West Falcon Theatre presented the musical “Oklahoma!” Apr. 4-6 in the Liddy Auditorium at West High School. This was director Nic Anderson’s first time directing a musical at West. Anderson and the cast most definitely did a stellar job.

“Oklahoma!” is set in Western Indian Territory just after the turn of the 20th Century. There is a rivalry between the local farmers and cowboys, which delivers the backdrop for the rocky love story between Curly (junior Rolando Gonzalez), an attractive cowboy, and Laurey (senior Molly Kretchmer), a beautiful farm girl. It tells the story of their love and if it will last despite moving to a new state, Oklahoma.

There is not just one conflicting romance, there is another one that involves Laurey’s best friend. Ado Annie Carnes (senior Rebecca Casad) is caught up in her own love triangle because she “can’t say no” when it comes to males giving her attention. She does not know if she wants the flirtatious conman Ali Hakim (senior Trenton Smith) or the good cowboy, Will Parker (Chane Eckhardt) that would sacrifice anything for her.

As the scenes continue, the more confusing and conflicting the love gets. Whether it was the dark, traumatized, frightening Judd (junior Robbie Greve) wanting love, even if Laurey is wrapped up in someone else or the strict father, Andrew Carnes (senior Brandon Walker), putting a gun to a man’s back forcing him to say and do the right things with his daughter.

The acting in the musical was absolutely wonderful. Each character portrayed their character perfectly whether it was their costume, makeup, actions or even country accents.

From the audience’s perspective, you could tell that each cast member transformed into their character, which only made the acting, singing and dancing better. If a character made a mistake, it was not noticeable.

The audience was roaring with laughter, especially at Aunt Eller’s sarcastic remarks, or when Ado Annie Carnes slapped one of the ensemble characters (freshman Austin Peckenschneider). The one critique would be that there was some trouble with the soundboard where the actor’s microphones would cut out when they were singing or acting. However, if you couldn’t hear them, they made sure to project their voices, which is what some characters unfortunately had to do the whole time.

The set was a farm with a porch and a door leading into a house. There were some hay bales, a clothesline, and a butter churner owned by Aunt Eller. There was also the cozy smokehouse, which happens to be Judd’s home. In the small facility there were pictures of women barely dressed and a table for where Judd and Curly would have their talk about how Judd should hang himself to show how he was a good guy. All the props and decorations that were apart of the set tied the scenes together.

Many of the cast members and their parents helped contribute to building the set. The costumes and makeup reflected on the characters correctly. Some examples are Aunt Eller and Andrew Carnes and how the wrinkles and gray hair impeccably resembled their elderly age. The lighting and sound were perfectly in-sync with each cue, making it easier to stay immersed in the play.

The musical will have you feeling many different emotions from laughing one moment, shocked by an unexpected scene, and even having you saying out loud, “awwwww” due to the cute, endearing yet romantic parts. What had the crowd most shocked was when (SPOILER ALERT) Judd came to Curly’s and Laurey’s wedding with a knife trying to strike at Curly, but failing and having Curly stab him instead for self-defense. But mostly, it will have you tapping your foot along with the beat and wondering curiously about what is going to happen to each of the relationships.

The extra month of preparation did indeed help them in the long run for this production. Though there were some minor problems, it was still an amazing musical, definitely one of their best.