To close their successful 52nd season, Theatre MSU will be performing the musical, “Oklahoma!,” in the McComas Hall Mainstage Theatre starting on Thursday night and continuing through Sunday afternoon.

Theatre MSU focused more on presenting a diverse and balanced season of shows than ever before, which is why this season has featured everything from the classic children’s story, “Pinocchio,” the more historical, “Trojan Women,” the comedic “Complete Works of William Shakespeare” and now ending with the musical “Oklahoma!.”

“Oklahoma!,” which was the first collaboration between partners Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, is a musical set in the Western-Indian territory just after the turn of the 20th century. 

Tim Matheny, MSU professor and director of “Oklahoma!,” said this show is all about how relationships are formed on multiple levels. 

“I’m a strong believer in that theatre should say something, and this is a strong show centered around maintaining and building relationships on all levels,” Matheny said.

During the time period in which “Oklahoma!” is set, there was a strong rivalry between cowboys and farmers. “Oklahoma!” shows the differences in these relationships and follows some romance between the two rival groups. 

James Yates, senior animal and dairy science major, will play the character of Jud Fry in the production. He said this show definitely covers the whole spectrum of emotions.

“There is a lot of emotion in this show,” Yates said. “It has its light-hearted moments, and it has its darker moments, too.” 

Mitchell Bentley, junior finance major, has been highly involved with Theatre MSU this season. 

“This show has a really good story that I didn’t think I would like in the beginning, but I have grown to love it,” Bentley said. “Some of the songs can really make you sing along.” 

Jimmy Rustenhaven, sophomore music education major, will play the lead, Curly, in the show. 

“I’m extremely excited, and I’m ready to show everyone what we have been working so hard on these past few months,” Rustenhaven said. 

Performance nights will be April 21-April 23 at 7:30 p.m. and April 25th at 2 p.m. 

If you are  interested in coming to see the last show of the Theatre MSU season, tickets are $10 and can be purchased online, prior to the show, or at the door on a first come/first serve basis. 

For more information on upcoming Theatre MSU shows, or the upcoming seasons, visit www.comm.msstate.edu/theatre. com.