In 1943, service members in uniform packed Broadway's St. James Theatre to see the new Rodgers & Hammerstein musical "Oklahoma!" On its surface, it was a silly story: a young woman is deciding which young man should take her to a country dance. But it resonated with audiences and with an America in the middle of World War II. 

Part of that explanation is for obvious reasons: "Oklahoma!" reminded people of all the good things they were fighting for, like love and community and the land itself. But another reason is the dark, shadowy strand that runs through the musical, which is best captured in the nightmarish dream ballet, conceived of and first choreographed by Agnes de Mille.

"Oklahoma!" is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year and a new production at St. Ann's Warehouse makes those shadows even darker, which feels appropriate in the nation's current climate of anger, fear and uncertainty. 

John Heginbotham, the choreographer for the new production, said that before the dream ballet, "There's sort of this benevolent sense of bounty. And then the whole room starts to tilt."

That tilting is like life itself: you can get complacent that everything is going along fine, and then suddenly everything shifts. 

Archival material in the audio story is courtesy of the Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. Music is from the 1955 film and the current production.

Oklahoma!" by Rodgers & Hammerstein's, directed by Daniel Fish, choreographed by John Heginbotham, with a new musical arrangement by Daniel Kluger, is now at St. Ann's Warehouse through Nov. 11.