Now that we live closer to Zilker Park, the Zilker Summer Musical has become one of my favorite summer traditions. This year’s show is Oklahoma! by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein. This is the 56th consecutive year for summer musicals at the Zilker HIllside, which has the distinction as being the longest-running outdoor donation-only theater in the country.

Oklahoma! is a long musical with one intermission. The Overture began at dusk (around 8:30 PM) and the final bows ended almost three hours later. This show is a crowd-pleaser with well-known songs such as Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’, People Will Say We’re in Love, and the title song, of course. The leads were well-cast and had strong voices. The dancing was fine, especially the dream sequence at the end of the first act.

Bill and I had a very enjoyable evening. Due to a little cool front, temperatures were in the mid-80s. We were even treated to a flyby of the International Space Station around 9:45 PM. Performances continue through August 16th, so there’s still time to get down to Zilker Park if you haven’t been yet. Then you, too, will be singing for the next week:

O-K-L-A-H-O-M-A!   OKLAHOMA!   YEEOW!

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