The University of Hawaii at Manoa Kennedy Theatre main-stage production of "Oklahoma!" has a cast and production values that would do credit to any of our community theater companies.

Scenic designer Donald Quilinquin’s minimalist set pieces suffice to define the various locales without requiring the traditional downtime needed for set changes. Choreographer Cindy Hartigan fills the stage with colorfully costumed characters in the big musical numbers, while fellow choreographer Harmony S.L. Aguilera’s staging of the iconic "Dream Dance" is a masterpiece of dramatic dance in which violence and eroticism rise to the fore.

Brandon Gregory Martinez (Curly) makes a winning impression with "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’" and maintains it thereafter as a singer, actor and dancer.

Karissa J. Murrell Adams (Laurey) has star-quality stage presence and a good, strong voice. Her moments with Garett T.K. Taketa (Jud Fry) in "Dream Dance" show that she is an expressive and sensual dancer as well.

Walt Gaines (Ali Hakim) teams up with Robbie Johnson (Will Parker) and Brittni Michele Shambaugh (Ado Annie) in playing out the comic complications that develop when a wily woman-chasing peddler gets trapped between a ditsy farmer’s daughter and the cowboy who wants to marry her. Johnson stands tall and noble as the naive and honorable cowboy — and does a fine job vocally in his two key musical numbers. Shambaugh brings the talents of an animated physical comedian to the role of the girl who "can’t say no."

Director Lurana Donnels O’Malley makes interesting choices in her approach to this 1943-vintage Broadway classic. One is making Curly seem almost as dim a bulb as Will. The other is having Taketa play Fry as a tragic, almost romantic antihero rather than the malevolent loner, stalker or psychopath seen in other stagings of the story. In revealing the different sides of Fry’s psyche, Taketa creates a portrait of a tortured soul.

"Lonely Room" becomes more a cry of despair than a sullen vow of violence; Curly’s unnecessary visit to the smokehouse seems a needless provocation, and Curly’s thinly veiled suggestion that Fry commit suicide ("Pore Jud is Daid"), cruel and sardonic although also darkly funny. Taketa has steadily developed his stage skills at Diamond Head Theatre in recent years; his performance here as a leading man is a memorable breakthrough for him.

Paul T. Mitri’s fight-scene choreography gives a natural rough-and-tumble look to the brawl between the farmers and the cowboys; he draws on the athleticism of Shambaugh and Erin McFadden (Gertie Cummings) for the cat fight between Ado Annie and her rival. Mitri’s choreography of Martinez and Taketa in their fight scene adds the final touches to Taketa’s memorable portrayal of the designated villain.