Interview with St. Ann’s ‘Oklahoma!’ revival star, Brooklyn native Rebecca Naomi Jones
One of the iconic female roles in American musical theater is that of Laurey Williams in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s 1943 classic “Oklahoma!,” which is currently receiving a glorious revival — and selling out nightly — at St. Ann’s Warehouse in DUMBO. Without changing a word of the text, this striking and audacious production, directed by Daniel Fish and originally presented in 2015 as part of the Bard Summerscape series, is a reimagining of “Oklahoma!” for our present moment.
Nowhere is this reinterpretation more evident than in the production’s approach to the role of Laurey. Unlike her predecessors, this Laurey has agency. The transformation is in no small measure made credible by the bold and nuanced performance of Rebecca Naomi Jones. Ms. Jones, who has appeared in “Hedwig and the Angry Inch,” “American Idiot,” “Passing Strange” and “Marie and Rosetta,” gives an astonishing performance.
Her Laurey combines an independent streak with an aching vulnerability. She fully inhabits the role, subtly registering Laurey’s confusion and uncertainty as she navigates her attraction to both Curly, the cowhand, and Jud, the hired hand working her farm. Jones has the range and emotional dexterity to strike this daredevil balance.