A local theater company is taking a bow to patriotism, bringing a show some say defined American musical theater to the stage.

The Front Range Music Theatre and the Loveland Music Guild has chosen "Oklahoma!" as its annual musical opening today for two weekends at the Lincoln Center.

"It's probably the musical that is considered the foundation of American musical theater, some people would argue," said Britta Risner, assistant producer, vocal director and stage manager for the show. "In fact, at the lawn of the White House, they sang the theme song of 'Oklahoma' for the Fourth of July. The whole spirit of the show embodies where our nation is right now in pulling together through hard times and believing everything will turn out well as long as people stick together."

"It's an Americana celebration with romance and cowboys and farmers and the start of pioneer stock to make a new state," said Sharon Sheets, producer for the Front Range Music Theatre.

To officials with the production, the timing of the show couldn't be better.

"We decided, for one thing, we hadn't done the show in our 27-year history," said Sheets. "We decided after 9/11 we really needed to bring a true all-American mom-and-apple-pie show to get our country back on track. I think the whole country needed to get back to basics.

"It first opened in March of 1943 and changed American musical theater forever," Sheets said. "It was the first musical written by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. It was innovative because it had the score, the dance and the storyline together, which hadn't been done before. The strong storyline had been missing in Broadway musicals before that."

Fifty actors, dancers and singers, ranging in age from 15 to 70, are reviving the show for Fort Collins including the "dream scene" dance which is typically cut from productions of the show because of its difficulty.

The show is set in 1905 on a rural farm in Oklahoma right before Oklahoma became a state.

"It mostly revolves around a love story between the cowboy, Curly, and the farmer girl, Laurey," said Risner. And the man who tries to get between them. "The whole story is kind of wrapped up in the theme of internal squabbling between the farmers and the cowmen .. but the fact they can still work them out."

The show was recently revived on Broadway and won several Tony Awards.

Front Range Music Theatre is based out of Loveland and sponsored by the Loveland Music Guild. The spring audition for the annual musical is open to talent from along the Front Range. The cast consists of people from Littleton all the way to Cheyenne, with the lead roles played by people in their 30s.