Will Rogers Follies returns to Oklahoma
Larry Gatlin, one-third of music-legend Gatlin Brothers, had been out of the industry a short time when he took his wife to see “The Will Roger Follies” on Broadway, turning down a dinner invitation that night with golf partner Frank Gifford and his wife, Kathy Lee.
It was Gifford that planted the seed for a jump start on a new career path when he told Gatlin he would be “great in that role” … that Keith Carradine was leaving. It was Gifford who made the call that got him the audition.
Gatlin starred in the title role of the Tony award winning musical seven months in 1993 and the following year started his first national tour. Oklahoma City was the only Oklahoma town on the tour. He starred in another national tour in the late 1990s.
Now in a rebirth of the musical on the road, Larry Gatlin will return to Oklahoma, this time adding Tulsa to the venue. “The Will Rogers Follies A Life in Review” will be Jan. 24-29 at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center, coming from a Jan. 17-22 run at the Oklahoma City Civic Center Music Hall.
A family show for all ages, the cast is filled with cowboys and Indians, beautiful girls and great music and dancing.
The Follies is an account of the famed Indian Territory cowboy, performer and philosopher. Will narrates his life story through a series of spectacular Ziegfeld Follies production numbers which come to life with the Ziegfeld Girls, Ziegfeld’s Favorite, wranglers and a trick roper.
Gatlin, who doesn’t try to be a Will Rogers, but expresses a great admiration for his wit and humor, said playing the part has made him a better person. He admitted he has “met a few people he didn’t like,” but after playing Will it “doesn’t happen as often and I get over it quicker.”
Gatlin shares a Cherokee heritage with Will Rogers, a quarter-blood Cherokee from Oklahoma. Gatlin’s grandmother was half Cherokee from Oklahoma.
One of the highlights of the production is choreography at its best, which won Tonys for Tommy Tune for the best director of a musical and choreography. The red, white and blue costumed seated hand-leg routine and song “Favorite Son” was taken across the street to appear at the national political convention.
There was a surge in attendance and requests for information about Will Rogers after the show opened on Broadway, according to Michelle Lefebvre-Carter, executive director of Will Rogers Museums.
“This tour opened in September. By the time it closes in May of next year, because of Larry Gatlin’s energy and charm, we expect to see a revival of interest in Will Rogers, the museum and Claremore,” she said.
She and her husband, Joe Carter, who was the museum director at the time of the Broadway opening, have worked with Gatlin on several occasions and saw this year’s tour opening in Texas. The museum has provided displays in a number of venues on the road tours.
The original production which swept the Tony Awards in 1991 as best musical, best music score, best costume design, best light design, best actor and actress in a musical, best book and best scene design, closed on Broadway after 981 performances.
Will Rogers was the top box office attraction in the world when he died in an Alaskan plane crash Aug. 15, 1935. A personal friend of president and kings, sought after public speaker, newspaper columnist and radio star, he kept close ties to home folks in Claremore, where the museum is dedicated in his honor three years after his death and is open seven days a week, 365 days a year.
Tickets to the Tulsa presentation of “Will Rogers Follies A Life in Review,” a musical with magnificent sets, glitzy costumes, beautiful girls and handsome guys, are on sale now through Celebrity Attractions. Tickets may be purchased via phone 596-7111 or (800) 364-7111, in person at the Tulsa PAC ticket office, at select metro area Homeland locations or via the Internet at www.tulsapac.com. Groups of 20 or more may call Celebrity Attractions at 477-7469, extension 220 for a discount.
Claremore Regional Hospital Senior Advantage has reserved a bus and seats for the Jan. 28, Saturday afternoon matinee. A few tickets are still available at $55 each, which includes bus fare. Call the Senior Advantage office, 341-9378. The group will have a dutch treat dinner following the matinee.