Rogers & Hammerstein

Went to the Mondavi last night  with Pica to see the UC Davis production of Rogers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma! I saw the movie years ago but had never seen it on stage, and this staging was a good one, with plenty of really excellent dancing and mostly fine singing voices, especially from the guy who played Curly. Watching good dancers always thrills me; I have to restrain myself from bouncing up and down in my seat. In my "yout'" I wanted to be a dancer, but alas, dancing lessons weren't in the financial picture, so despite my best efforts to teach myself ballet from library books and pretending to tap dance, that fantasy never materialized. Still, it's a thrill to watch. And any time I hear a Rogers and Hammerstein score, I remember my high-school friend Janie, who had all the LP recordings of all their musicals—Carousel, Flower Drum Song, South Pacific, and of course Oklahoma! I'd go over to her house and we'd sit in her room and play those records; I knew all the words then, and mostly still do.