A Lowcountry Homecoming

Broadway’s Jenn Colella Directs SSTI’s Oklahoma!

story by ADDISON ALBERDA             photos courtesy of SSTI

When Tony Award nominee Jenn Colella directs Oklahoma! for the Southeastern Summer Theatre Institute this summer, the assignment will carry more than just professional weight. For Colella, it is a return to one of the first musicals that shaped her, a homecoming to South Carolina, and her first time stepping into the director’s chair.

“Interestingly enough, Oklahoma! was the first show that I ever did, and I’m directing it at SSTI this summer,” Colella said during a recent appearance on iHeartRadio’s DRAMA podcast. “I feel like this is a big moment.”

The production opens July 25th at Beaufort High School as the second offering in SSTI’s nineteenth season, and it arrives at a moment of transition and momentum for the organization. After years of producing award-winning musicals at Hilton Head High School, SSTI moved its summer season to Beaufort while its longtime Hilton Head venue undergoes construction. The move has introduced the company to new audiences while reconnecting with longtime supporters throughout the region.
The success of the season opener All Shook Up suggests that SSTI is finding its footing quickly in Beaufort. Audiences have not only included curious new locals, but also have a strong response from Sun City as those longtime fans find the Beaufort venue easier to reach than fighting summer traffic onto Hilton Head. Local businesses have also welcomed the company, with restaurants, bars, and coffee shops quickly becoming part of the summer rhythm for SSTI’s staff of more than 40 professionals.
For SSTI founder and director Ben Wolfe, that sense of welcome matters.

“SSTI has made itself right at home in Beaufort,” Wolfe says. “The businesses here have been incredibly responsive, not only helping promote the productions, but taking great care of our staff, who are out in the community seven days a week. We’ve quickly found restaurants, bars, and coffee shops that feel like home.”

Now, with Oklahoma!, SSTI turns from the rock-and-roll nostalgia of All Shook Up to one of the defining works of American musical theatre.

First produced on Broadway in 1943, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! helped reshape the American musical by blending song, story, dance, and character into a unified dramatic experience. Its score includes some of the most beloved songs in the musical theatre canon, including “Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’,” “People Will Say We’re in Love,” and “The Surrey with the Fringe on Top.”

SSTI’s production will lean into the classic American sweep of the piece while still allowing Colella to bring a fresh directorial perspective. The production will feature a multilevel set, a stage filled with corn (‘as high as an elephant’s eye’), and even a real surrey with the fringe on top! While the staging is expected to feel more traditional in spirit than the most recent Broadway revival, Wolfe says Colella’s approach still thinks outside the box in its presentation and character work.

That includes how the production approaches Jud Fry, a character often treated simply as the show’s villain. Colella has already hinted that she is interested in giving him more dimension.

“They always play him as creepy,” Colella said. “He’s misunderstood, but he’s got to be an option for Laurie (the musical’s female lead).”

It is a revealing comment from an artist approaching a classic not as a historical piece, but as a living story with human complications. Colella’s Oklahoma! appears poised to honor the musical’s Golden Age roots while asking audiences to look more closely at the emotional stakes underneath its familiar songs and iconic images.

That perspective is shaped in part by Colella’s own connection to the material. Growing up in Summerville, South Carolina, she did not have access to an expansive theatre scene. She recalls finding drama through a local woman who taught out of her garage, where Colella became part of a small troupe and actually played the comedic Gertie Cummings in Oklahoma! on a tiny carpeted stage.

“That was my role,” Colella said. “I was like, oh, okay, now I can be a part of this theatre group.”

Since then, Colella’s career has taken her from South Carolina to Broadway and beyond. She earned a Tony Award nomination for her performance in Come From Away and has built a career as a performer and educator, teaching at institutions including Columbia University and Pace University, as well as leading master classes across the country. She also currently appears in a recurring role on the CBS drama Elsbeth.

Her relationship with SSTI is also long-standing. Colella has taught for the program for many summers, and Wolfe had invited her to direct before. This year, she finally said yes.

“Ben had invited me to direct before, and I’ve been too scared to commit,” Colella said. “I finally just kind of took a breath and said yes this time.”

The decision brings her back to the Lowcountry, where much of her family still lives, and into a new artistic role.
“I get to be home and do something new and exciting,” Colella said. “I’m really stoked.”

For SSTI students, that homecoming means working under the guidance of an artist who has lived the professional life many of them hope to pursue. Each summer, SSTI casts performers from across the country (along with select locals) through a competitive audition process, while technical theatre students interview for positions in specific production departments.
Professional directors, designers, carpenters, electricians, costume artists, stage managers, and musicians are then brought in to lead the work.

For Beaufort audiences, the production offers a chance to experience one of America’s most enduring musicals with SSTI’s signature scale, made complete with a professional orchestra performing the iconic score.

And for Colella, it is something simpler and more profound: A first show becomes a first directing project. A Broadway career circles back home. This summer, Oklahoma! arrives in Beaufort.

Oklahoma! will be performed at Beaufort High School, 84 Sea Island Parkway, Beaufort, SC 29907. Performance dates are July 25, 30, 31, and August 1 at 7:30 p.m. and July 26 and August 1 and 2 at 1 p.m. All tickets are $45 and all seats are reserved. Tickets are on sale now at SummerMusicals.com or by calling 866-749-2228.