Yesterday I went and saw Oklahoma! at Magic Circle Theatre in Roseville. I have seen many shows at Magic Circle, and I was even in A Chorus Line there. They pump out a lot of musicals and often have a lot of talent in their shows.

Oklahoma! is Rodgers and Hammerstein's first Musical. It has never been one of my favorite musicals, and think it has issues. Regardless, I am just going to review this specific production.

The full house starts with a corny yeehaw lead by the director Brent Null, but c'mon this is Oklahoma! so I was down. The curtain reveals the typical set I have seen for every production of this show ever (the technical aspect is where Magic Circle has always fallen short sadly). Then Curly (Tevye Ditter) begins the show with a great voice, but when he began to speak his diction was poor and my friends and I lost a lot of what he was saying in the beginning. Aunt Ella (Patty Lewis) does a good job throughout the play and is very committed to her character. Laurie (Katie Veale) was very good playing the sweet and innocent character, although this was starting to look like the Wizard of Oz for a minute because Laurie comes on wearing a Dorothy outfit on the farm, odd. But this play was definitely already enjoyable. Will Parker (Nicky Garcia) did a great job, good voice, good acting, but sadly he was just not the type for the character and was miscast. Ado Annie was one of the highlights and has a really powerful voice. The ensemble starts to trickle in and much more energy is brought to the stage, the pace picks up, the ensemble was pretty solid. By the time Curly is in Judd's smoke house the play has a certain intensity it was lacking in the beginning, and Curly was much more on now. Judd (Jeffery Heatherly, who I previously saw as Tateh in Ragtime and was my favorite thing in the show) does not disappoint and has some very intense moments and makes you sympathize for poor Judd Fry.

Which brings us to the dream sequence ballet, my favorite part of the show. Emily Cook plays "Dream Laurey" and performs a piece that starts out very poignant and beautiful, she is a natural Dancer. The sequence gets muddled when the guys come in without conviction and riding invisible horses and "two steppin", the choreography was an issue throughout. Although some moments had very good elements, it was across the board very simple (step, pivet, step, grab your belt and cowboy hat and spin, and you're done).

Another highlight is Ali Hackem(Ryan Adame) great character, perhaps my favorite part, and Gertie(Monica Wright) who has a laugh I cant attempt to recreate or describe and is a very fun part of the show. The orchestra lead by Jennifer Vaughn was on, I have never been disappointed with any orchestra at Magic Circle.

This is a fun show with some weird casting, great voices, some great characters, sub par choreography and costumes(one bright orange shirt that stood out way too much), a solid ensemble, and a few real good numbers("I can't say no!", "Lonely Room", "Oklahoma"). See it if you get a chance, it is worth seeing. And I am a huge supporter of local theatre, so everyone should try to see it for at least that reason.

Run through February 7th Fri-Sat 8pm, Sun 2pm. At the Roseville Theatre in Roseville. http://mcircle.org