"Oh Corona!" - "Oklahoma!" adapted by the Marsh Family

Marsh Family ^ | 11/1/22 | Marsh Family

[Eleutheria5]

It’s been a weird start to 2022 for us, with lots of anxiety and uncertainty about the impact of the Omicron variant which is hamstringing UK healthcare at the moment – even while other parts of life such as school and football and work seem to be ploughing on regardless. We decided to return to musicals and something of a family classic – which was not a good fit earlier in the pandemic – and see if we could make it work to reflect that dissonance at the moment.

So here’s our parody of the relentlessly upbeat musical show number, the title track from Rodgers & Hammerstein’s wonderful Oklahoma! It opened on Broadway in 1953, and we've adapted it with some half-hearted American accents and bad faux-western dress that are often hallmarks of UK productions of the show.

The original musical (and play) told of a central character torn between a complicated self-denying happy-go-lucky half-dreamed optimism and a sinister and frightening alternative lurking in the outbuildings. So that’s 2022 in a nutshell.

P.S. Please note there is a rude piece of spelling at the very end of the song in case small ears are listening. We decided (as in a couple of other instances) that strong circumstances and feelings warrant occasional expletives.

.....

[Eleutheria5]

Very well done and funny.

[JonPreston]

Well done Marsh family! :)

[ImJustAnotherOkie]

Liked it, too bad it’s white people.

[Bruce Campbells Chin]

I’m sorry, but every time I see “Marsh family”, I think H.P. Lovecraft and “Innsmouth”.

[Eleutheria5]

You’re better read than me. Maybe that’s why they adopted that stage name. But never having read Lovecraft, I wouldn’t know.

[Malsua]

I’m sorry, but every time I see “Marsh family”, I think H.P. Lovecraft and “Innsmouth”.

Any every time I see it, I think of Randy Marsh from South Park. Like Season 12, episode 6, heading west to find some internet, like Tom Joad.

[vaskypilot]

I never heard of them, but I like the humor!

[NEMDF]

Thanks for sharing!

[G Larry]

They're good!

I think the follow-up may be better:

"Totally Fixed Where We Are" - "Total Eclipse of the Heart" adapted by the Marsh Family

[Bruce Campbells Chin]

Lovecraft was a horror writer, and the Marshes weren’t exactly the nicest people. Depending on your definition, they weren’t even human, and I can’t imagine anyone using a stage name as a tribute.

[higgmeister]

Very good!

My mother was born in Oklahoma so I have always had a connection with this song and musical.