is Daid” is confronting, as Curly literally tries to convince Jud he would be more appreciated if he were to unalive himself. Noa delivers it with a chilling, cheerful darkness. These two young actors, Jake and Noa, are undeniable rising stars.

Oklahoma!’s famous dream ballet lands with a bang, beautifully executed. It moves from soft, sweeping romance — the ladies’ ensemble spinning in hopeful circles, curls bouncing, dresses fluttering — into Jud’s fantasy, a burlesque-style silhouetted nightmare dripping in red light and oppressive power. The use of chairs, shadows, and stage combat is fantastic. It is vivid, brutal, and even prophetic.

“The Farmer and the Cowman” plays exactly like the childish campfire brawl it is, joyful, stompy, and silly. I caught myself tapping my feet like I was in an actual square dance. “Oklahoma!” (the song) remains one of the catchiest pieces ever written. Their rendition is rich, full, and bouncy in all the right ways. From here, things get funnier, flirtier, and then the rural bliss fractures. The final scenes unfold with a surprising dose of darkness, a reminder that Oklahoma! is deceptively complex beneath its cornfed cheerfulness.

This production is a sun-drenched celebration of young love, small-town pride, and simple life. A duality of a show, handled with enormous heart by a gifted young cast and a creative team that understands exactly how to blend nostalgia with bite.

It is the perfect finale for GCLT’s 75th year.

And I am still humming “Oklahoma!”

(Help.)