Pioneer Theatre Guild is slowly coming off two incredible weekends of shows. “Oklahoma!” was very well received with large crowds at every show. We truly appreciate everyone who came and supported us, and we hope that every audience member was able to gain something special from our characters’ stories and the history we strived to accurately portray through the complex show. As Daniel explained in his last blog, “Oklahoma!” exists as a very intricate piece of art that we had the honor of picking apart in the process of creating our production. We learned to analyze the musical composition to further our understanding of our characters, dissect the lyrics and extract the greater meanings that are hidden beneath Jud’s ballads and Ado Annie’s contemplations, and turn our ensemble numbers into true community experiences.

Andrew Carnes (Daniel Mozurkewich) forces "Persian" peddler Ali Hakim (Leo Bayless-Hall) to marry his daughter Ado-Annie (Maia Gleason) at gunpoint.

Photo by Myra Klarman

We are beginning to move back to Ann Arbor, after a thrilling few months in historical Oklahoma. We would greatly value any comments that you have, as we try to improve our organization with every show that we do, and feedback from the community is a great way to accomplish this. Please send any comments to ptguild@gmail.com or leave them as comments on this entry.

Feel free to read a review of “Oklahoma!” by Huron High School student, Mia Ruf, or view Myra Klarman’s photos from the production.

Laurey (Lydia Hiller) stands among dancing bar girls in the "Dream Ballet."

Photo by Myra Klarman

The cast, crew, and rest of the productions team put their hearts and souls into this production, and it is very bittersweet to see it taken apart in a matter of minutes as we transition into FutureStars and “Eurydice.” That being said, we have an exciting few months coming up. With less than 24 hours between the end of our last show of “Oklahoma!” and the casting of our competition play, “Eurydice,” there is barely time to take a deep breath before we dive into our next journey. Up next, we will be exploring the mystical underworld and the magical world of stage performance simultaneously. FutureStars auditions will be continuing through tomorrow, for any high school students that still want to audition for this singing and dancing competition. FS is open to students district-wide this year, so don’t be afraid to tread into unfamiliar pioneer territory; we will welcome you with open arms!!!

FutureStars themes this year are: Disney Goes Pop Mostly Michael Songs from the 2000s* On my iPod: Songs from before 2000* *Denotes student-only shows.

O-k-l-a-h-o-m-a OKLAHOMA! YEOW!!!!! A grand finale to a grand journey into unsettled territory.

Photo by Myra Klarman