Saxony Lutheran High School students will be belting out "Oh What a Beautiful Morning," "The Surrey with the Fringe on Top," "I Cain't Say No," and other favorites as part of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical "Oklahoma!"

The musical, which originally opened on Broadway in 1943, takes place at the turn of the 20th century and features the romance of Curly McClaine, a cowboy, and Laurey Williams, a farm girl, against the backdrop of Oklahoma before it becomes a state.

Choreography is by Jacquelyn Kiefner, who plays Laurey, and Tabitha Petzoldt, daughter of director Tammy Petzoldt. Tyson Wunderlich is the musical director.

This is the first time Saxony has tackled "Oklahoma!," Tammy Petzoldt said. And the students are enjoying it.

"This is [the] third musical I've done, and so far it seems to be my favorite," said Elwood Voss, who portrays Will Parker. "Honestly -- it sounds kind of cheesy to say -- it's a very magical kind of tale. It's kind of hard for me to describe. It involves so many great characters; and we have so many great actors that are going to do a great job portraying the characters; and we have many amazing songs. The songs are actually probably the best part of it."

Landon Petzoldt, as Curly, sings “The Surrey With the Fringe On Top” to Jacquelyn Kiefner, as Laurey, in a scene from the musical “Oklahoma!” to be presented by Saxony Lutheran High School students at the Perry Park Center in Perryville, Mo. (Fred Lynch)

Kiefner agrees, noting some theater veterans wondered how they were going to top last year's production of "The Wizard of Oz." But Aaron Turner, who plays Ali Hakim, a peddler in the show, said the director is quite good at matching cast members to their parts, which makes it easy.

"I think this is just a totally different animal," Kiefner said. "Like Elwood said, it's kind of magical because there's singing and dancing and there's all these really pretty costumes and there's really fun story lines and really funny characters and there's some drama and some fighting. It's just a great combination."

Danielle Childers, who plays Ado Annie, said she knew a lot of the songs before hand, but didn't match it to the musical until she watched it again. She said her father would sing "Oh What a Beautiful Morning" to her in the morning.

Cheyenne Goss, who plays Gertie Cummins, said she had never seen the musical before so getting into the show has been interesting and fun. She noted the country accents weren't difficult, because the cast is from Southeast Missouri.

"Because I play Gertie, I've had to perfect the most annoying laugh I have ever tried to personally conquer in my acting, so it's been a little different, but it's really fun and I'm really enjoying doing this with all these wonderful actors."

Julie Aufdenberg, as Aunt Eller, rehearses a scene with Elwood Voss, as Will Parker, and other cast members of the musical “Oklahoma!” (Fred Lynch)

This also is the last chance for seniors, who play most of the lead characters, to make their mark.

"I feel like it's going to go great," Childers said. "We have really good choreography. Honestly, I think this is the best dancing we've had so far and everybody's being very cooperative and really working together. Everybody seems to actually want it this year, like we're all 100 percent in."

Petzoldt said the show has 26 cast members, including Levi Krauss, a chorus member, who attends St. Vincent High School in Perryville, Mo.

"This is our biggest effort all year," Petzoldt said. " ... It takes a lot more people, but we have so much good support from the parents that really pulled this together."

Performances will be staged at the Perry Park Center Theater in Perryville. Show times are 7 p.m. April 25 and 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. April 26 and tickets are $9 for adults and $6 for students through 12th grade. Tickets are available at the door, or by calling the Saxony Lutheran office at 204-7555.

rcampbell@semissourian.com

388-3639

Pertinent address:

800 City Park Lane, Perryville, Mo.