# 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:** 1\ **Showing post:** 6
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2026, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oklahoma-a-groundbreaking-musical/1027747/6 "2026-02-17T16:38:22Z")
Almost a generation ago, there was this great post that explains it well > [@Why "Oklahoma"?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-oklahoma/267978/8): > > Showboat was a megahit. I just read a really good series of books about the history of musicals, decade by decade, and the author (Ethan Mordden) explains why Oklahoma! is so important: (he’s distinuishing between musical comedies like Anything Goes and musical plays) In an earlier volume, he dismisses Show Boat as the first integrated musical because it wasn’t. What we see nowdays is a stripped down version–the “good parts” version, to use a Princess Bride-ism. Almost no-one alive has seen… --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oklahoma-a-groundbreaking-musical/1027747)._