By Kristen Nevarez Schweizer
May 31, 2025
This summer, Cygnet Theatre is turning the page to a glorious new chapter with Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! Their final production at the Old Town Theatre will run June 11 through July 27 and serves as both a love letter to the past and a proud stride into the future. As the company prepares to move to their new home at The Joan in Liberty Station, Artistic Director Sean Murray promises audiences a version of Oklahoma! that is anything but expected.
“I’ve performed in this show twice, and it’s a glorious piece,” Murray reflects. “It’s beloved, yes, but there’s so much more going on beneath the surface than people often realize. I wanted to return to the script as a director and dig into the deep emotional undercurrents. And it also seemed a perfect last production for us in the ol’ barn.”
Set in the American frontier just before Oklahoma’s statehood, the musical follows the romance between cowboy Curly McLain and farm girl Laurey Williams, and the troubled farmhand Jud Fry, who complicates their love story. But under Murray’s experienced direction, this isn’t just a nostalgic trip to the prairie.
“There’s real meat in this musical that sometimes gets lost in the gingham and picnic baskets,” he says. “It’s adapted from a gritty 1930s play [Green Grows the Lilacs by Lynn Riggs]. I am excited to work with thinking actors-who-sing to explore the psychological depth and subliminal sexual tension that runs through the entire story. We’re going to explore that fully — especially in our intimate space, where the audience is close enough to feel every heartbeat.”
One of the production’s standout elements is the famed “dream ballet,” a dance sequence that delves into Laurey’s subconscious. “It’s not just an add-on — it’s revolutionary,” says Murray. “It pushes the story forward. You get to see Laurey’s fears laid bare in this surreal, heightened way. If we tie it in truthfully to her character, it becomes essential.”
Returning to the Cygnet stage as Laurey is Ariella Kvashny, last seen in Evita. “Ariella is incredibly smart, grounded, and has a phenomenal voice,” Murray says. “I wanted a Laurey who reflects the strength of modern women. This is not the Shirley Jones version. Doing this play in 2025, we see that Laurey is a strong woman, a farm woman who runs a whole ranch with her aunt. She is sparring with Curly like Beatrice and Benedick [in Much Ado About Nothing]. The two of them can fling and take an insult, yet find themselves destined to love each other.”
The production will take full advantage of Cygnet’s three-quarter thrust stage. “We’re using every inch of the space. This show should feel alive and immediate. I want audiences to experience Oklahoma! in a way they haven’t before and open their eyes to what’s been there in the text all along.”
The historic Old Town Theatre will remain under Cygnet’s lease through 2026, and they intend to rent it out during this time. (The inclusive Arms Wide Open will produce Beetlejuice The Musical there in October.) “This building has been a community jewel, and hundreds of people made our time here possible,” says Murray. “We’re proud of the legacy we’re leaving and thrilled for what comes next.”
As for the move to Liberty Station, Murray describes the mood as a mix of excitement and immense gratitude. “It feels like Christmas Eve. We’ve been working on this since 2017. And while it’s the end of one era, in many ways, the real work is just beginning.”
Cygnet’s inaugural production at The Joan begins in September with the grand musical Follies — a rarely staged Sondheim masterpiece. “It hasn’t been done in San Diego in a long time, and it’s the kind of thinking person’s musical we love to do. It’s about memory, regret, self-reflection. It is the perfect show to introduce who we are to new audiences.”
Oklahoma! runs June 11–July 27 at Cygnet Theatre’s Old Town location.
