'Oklahoma' a golden oldie

NEW YORK -- That golden haze on the meadow is a bit brighter the second time around.\nThe current Broadway revival of "Oklahoma!" received a muted welcome from many of the critics when it opened at the Gershwin Theatre last March. Tasteful, a tad sedate and a little reverential, the production was intimidated perhaps by the show's standing as a landmark of the American musical theater.\nNow, a second viewing finds this Rodgers and Hammerstein classic, with several important cast changes, more relaxed and more open, making the frisky sweetness of Susan Stroman's choreography all that more apparent and enjoyable.\nIt's Stroman's choreography that propels this Trevor Nunn-directed production, which he originally staged at England's National Theatre. If anything, she is the one who should have been intimidated, since Agnes DeMille's dances for the original were extraordinary and always considered an integral part of any major revival.\nStroman's achievement is impressive, especially in the musical's first-act finale, the "Out of My Dreams" ballet. It's here that the slender story -- will cowboy Curly or menacing hired hand Jud Fry take the indecisive Laurey to the box social? -- gets its fullest expression.\nStephen R. Buntrock's Curly is more sunny and less complicated than his predecessor's. Buntrock is thoroughly engaging -- brash but not overbearing -- and he possesses a glorious voice that does full justice to such standards as "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" and "The Surrey With the Fringe on Top."\nAmy Bodnar -- the alternate and understudy for the original Laurey Josefina Gabrielle -- is less feisty and more predictable, although she dances and sings the role well. Bodnar takes over the role permanently Feb. 18.\nPatty Duke, returning to Broadway for the first time in more than 40 years, has replaced Andrea Martin as the matriarchal Aunt Eller. Duke is not a natural musical-comedy performer, but there is something endearing about her gawkiness when it comes to song and dance. She's got gumption, which is a quality this flinty, pioneer woman should abundantly possess.\nMerwin Foard's performance as Jud Fry is as physically threatening if not as psychologically complex as that of Shuler Hensley, the actor who won a Tony Award for his portrayal of the show's troubled villain.\nSeveral of the holdovers have gotten better, particularly Jessica Boevers as the flirtatious Ado Annie. The actress has found the laughs in a character who, in the wrong hands, is more likely to be annoying than comic. And Justin Bohon as the rope-twirlin,' high-steppin' Will Parker remains one of the best dancers on Broadway.\nThe production, which perversely lost the Tony last June for best musical revival, still looks spiffy, too. Those barren plains, populated by a lonely farmhouse or two and the occasional windmill, are lovingly captured in all their Spartan beauty by designer Anthony Ward.\nBy today's rapid-fire, show-biz standards, "Oklahoma!" doesn't spin very quickly, which may be part of its problem with modern audiences. The show turns 60 March 31, but if its story feels a little thin, its glorious songs wear their six decades very well.