ROGERS & Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! starring Belinda Lang and Gary Wilmot will be delighting Southampton audiences next week.

Music & Lyrics Limited and Royal & Derngate Northampton present this new production of the Pulitzer Prize-winning musical at Mayflower Theatre from Tuesday, May 5-Saturday, May 9.

The award-winning producers of highly successful tours of The King & I and Fiddler on the Roof present one of the great classic American musicals, featuring a large cast and chorus.

The cast includes Belinda Lang (School for Scandal, Ladies in Lavender, The Killing of Sister George) as Aunt Eller, Gary Wilmot (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, The Pajama Game, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang) as Ali Hakim and Ashley Day (The Book of Mormon, The Wizard of Oz, High School Musical) as Curly, accompanied by a live orchestra led by musical director Steve Ridley.

Set and costumes are designed by Francis O’Connor, with lighting by Tim Mitchell and sound by Ben Harrison.

Oklahoma!, with music by Richard Rodgers and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, was based on the Lynn Riggs play Green Grow the Lilacs and was the first musical written by the duo.

It was originally produced on Broadway in 1943 and the Academy Award-winning film was released in 1955.

Set in the Oklahoma territory in the early 1900s, the musical tells the story of two sets of star-crossed lovers.

Cowboy Curly loves Laurey, Aunt Eller’s niece, but Curly’s rival is the mysterious and dangerous hired hand Jud Fry.

Meanwhile, Ado Annie is torn between cowboy Will and peddler Ali Hakim.

Their stories are told with the help of some of the best loved songs in musical theatre history, including Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’, I’m Just a Girl Who Cain’t Say No, Surrey With a Fringe on Top, Kansas City, People Will Say We’re in Love and the title song.

  • Tickets for Oklahoma! (Tuesday, May 5-Saturday, May 9, 2015) are on sale from Mayflower Theatre Box Office tel: 023 8071 1811 or online at mayflower.org.uk. Ovation Restaurant bookings: 023 8071 1833.