Oklahoma! Star
Actress and musical star Shirley Jones was interviewed at the Will Rogers Memorial Museum by KTUL Channel 8 morning news anchor Keith Taylor for broadcast on Channel 8’s Good Day Tulsa morning show. Ms. Jones performed at the Claremore Performing Arts Center as part of a weeklong “Destination Claremore” set of events. She talked about the seven-months on location for the movie’s shooting in Nogales, Ariz., where it was shot for the resemblance to Oklahoma (and seven months of good weather). It was her first visit to Claremore and the Will Rogers Memorial Museum, which she mentioned during a later appearance at the J.M. Davis Arms and Historical Museum where her Oklahoma! character Laurey Williams was inducted into the Claremore Wall of Fame. The long-playing Rodgers and Hammerstein musical was adapted from Claremore native and playwright Lynn Riggs’ Green Grow the Lilacs.