The star-laden concert My Favorite Things, held at London’s Theatre Royal Drury Lane on Tuesday, marked the 80th anniversary, earlier this year, of the Broadway premiere of Oklahoma! It was a ritzy affair devised as a tribute to Rodgers and Hammerstein and designed for devotees but will have done nothing to resolve the debate as to whether the famous duo’s work embodies, in the words of one critic, “theme-park Americana” or whether it revolutionised the US musical.
The format itself, with a parade of hit songs linked by the performers, now looks old-fashioned. After Daniel Fish’s mesmerisingly dark production of Oklahoma! ,with its bluegrass band, in London last year, it is difficult to go back to an unequivocally sunny rendering of its famous numbers with lush orchestration by Simon Lee. Although this production shrewdly includes the famous assault on racial bigotry, You’ve Got to Be Taught, from South Pacific, there is an unbridled romanticism to the show’s other songs when stripped of their dramatic context. Compared with the fizz and crackle of the Sondheim tribute, Old Friends, where each number resembles a one-act play, this evening seems like a collection of much-loved golden oldies.
Yet individual performers, deftly directed and choreographed by Christopher Gattelli, leave their imprint on the numbers. Audra McDonald renders the title song with genuine warmth, overcoming the winsomeness of a heroine who adores “bright copper kettles and warm woollen mittens”. Marisha Wallace, in an array of spectacular costumes, is the personification of sass, not least as a full-throated Ado Annie from Oklahoma! Maria Friedman, while hymning young lovers in The King and I, passionately reminds us “I had a love of my own”. And, while there is no hint of the aggressive militarism that characterised Daniel Evans’s Chichester production of South Pacific, Julian Ovenden and Michael Ball, respectively, sing This Nearly Was Mine and Some Enchanted Evening with real fervour.
This last number is the cue for Andrew Lloyd Webber to make a surprise appearance to reiterate his belief that it is one of the greatest songs in musical history. He also reminds us that Oklahoma! was originally entitled Away We Go and that, after less than overwhelming try-outs in New Haven and Boston, nearly didn’t make it to Broadway. An even more startling guest is Rita Moreno who played Tuptim in the film of The King and I and who informs us that Yul Brynner addressed her throughout as Tough Tit. She recounts, with vengeful glee, her delight at hearing the howls of pain whenever the famously bare-footed Brynner trod on a nail.
This is an evening for Rodgers and Hammerstein aficionados. As someone who profoundly admires Oklahoma!, Carousel and South Pacific but who finds The King and I and The Sound of Music formulaic, it left me with mixed feelings. Of one thing, however, I am sure. Whoever next puts together an anthology of their work needs to address its internal contradictions and its rare ability to combine radicalism and reassurance.
• My Favorite Things is in 400 cinemas in the UK and Ireland on 14 and 18 February.
