All-City director has homecoming with musical 'Oklahoma!' at Akron Civic Theatre

After nearly 40 years away from the Akron area where he grew up, Warren Scott Friedman just couldn't say no to directing this year's All-City Musical "Oklahoma!" June 17 and 18 at the Akron Civic Theatre.

The All-City Musical is an annual hallmark for high school musical theater students from across the Akron region, with 17 local high schools from Summit, Medina, Stark and Portage counties represented this year as well as several home schoolers.

Friedman, who lived in New York for 30 years and has decades of experience directing and choreographing, lived in Northeast Ohio from fifth grade through college. He was a student at Firestone High School and a graduate of Jackson High School and Kent State University. At Kent, he studied theater and roomed for two years with Jeff Richmond, who went on to marry Tina Fey and write the music for "Mean Girls."

The arts run deep in his family, with his mother, Diane Mirman, having worked in theater professionally and his sister, Lori Friedland, having performed on Broadway. Mirman, who now lives in Florida, was the original owner of the beloved Stage Center dance store in Akron's North Hill, which she opened in the late 1970s.

After decades directing, choreographing, teaching, Equity stage managing and doing production work on and off-Broadway and across the country, Friedman moved to Pittsburgh a year ago, close enough to commute to Akron to direct "Oklahoma!"

The connection came through his friend, Lisa Brosovich, assistant technical director at the Civic, whom he had worked for two summers teaching a Broadway intensive in Mississippi. Friedman, who teaches part time at Point Park University in Pittsburgh, sometimes stays in the Akron area with Brosovich rather than commuting daily to the Civic from Pittsburgh.

He acted professionally at Carousel Dinner Theatre and interned with Kenley Players while he was in college in the 1980s but this is the first time he's directed professionally in the area where he grew up. It's a homecoming of sorts for Friedman, although his family members now live in Florida.

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Teen stars in All-City Musical 'Oklahoma'

Starring in "Oklahoma!" are Brecksville-Broadview Heights graduate Leah Spacek as Laurey, Firestone senior Stanley Niekamp as Curly, Firestone sophomore Maggie Vollman as Ado Annie and Wadsworth sophomore Bryce Goodin as Will Parker.

"I was actually quite blown away by the talent, especially our leads," Friedman, sitting with his dog, Beau, said before rehearsal at the University of Akron's Sandefur Theatre on May 25. "You sometimes forget they're a sophomore in high school or a junior in high school."

High school kids having the opportunity to perform in a classic such as "Oklahoma!" is a rarity, the director said.

The Rodgers & Hammerstein gem follows the rivalry between farmers and cowboys and the love story between charming Curly and feisty Laurey in 1906 Oklahoma territory. The 1943 musical was one of the earliest musicals to fully integrate song and dance into a well-made story, ushering in the Golden Age of American musical theater.

"For me, as a director and a choreographer, there's nothing like having a show like an 'Oklahoma!' or a 'Guys and Dolls.' The book of the musical is so strong, the characters are amazing, the music is timeless," Friedman said. "There's a reason why these stories continually get done and are produced by companies all over the world."

The director said his lead All-City actors have a great chemistry, support each other as artists and have a great work ethic. Playing the show's villain, Jud Fry, is Nicholas Spinetti.

"I instill that in kids, and we work and we drill and we get it done," Friedman said. "I treat them like professionals. I expect a lot out of them, but that's a good thing."

That's the point of the All-City Musical, said producer Val Renner.

"I'm super excited to have Warren work with the kids. The experience they'll get from him and his background, that's really what All-City is about."

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"Oklahoma!" features a famous, 12-minute dream ballet depicting Laurey's struggle choosing between suitors Curly and Jud. All-City Musical choreographer Brian Murphy has choreographed ballet dancers Ariana Moneskey and Mason Tyler in the roles of Dream Laurey and Dream Curly, with Moneskey dancing en pointe.

The ballet, which features nearly the entire cast at the end of the first act, starts out in a romantic vein and becomes nightmarish.

Friedman also directs Boom! Theater

After Friedman signed on to direct the All-City Musical, Renner asked him if he'd like to direct Boom! Theater's "Guys and Dolls," which ran May 5 through 20 on the Civic's Knight Stage.

Boom! Theater shows feature actors age 50 and up. One of Friedman's biggest challenges was doing such a big show on the small Knight Stage.

This busy director opened "Guys and Dolls" May 5 and started rehearsals for "Oklahoma!" just two days later. "Guys and Dolls" went so well, Friedman will return to direct "Scrooge: The Musical" for Boom! Theater for the Christmas season.

"They became like a community together," Friedman said of the "Guys and Dolls" Boom actors.

Details

Show: All-City Musical "Oklahoma!"

When: 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. June 17, 2:30 p.m. June 18

Where: Akron Civic Theatre, 182 S. Main St., Akron

Cost: $15-$30

Information: akroncivic.com, 330-253-2488

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Theater pro returns to Akron to direct All-City Musical 'Oklahoma'