DIRECTOR and choreographer Louise Denison has chosen Rodgers and Hammerstein's first musical, 1943's Oklahoma!, as the 2016 Stage Experience musical at the Grand Opera House in York.

Her cast has been in rehearsal since July 23, which will culminate in four performances from tonight until Saturday. " I was keen to do a traditional musical this year after such shows as Our House and West Side Story, and first and foremost Oklahoma! is a classic for a reason," says Louise.

"It's a really funny show but with darkness too. There aren't many scripts I can get through without falling asleep but this is one where the humour is absolutely relevant, and from a musical point of view, vocally they are fantastic songs to do with some beautiful harmony work in there. They are wonderful, classic music theatre songs, so it's the perfect learning curve for the cast."

What marks out Rodgers and Hammerstein? "Their songs are always different enough from other songwriters but there's something about them that feels instantly recognisable, so the hook in each song is very clear and that makes them immediately hummable for the audience," says Louise.

"The lyrics are very clever and their stories are full of wonderful characters, with the two love triangle stories in Oklahoma!, one of them serious that ends in tragedy, the other adding a light-hearted element for contrast."

In Louise's cast for a sixth Stage Experience year is Conor Mellor in the role of Curly McLain, one of four parts in quick succession for the 19-year-old York actor, who quickly followed up appearing in Les Miserables in February by starting rehearsals for assorted parts in March and April.

"On Sundays, I was rehearsing one show from ten till one o'clock, then Dolly Parton's 9 To 5 from 2.30pm to 5.30pm, and straight into Assassins from 5.30pm to 8.30pm," he says.

Last week, he played Giuseppe Zangara, the Italian failed assassin of President Roosevelt in Pick Me Up Theatre's Assassins at 41 Monkgate; this week comes cowboy Curly Mclain in the darker love triangle in Oklahoma!; from August 22 to 23, he will appear as Benny the landlord in York Orchard Theatre Company's Rent at the Grand Opera House. Finally, for now, he will star as Dwayne, southern hairdresser Doralee's husband, in York Stage Musicals' 9 To 5 The Musical, again at the Opera House from September 9 to 17.

"I'm building my experience all the time, trying to get everything out of doing as many roles as possible and as varied as possible with a view to going to drama school," he says. "There are other ways into professional theatre but drama school is always something I've foreseen doing."

Stage Experience presents Oklahoma! at Grand Opera House, York, tonight to Saturday, 7.30pm and 2.30pm Saturday matinee. Box office: 0844 871 3024 or at atgtickets.com/york