Pre-annotated Bibliography:

Khalid Alsaidi

Prof. Wise-Lawrence/Dr.robb

American musical theatre

19 October 2018

 

Through my research so far I’ve begun to form questions that relate to a major topic on the Oklahoma! musical. And this involves the issue of race and its major involvement in what seems to be a diluted part of the Oklahoma! community. Through my use of several academic sources, including The New York Times I can continue my research on the front that Oklahoma! masks racial disunity throughout the musical to show how the American community back in the 1940s disregarded the African Americans.

Although it is well known that in history the African American community constantly struggled within America to become equals amongst society, this same idea can be applied with how Jud is treated from the Oklahoma! community. 1943, the same year Oklahoma! was made, was one of many years that shows and exemplifies this. Many riots ensued throughout the year including the Detroit race riots in June and the Harlem riots of August. Both of these riots had common grounds and a goal the African American community wanted to achieve. “Negro leaders insisted not on mere rights…but on same rights, the privilege to use the same facilities as whites, bathrooms, hotels, restaurants”(Turner, page one, New York Times). This seems to be a common issue society had faced back in the early 20th century, and is an issue Oklahoma! Is not excused from. You see a perfect example in Oklahoma! of nonequal treatment, where towards the end of the musical it is shown how the Oklahoma! community deals with the case involving Jud and Curly. Right away you see something isn’t right when the case lasts for less than a couple of minutes and the community at its entirety besides the marshal were okay with holding a makeshift trial to Aunt Eller’s discretion on the spot of Jud’s death. And the many witnesses that testified on Curly’s behalf did so in such a false manner, stating that they have seen it happen when they weren’t present. This all begs the question, should Jud’s skin color had been white would the community had treated the case differently? This case involved the murder of somebody’s life, whether being ruled self-defense or not a proper trial should always be conducted. And the rather positive tone in music that plays after the scene “oh what a beautiful mornin’” as if nothing had just occurred is a rather sinister way to end the musical that would leave today’s audience baffled with anger.

       In many scenes in Oklahoma! the way that the people in the community expressed themselves amongst Jud is extremely questioning. One of those scenes in particular takes place in Curlys visit to Jud after finishing up errands over at the farm house. Basically Curly and Jud conversate over Juds past and his upbringing, however Curly at several points during the scene exemplifies questionable to horrific statements towards Jud. One questionable statement I’d like to mention was when Jud was venting to Curly about how the two places he’s worked before had employers that “treated him like dirt” and how they’ve always thought they were better. Curly responds to Jud with “What, did you do get even?” and in the same sentence proceeds to state “it just came in my head is all”.  Now, this is a really important form of statement to analyze that Curly gives towards Jud. You’ll notice that Curly tries to justify his reasoning for accusing Jud of aggressive retaliation by explaining it was the first thing that just came in mind. But the question still remains and one would ask, why was it the first thing to come in mind that has Curly to believe Jud is a man with aggressive nature and retaliates against his past employers with vengeance in mind? At this point there’s a lot of tension in the scene between both characters. However, Curly stretches it even further in the same scene when he started  commenting on Juds rope. Curly goes on and states how he could hang himself with this rope and demonstrates how he’d be able to do it. Jud isn’t in the right state of mind and Curly knows and takes advantage of this. He continues to state how people would miss him after his death and how he’d smell like flowers, as if to persuade Jud to end his life. This in turn has Curly essentially stating that everyone would miss him only once he’s gone, indicating that as of now in the current state that Jud is alive, he isn’t appreciated, not cared for and he truly is just a hired hand. As a viewer of this musical you can’t help but feel a very toxic conversation between Jud and Curly that is rather fueled by racial slurs. The scene goes on and starts with the number “Poor Jud is Daid”.

       Poor Jud is Daid is a song within Oklahoma! performed by Curly’s character that analyzes what Curly believes what would happen should Jud commit to hanging himself, a dark statement that is rather one of the worst things you can say to anyone. Throughout this song, there are several lines of lyrics i’d like to address that seem to target Jud. One in particular has Curly stating “People used to think he was a mean ugly feller and they called him a dirty skunk and an ornery pig stealer” (Oklahoma!). Through this lyric Jud is reduced to being ugly, mean and unlikable, and is described in animalistic terms as a ‘skunk’.  It is at this point of the song that you really start to notice the dehumanizing factors Poor Jud is Daid truly has in describing Jud. Curly reveals what he really thinks of Jud but disguises it through the song, and one thing to note is no other person within the entire Oklahoma! cast receives these types of horrific comments. This is even further demonstrating the lack of value the community holds for Jud’s life. So as you can well imagine, a scenario does not exist where this would be appropriate to tell anybody. But what’s concerning and worth noting is Jud’s take on the song. He mentions that “folks are feeling sad cause they use to treat him bad”. The one lyric that Jud joins in on the song is when Curly starts romanticizing the ramifications of his death, manipulated into believing that his death would bring peace, an extreme sign that Jud is truly depressed.  It is from these lyrics that you learn how Jud feels about how the community treats him.

Oklahoma! is based on the musical Green Grow the Lilacs and it follows a rivaling between Jud Fry and Curly Mcclain that showcase both characters arguing and bashing at each other throughout the musical over Laurie Williams. It first premiered as a Broadway production on March 31, 1943. In my version of the musical, I watched the 1999 version of Oklahoma! composed by Trevor Nunn and choreographed by Susan Stroman.

 

Outline of Academic article B:

This article is a collaboration of comments in response to the Oklahoma! Musical. The entirety of the article goes on and questions the undeniable involvement of race in the play and how it affected each character’s role. Adding to this the authors also question the ethics and mindset behind the director when they created these characters as they seem to be targeted especially for their race. The article talks about how Jud’s character is considered and is proved as “villainous” through the various actions he does towards other characters that very resemble what we would call today “racial stereotypes”.  Robert Hapgood’s section explains this very briefly as he speaks on the involvement of race in the musical through the thorough analyzation of Curly’s and Jud’s character, specifically targeting the conversations they have with each other. He also questions whether the direction of the play was to intentionally involve race, as we have to keep in mind that the musical itself was written and took place in the early 20^th century, at a time where racism towards African Americans was still at an all-time high. In reply to Hapgood and Baringer, Most goes on and continue to explain why the play had a racial motif by providing examples the directors may or may not have intended. Example, it is learned that Rodgers and Hammerstein’s version of Oklahoma! Celebrates not Indian nationhood in the musical, as it was originally intended to, but American nationalism. This seemingly places the musical in a spot where it looks like Rodgers and Hammerstein would rather choose to define a white community instead.

 

My parts on the group presentation on Oklahoma!