The original OKLAHOMA! -- based on Green Grow the Lilacs by Lynn Riggs - made its debut March 31, 1943, at Broadway's St. James Theatre. It was an instant hit, running for over five years and more than 2,200 performances.

OKLAHOMA! has won many accolades including a special Pulitzer Prize (1944), a special Tony® Award, and induction into the Grammy Awards Hall of Fame. The national tour criss-crossed the U.S. for an unprecedented 10-1/2 years playing to over 10 million people. In 1955 the motion picture version of OKLAHOMA!, starring Gordon MacRae and Shirley Jones was released. The picture won two Academy Awards.

OKLAHOMA!, Rodgers & Hammerstein's first collaboration, set the standards for modern musical theatre with the classic musical numbers "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'," "People Will Say We're In Love," "The Surrey With The Fringe On Top" and the title song. Set in the territory of Oklahoma at the turn of the century, against a background of the rivalry between cattlemen and farmers, OKLAHOMA! is the story of the farm girl Laurey and the two rivals for her affection: the cowboy Curly and Jud, the brooding farmhand.

OKLAHOMA! is the only Broadway show tune to become a state song and the first Broadway musical to be commemorated in a U.S. postage stamp. A recent survey by New York's Drama League deemed OKLAHOMA! "the Best Musical of the Century."

Now OKLAHOMA! is coming to the stage at Skyview High School on May 1st of 2007 as a joint production created by students and drama/music staff of Skyview and Hudson Bay High Schools.