NEWBURYPORT — Scandal and outrage dressed in tall hats and cowboy boots will hit the stage starting Thursday when Rupert A. Nock Middle School students perform Rodgers and Hammerstein’s classic musical “Oklahoma!”
Based on the 1943 Broadway musical, “Oklahoma!” tells the story of farmgirl Laurey Williams (Nora Baker), who is courted by cowboy Curly McLain (Jijo Malkasian) and sinister farmhand Jud Fry (Will Bugli). It includes classic numbers such as the title song, “Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’,” and “It’s a Scandal! It’s a Outrage!”
Roughly 70, sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders make up the show’s cast and crew. “Oklahoma!” is performing arts director and music teacher Brian Nickerson’s ninth spring production.
“We’re very ready to roll and I will be honest, I haven’t seen us as calm a week before an opening as we are,” he said. “Everybody has put in so much hard work and been at rehearsals and been focused.”
Nickerson added that TV shows such as “Yellowstone” and “Tulsa King” have made Westerns hot again and his students have really responded to the material.
“I was a little unsure how to sell an 80-year-old show about a bygone era to a group of 2023 11- through 14-year-olds but they have just taken it and ran with it,” he said. “They have interpreted it in their own way.”
Bugli, a seventh-grader, is acting in his first theater production along with classmate Nate Brown, who plays another cowboy, Will Parker. For those who are up on the musical, that means Parker is engaged to Ado Annie (Reese Beauparlant).
“He’s a fun-loving, dancing cowboy who’s not on the smarter sider,” Brown said of Parker. “He lives in a fantasy world.”
Many of the cast members will wear cowboy boots, which Brown said can be a challenge to dance in.
“They do hurt my feet a lot,” he joked.
Bugli said the show has been a lot of fun to rehearse and he’s looking forward to the performances.
Malkasian, an eighth-grader, gets to belt out “Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’,” among other classics, as Curly McLain.
Malkasian’s classmates Lilly Curtis (Kate) and Abby Orem (Ellen) said “Oklahoma!” is their third show with Nock Theater and both promised a good time for the audience.
“This is definitely an uplifting show,” Curtis said.
Nickerson said he has made sure not to change the show.
“This really is one of the most iconic shows out there,” he said. “Most of the songs are really well known.”
“Oklahoma!” opens in the schools auditorium Thursday 4 at 7 p.m. with additional performances Friday at 7 p.m. and a 2 p.m. matinee on Saturday.
For more information, go to nockoklahoma.weebly.com/.
Staff writer Jim Sullivan covers Newburyport for The Daily News. He can be reached via email at jsullivan@newburyportnews.com or by phone at 978-961-3145. Follow him on Twitter @ndnsully.