The Most Misunderstood Man in the Territory?”

Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II's Oklahoma! is one of the most beloved and enduring works of American musical theater. It looms large over the history of the genre for its trailblazing integration of song, dance, and narrative. At the time of its premiere in 1943, when the nation was at war with a foreign enemy, Oklahoma!, in the words of Raymond Knapp, “provid[ed] America with a strongly embodied sense of a central national myth.”1 Over the past decade, however, a spate of revivals has reimagined Oklahoma! through the lens of contemporary politics, bringing new perspectives to the musical's symbolic forging of national identity. These reinterpretations of Oklahoma! emerged from a political context marked by Black Lives Matter and #MeToo, the backlash against both social justice movements by the political Right, and the extreme polarization of contemporary politics. Within a political climate of chaos, scapegoating, and partisanship similar in many ways to America in 1943, Oklahoma! has become an important testing ground for questioning the “central national myths” that form the basis of American culture. Much in the same way that other cultural artifacts are being challenged for the role they have played in perpetuating forms of exclusion, revisiting a canonic musical that has become an integral part of American mythology is serving to problematize the very myths that it has in part perpetuated.Many recent reimaginings of Oklahoma! hinge on their interpretations of Jud Fry and his position within the musical's national myth. Jud is an outsider, never fully assimilated into the community. He is psychologically disturbed and threatens to kill the leading couple before the protagonist, Curly, accidentally kills him in self-defense. In recent reworkings, Jud's outsider status is explained through contemporary notions of either white supremacy or toxic masculinity. In these different versions of Oklahoma! Jud is portrayed in various ways: as the aggressor, victim, or both. Is Jud truly a menace, the biggest threat to Oklahoma!’s community? Or is he, as Curly mockingly suggests in the song “Pore Jud is Daid,” “the most misunderstood man in the territory?” Though his position as the show's villain in these contemporary restagings may be more ambiguous than in the original production, the social issues he stands in for as a character in these new interpretations have become readily available to the audience in a way that the original production obscured. The various treatments of Jud as a character make clear the challenges of addressing ideologies of white supremacy and misogyny, as the ambiguity of his position within the community stands in for the insidious ways that these ideologies manifest in contemporary society. In many respects, how we understand Jud is how we understand Oklahoma!This essay explores the range of approaches to the character of Jud Fry in the twenty-first century, both on stage and screen. Focusing on how Oklahoma!’s source material has been reworked in several recent restagings and reimaginings of the musical, I examine critical reception alongside my own analysis, paying particular attention to how Jud has been interpreted by performers, directors, and audiences. Prominent restagings, such as the 2012 Seattle 5th Avenue Theatre production and the 2019 Broadway revival, use Rodgers and Hammerstein's 1943 musical to pointedly ask fresh questions about power, loneliness, community, and white privilege. Oklahoma! has also been reimagined and interpolated into new works, which recontextualize the source material in complex ways. The 2019 HBO limited series Watchmen and the 2020 surrealist psychological thriller film I'm Thinking of Ending Things intertwined references to Oklahoma! to address notions of white supremacy and toxic masculinity, respectively. Taken together, the depictions of Jud in the stage productions and screen adaptations of the Oklahoma! story bring into sharp relief political elements of the show that were often latent in the original text, particularly the show's underlying ambivalent messages surrounding nationhood and community. Further, these reinterpretations address the ever-pressing question in contemporary society about who is assimilable, whose voices are heard, and who, if anyone, should be purged from society for the sake of the community. They prompt us to consider: when we understand Oklahoma! against its intended affective motivations—partisan rather than moderate, cynical rather than uplifting, cerebral rather than entertaining—how do we reimagine what, and who, constitutes America? And what might such a reimagining do for the current political climate?The first collaboration between Rodgers and Hammerstein, Oklahoma! was based on the 1931 play Green Grow the Lilacs by Lynn Riggs. Set in Claremore, Oklahoma, in Indian Territory on the eve of Oklahoma's statehood, the musical focuses on the romance between Laurey Williams and the cowboy Curly McLain. Laurey lives on a farm with her Aunt Eller, where the two of them rely on their hired hand, Jud Fry. The main conflict centers on Laurey's decision about whether to go to the box social with Curly, whom she is attracted to even though the two feign disinterest, or Jud, who is depicted as menacing and perhaps even psychologically disturbed, but with whom she had agreed to go to make Curly jealous. Laurey attends the social with Jud, for fear of repercussions if she declines, but when he makes a pass at her, she fires him. Laurey and Curly profess their love for each other, Curly proposes, and she accepts. A few weeks later, as the town celebrates Laurey and Curly's marriage, Jud reappears and attacks Curly. In the ensuing fight, Curly kills Jud in self-defense, and in a makeshift trial, Curly is found not guilty. The show was a huge critical success and was touted for its numerous innovations to the “musical comedy” genre and the seriousness of tone underlying its escapist story.2 The music, lyrics, and dance all worked to shape a sense of national identity; critic Olin Downes called Oklahoma! a “national opera” and a “compellingly native art of the lyric theatre.”3In a show about a community's insiders and outsiders, Jud, the obvious outsider, embodies an ambiguous Other in the show, upon which Laurey by the her own and Jud has been by in that in the music, and stage Jud is as as and of Jud to the in the show's of community that by and the context of a of the that Jud many of the of the depicted in and suggests that Jud be interpreted as a who or never be part of the of which the community in the and understand Jud from a him a of the these Jud is often with the show's more and outsider the who forms a love with and and as The of the love to be into Oklahoma!’s in of the show, Jud for white in a way that and most productions over the of the show's history have not Jud's It is clear that Jud is not for other or perhaps in a complex Jud both and The not make clear whether Jud has become an of to his is a of his being in and as Curly or both. his to his own his psychological and his him from the of the community, he is not portrayed as both and fear in as in her in the is about Jud that makes him a to Curly in Laurey's even as she from her own and to her through her with two to his “Pore Jud is is a with Curly, who mockingly Jud's if he were to It is often played Jud the of the for Curly's as Jud's is the into his have how the musical Jud's from the of the community, and how the and ambiguous his psychological He about his and about Laurey before to he her and to a to my Jud from a villain into a and of of how we understand Jud's his from the community and Curly's his that is for Jud in the show's of community. He is a whose is for society to form his its mythology of American has in different ways at different its Oklahoma! a for The and Broadway revivals to the original in and the of the with the Broadway by to Oklahoma!’s of American in new production, and most of the revivals that not the or in but new into the through and Oklahoma! an a genre for which reimaginings with few to the are A spate of revivals over the two most of which the musical with clear political messages that to cultural in the twenty-first have the production to a more that the production of Oklahoma! in the first production with a and the production, an both the cultural of and a in the of in of was also in the by production was not but also an community, reimagining the as In both the and Jud is as an who to the of an his in Oklahoma! a clear and his from the community by the of the decade, the of American society depicted in the and productions and as and white to national movements in American in the first of the twenty-first and attacks on white which were on the political into the national Black Lives which emerged as a to and against Black in the and #MeToo, a that and and have to the to which America is in the but ideologies of and has attention to the ways that white supremacy and were in the of the nation the of the and Black Lives Matter many restagings of Oklahoma! have a to the source between the musical's community and contemporary of white supremacy and toxic is part of a cultural in recent as surrounding how to of American cultural history have cultural surrounding to to of history and have by often with from the political these musical has both as one of many cultural that to integral part of American that has and ideologies of and as a to same new and have about who and whose is in contemporary restagings of have become for to through these Oklahoma! a particularly both of its status within the musical and of how it on and to American 5th Avenue Theatre of Oklahoma! was with when Black was as Though the show's was was the of that to a that over history has to a of the was but Jud's a for the as a Black man the show's the tone and of the where an of a character the audience or the of to contemporary and at the same time new into a particular are to their of and into their and of the the 5th Avenue Theatre makes the that was in the text, but by the it a cynical on Oklahoma!’s mythology of Jud's from Oklahoma!’s community on more as the of based on status as an outsider, explained as an or to into that Jud from the and audience to the show the to which Oklahoma!’s mythology was interpreted with a Black in the role of Jud, which to two of Jud's position in Oklahoma!’s community. The that the Black character was the villain audience one the of Jud to be a but by as of the in an man a white the as a political in a Black man as Jud, he he the of and the whether Jud's is as a or a political the the musical's The song “Pore Jud is a song about a white man a Black man about Curly, is not a leading he is a Jud's and Curly's become an of a white man not being for a Black in the the of the show's of into his to the character of is about his but the and Jud's is and He the song and his in as he about he on the to his a before the A he the he his with a of on his he he about her he stands on his to the a to the he is to the ways that his threat with of as At the same his an into a than a of the at his as Jud, the 5th Avenue Theatre Oklahoma! as a as it perhaps of as it depicted an America that community based on and called into question the of in the of a at the of the show have had a when a white man kills a Black man and with later, on The production a of the original but it other rather than the large it was in the the on most of the the audience was and and the was for a and to the production a often as a for as a for of and production on and a justice The by the to make the audience a part of the community, which to them in its the was many as and Oklahoma! contemporary the production production, reimagined of Jud him in a more that he in the to make was a is and with one critic that his of Jud of He is in who is in The first into Jud is in “Pore Jud is Daid,” where he is portrayed in with Curly by who has an The song in the an extreme of Jud's to Curly's Jud to Curly's and a his He for of that he is in by Curly's song sense of Jud as a Curly to be a man who has with of with of a is with of with contemporary by a The song with the played on the as a musical Jud stands and with in his the stage in in as he by his own but he at in are of particularly as he the on the my The between his of and his to marked by a in the is with a the of the musical the other the stage and as the go He and though the of the the his from society. He the was all a of the before a The of Jud's is in a in and when he her and through the of the song, his by song Jud as a his threat to the community is based on and more on what might when an is to a have the audience to Jud with more than he is the production, Jud's as an obvious the of the Laurey's of Jud's for In the the most to the Jud's is not depicted as an but as on the part of Curly, which the community is to with a to clear him of the are the production of Jud's for his character to an or a a who to by In other Jud's has a in between the two toxic in the play is Laurey by Black is between two her who to her who, in production, is depicted as and of her Laurey to make her own of but of fear for how it may her in the community if she the of social or her her is the 2019 revival, into sharp relief the of both Curly and Jud as in the the question of American community and by both Jud and Curly as of different of toxic masculinity, clear the question of who to and whose or it is to the two of toxic masculinity, as by Curly and Jud, in the show the of in society. At the of the show, Curly is and the with the Laurey The the of both have on Laurey is the of the show even and of the show how the of within American has been and the it to in the recent screen series and one references to Oklahoma!, between Jud and their own These references are in Oklahoma!’s reception of how they contemporary of the musical's and the these might have on and society. Watchmen and I'm Thinking of Ending Things pointedly the musical in ways. they its status as American to a sharp between the musical and the or cynical they Oklahoma!’s they between their and in Oklahoma! to make on contemporary in both more questions than they These of Oklahoma! reimagine Jud in ways to the restagings but with more ambiguity as to Jud's position in society. Is he or or a complex of And what it when we that limited series by references to Oklahoma! to its on in contemporary society. The series is an of on the series of the same the show to “the of a similar to the but from the fear of war to about with white Watchmen is in contemporary in an the the has been for white in and from the In of the are for leading to backlash and the of the the A few the and of the in their a called the in the their and series a cynical of contemporary American politics, white and justice in It is with references to and a that and works with American through the with and The reception the it it critical and many Black and have to the of Watchmen as a in the words of its depictions in At the same of the original the series and it was are between Oklahoma! and for the on the of in the musical and in the and the psychological of a The for the musical's are Watchmen is in more the references to Oklahoma! to the on and community. The references become a of to the ambiguity of one of its main first and of a lyric from the song “Pore Jud is Daid,” the stage for the The with a of the of an of that has been as A white to of and in the about and to the The an of and the history that is in history and stands in with Oklahoma!’s of the the focuses on the show's protagonist, Black by and her white of by who in the first to be a of justice and an to and her and were two of the few of the which them with the musical in the first are first to his character in an what is to the as It is a community production with an but bringing to the revival, but with a very different when the of as he in the is symbolic the of community is on but Black in the community of is to be is called from the a of the has a Black in the and his are at and her for the that and the that played Curly in his production, and that Curly is “the of Oklahoma! He the he kills the he a The ask him to and he a few from Curly and Laurey's in He the a different to each with for and an of He by the to his before her a In of Curly is but is he with a and a he the several and over of the he have been a Curly on the character to his all as he to to and he in his of their is of but as the we are not the of the is found from a on a The song “Pore Jud is on the The is but also In Oklahoma!, the song is a if Curly on In it and the was a of the but it is that was with them and was part of a white that and to Black into against their own community. with Oklahoma! in the audience is with a character who at first to be a but in to the of society. In other the audience is in the first to that is more of a Curly, but he in a is the of Jud of being an with a more the is a man whose is his to Oklahoma! it to not who to in but also who to the how the series makes white supremacy the In has found ways to into the community such that he be In he has found a community of other a community that to upon the of the The question the series is not what to do about Jud for the sake of the community, but what to do when be of society the is cynical of American society that Oklahoma!’s is in and in was a for the that have the also in psychological thriller I'm Thinking of Ending on in The in the words of into the and Thinking of Ending an of the by explores the and of The film explores the of Rodgers and Hammerstein's on and references to Oklahoma! to between the musical and the of the The story focuses on a by and a by have been for on a to on their The we through her is their the two through a to the their become as about the her become even more at as his to in and the film are of a a at a the film it clear that and the are the same and the is a of his an of his of past and notions of romance that he from and other forms of all of which he about as he The film is a of it as It though many to the and of the an that when that in a at I about for a I revisiting Oklahoma!, which I I was a a of that more than I Jud, was of Oklahoma! and and as but a of other on Oklahoma! as one of the many references in the a of that is both and to the first in the as and the in the past the the song a on the to the about his love of particularly Oklahoma!, which he on few The of the show for a production of the It is a cultural one that is at it is also of a symbolic community, one that the has from the but never fully a part Oklahoma! references become more in the which an that Oklahoma!’s at the of become for the as they dance to their love for each of Jud the it is the the between Curly and Jud that to Curly's in Laurey's a symbolic and of of his with who has never had a at the is in the where stands on the in stage and in its his and of in Jud's he in of a of his and the that he is his own and Jud, but his of Jud is not he that his was a of he the but his his The of the song, a a to my are from he and on his and his the his through a The is as his through various forms of and has a Curly, upon at the of his he to with the that he has been a Oklahoma! is for its status as but also for its psychological of an In into a through the lens of Jud, the has political Though it is not a to him to an or a of other forms of he is an with notions of that to and when these be I'm Thinking of Ending Things the of toxic to the the of these of At one is to have to it of a are a the film the couple other in and of being by In his to a Jud to a to my in the film to the of romance when it clear that the is the is to about the of he has over suggests that the film by the film depictions of white have a role in a the film with Oklahoma!, the musical to the in Oklahoma!’s symbolic of community, what of who it And how are Oklahoma!, and the they to for from In the of Oklahoma! is a rather than a the twenty-first century, Oklahoma!’s in American has as have with Rodgers and Hammerstein's story to and with it in new ways. Jud has on new as an through their depictions of Jud, and have Oklahoma! into its in many ways worked to an rather than a a cynical on rather than a and a cerebral of American rather than many respects, the interpretations of Jud in these revivals and reimaginings of Oklahoma! each In the 5th Avenue Theatre production Jud is about by Curly, and from the justice in he is a white who is his had to his own form of justice the of versions of Jud to the of in American whether it is a Black man who to and is more to be at the of than his white or a white who has that his in American society is Jud's to are also between the Broadway and I'm Thinking of Ending through and other they both into and to more fully understand and with his They Jud as a of to the of his and for him. These as a society with misogyny, to to the of toxic masculinity. Oklahoma! the of a in of the of these of the musical, even a of the show on contemporary political A of Oklahoma! at in for the that a time where we all and as a community, we to whether are a or a and truly a Territory should the to was that the production was and by being of and as of the in in a which to political and and the for a in the of He when he for a with the a few before the on his production of Oklahoma!, he with who as and the of the played to the of American and the of the In an with the he that Oklahoma! was show about who, against all are for their and for what is to stage Oklahoma! is in and the in the production on the role of what they as their in the American and his more to Curly or to They with Curly, but they are the as for their and in ways that have the of Oklahoma!’s and to that for the production how it is to stage Oklahoma! and the musical was in the twenty-first it the The show's original are by the it is to at the of who contemporary together, the recent restagings and adaptations of Oklahoma! make clear that the musical has on a different of cultural in the twenty-first contemporary to them to they are to make the more Broadway have been political in ways both and but the musical genre in recent has become more in of and and the character of Jud in has been a particularly source for of the musical that were the as Jud has become both symbolic of American and a for contemporary of American and to the ways in which beloved Broadway Oklahoma! are in their In the twenty-first century, Oklahoma!’s of American has become cynical and its of its main outsider a myth. a we who to the

Ancient history · Art · Political science · Politics · American Environmental and Regional History · American History and Culture · History · Law · Race, History, and American Society