Rebecca Naomi Jones, who is currently leading the cast of Rinne Groff's Fire in Dreamland at The Public Theater, is set to play Laurey in the Bard SummerScape production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! to be re-mounted at St. Ann’s Warehouse beginning in September. Ali Stroker, who recently made her Broadway debut in Deaf West's Spring Awakening, will star as Ado Annie.
Directed by New York-based director Daniel Fish, the acclaimed production returns to the stage for the first time since playing to sold-out audiences at the Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Bard College in 2015.
The production’s original cast members Damon Daunno (Curly), Patrick Vaill (Jud Fry), Mary Testa (Aunt Eller), and James Davis (Will Parker), will return to the musical. New cast members will include Michael Nathanson (The Punisher, The Knick) as Ali Hakim, and Mitch Tebo as Annie's father.
The Off-Broadway run is presented by producer Eva Price and St. Ann’s Warehouse. Performances will begin September 27 in the Brooklyn theatre.
Oklahoma! features music by Richard Rodgers and a book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, based on the play Green Grow the Lilacs, with original dances by Agnes de Mille.
The creative team at St. Ann’s Warehouse will be made up of Daniel Kluger (new orchestrations, arrangements and music supervision, John Heginbotham (new choreography), Nathan Koci (music direction), Laura Jellinek (scenic design, based on an original concept by John Conklin), Terese Wadden (costume design), Scott Zielinski (lighting design), Drew Levy (sound design), and Joshua Thorson (projection design).
Fish’s other directing credits include Acquanetta, Don’t Look Back (The Chocolate Factory), Who Left This Fork Here (Baryshnikov Arts Center, Onassis Center), Ted Hearne’s The Source (BAM Next Wave, L.A Opera, San Francisco Opera), and Eternal.
