# Oklahoma! a groundbreaking musical **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** theater-stage-dance\ **Created:** [February 17, 2026, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oklahoma-a-groundbreaking-musical/1027747 "2026-02-17T15:02:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2026, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oklahoma-a-groundbreaking-musical/1027747/41 "2026-02-25T04:34:30Z")
Like G&S, but totally unlike Broadway reviews. I don’t know if many people appreciate just how popular G&S was in the USA. There was a point where you couldn’t say “never” in American society without someone responding “What never?” There was an unbroken tradition of Opera/Light Opera/Operetta, including shows that were completely unified and integrated pieces of musical theatre, in the sense that all the songs and dance number are directed connected to and motivated by the central storyline, and contribute to telling a single coherent story. It’s only that those shows weren’t Broadway Musicals. Produced on Broadway. by Broadway cast. For Broadway audiences. The Broadway Musical was something quite different than Oklahoma! I have heard people saying, with a straight face, that Oklahoma! didn’t owe anything to other shows with identical form. But I don’t buy it. That has to presume that Rodgers and Hammerstein were ignorant of what was going on just up the road, and had missed an entire subset of American Musical Theatre while growing up and learning their trade. I think there is more justice in the idea that Musical Theatre other than Broadway Musicals didn’t have American content. Sure, there were American authors, and American settings, but not enormously popular. But that is seldom what people talk about. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2026, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oklahoma-a-groundbreaking-musical/1027747/42 "2026-02-25T04:51:51Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > I don’t know if many people appreciate just how popular G&S was in the USA. In the 1960s our family had a great set of records for introducing various genres of music to kids. Since I was 7 years old, I was “given” the Transportation record (Casey Jones, John Henry, Erie Canal). My 6-year-old sister got the Fairy Tale record (Thumbellina!) Others were great composers, sacred music, holiday songs, etc. One ENTIRE record was Gilbert and Sullivan, which goes to show how highly esteemed they were. It was also the one that got played the least in our house. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2026, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oklahoma-a-groundbreaking-musical/1027747/43 "2026-02-25T09:32:08Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > There was a point where you couldn’t say “never” in American society without someone responding “What never?” I wonder when and where that was, before my childhood anyway, and/or not in my city. In the late 60s I worked one summer for a local light opera company (they did one G&S and one operetta in rotation each summer). That year they did Iolanthe and Student Prince (or “Stud Prince” which is what it said on all the scenery flats). It was my first exposure to G&S, which I had never heard nor heard of before. In spite of its somewhat obscure context (making fun of the Aesthetics movement of the late Victorians) I fell in love with Iolanthe, and then all the others. But it was not from previous familiarity. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2026, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oklahoma-a-groundbreaking-musical/1027747/44 "2026-02-25T10:09:55Z")
> [@JohnGalt](#): > > In the 1960s our family had a great set of records for introducing various genres of music to kids. My parents didn’t waste time with things like that. They loved Broadway musicals, had all the records, and we kids (Sis and I) were exposed to them constantly. It was not at all unusual for Mom or Dad to break into a Broadway song, depending on circumstance. – We dined at nine. – We dined at eight. – I was on time. – No, you were late. – Ah yes. I remember it well. There was an April moon … – There was none that night. And the month was June. – That’s right, that’s right. Not complaining. It was fun. And a great way to introduce Sis and I to Broadway musicals. I’ve had a lot of fun acting and singing in community musical theatre productions ever since. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2026, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oklahoma-a-groundbreaking-musical/1027747/45 "2026-02-25T10:17:58Z")
Too late to edit: I’ve been doing “Fugue for Tinhorns” from _Guys and Dolls_ since I was eight. No wonder I grew up to be a horseplayer! ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2026, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oklahoma-a-groundbreaking-musical/1027747/46 "2026-02-25T10:18:34Z")
I grew up in a household with a really outdated set of encyclopedias. It had an entry for “operettas” and listed _OKLAHOMA!_ as one of them. My guess is that “Broadway musical” was an evolving concept as late as the 1950s, and that _OKLAHOMA!_ was initially thought to be of a piece with _The Pirates of Penzance._ Now it’s considered to be the first of a new form entirely. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2026, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oklahoma-a-groundbreaking-musical/1027747/47 "2026-02-27T19:11:41Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > “Every time I lose a wrasslin’ match, I get the funny feeling that I won.” > > Wonderful message for the boys in the audience. > > At the same time, there’s something refreshing about a woman singing that she experiences and enjoys sex. The movie version of _Oklahoma!_ shows Ado Annie feeling terribly guilty and ashamed when she’s singing “I Cain’t Say No.” In the production we did in high school in 1981, Ado Annie was a **LOT** more joyous about it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oklahoma-a-groundbreaking-musical/1027747.md?page=2)