Below is an early portrait of gay, part-Cherokee, Claremore OK native playwright/scenarist Lynn Riggs (1899 – 1954), whose 1931 stage play, Green Grow the Lilacs, was successfully produced by the legendary Theatre Guild and revived 12 years later as the musical…well, you know.

But before those Oklahoma! checks started rolling in, Riggs plied his trade in Hollywood as a screenwriter—here are two of his most enjoyable movies on my YouTube channel:

In 2019 a radically reimagined Oklahoma! premiered on Broadway with a new, scaled down arrangement, using Robert Russell Bennett’s framework but giving the music a vibrancy and an authentic twang I’ve really never heard before. New orchestration by Daniel Kluger; vocal coaching by Barbara Maier Gustern, her shining triumph:

FULL DRESS // A gifted mesmerist—a sinister composer—a naive young conductor from the north…inspired by an episode from the life of Rachmaninoff // DOWNLOAD FREE BOOK POSTER

the lighter side of cantara on x

One thought on “The Triumph of Barbara Maier Gustern (1935-2022) Plus an Appreciation of Oklahoma-Born Playwright/Scenarist Lynn Riggs—Why I Won’t Be Listening to John Wilson’s Chandos-Produced, RHO-Sanctioned Oklahoma!”

  1. Pingback: John Wilson Conducts Oklahoma at the 2017 BBC Proms, Rouben Mamoulian Howls In Protest from His Grave, 2 – "I'll Be Dead Before You Break My Heart"

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