New Web Series Launched For UNCSAÂ's Upcoming Production of Oklahoma!

The Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts and No Rules Production Company are launching a new web series to coincide with the opening of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts' (UNCSA) all-school musical Oklahoma!

The 8-episode series premiered Friday, April 1 when the first episode went up on the UNCSA website at www.uncsa.edu. Seven more episodes will be presented on the website each subsequent week until the end of the show in May.

The Oklahoma! web series will feature interviews with key UNCSA production team members involved in the re-staging of this classic show, along with Oklahoma! experts across the country. When Oklahoma! opened on Broadway in 1943, it transformed musical theatre with its innovative integration of words, music, dance and design. UNCSA's restaging will include the original Agnes De Mille choreography as re-created by Gemze de Lappe, a renowned dancer and teacher who performed in the original Broadway and touring productions of Oklahoma! and worked closely with de Mille for many years. In addition, UNCSA has extensively researched all aspects of the original production and will painstakingly recreate the original costumes and stage design.

The episodes will include a history of the original 1943 Broadway production, information on re-creating the original set design, choreography and music, as well as documentation of the rehearsal and production process on the UNCSA campus.

"We are fortunate to engage the talents and skill of UNCSA alumni and students on the No Rules Production team to put together this web series as an educational piece to accompany the all-school performance," says Dr. Margaret S. Mertz, Executive Director of the Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts. "This venture is the first such co-production to reach out to audiences across the state and nation."

The Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts incubates projects that sustain artists at every point in their creative development through strategic partnerships that capitalize on visionary thinking in the arts. For more information, visit www.kenanarts.org.

The University of North Carolina School of the Arts (www.uncsa.edu) is the University of North Carolina's conservatory for the arts, dedicated entirely to the professional training of students possessing exceptional talents in the performing, visual and moving image arts. UNCSA offers students a focused, intense, professional training at the high school, baccalaureate, and masters levels in its schools of Dance, Design and Production, Drama, Filmmaking and Music.