The Pace Is a Bit Too Pokey, Even for Ambling ‘Oklahoma!’

“Oklahoma!” can handle a little pokiness. This has to be one of the most laid-back of the major musicals, an ambling, aw-shucks visit to the heartland.

At the Huntington Beach Playhouse, director Kent Johnson slows everything down, as if trying to savor every cornfed moment in the 1943 Rodgers and Hammerstein show. That has some value--we do feel we’re in the lazily uncomplicated world of the old Midwest--but too much moseying means not enough momentum. Here it’s a mostly uneventful production that could use more energy and polish.

At least we get needed vitality from Scott Ruiz as Curly, the cheerful cowpoke so smitten with hard-to-get Laurey (Bree Long).

Ruiz is a long, lean guy who acts as if he just stepped down from a horse; he’s graceful in a ranch-hand sort of way. When not trying to impress Laurey with his dusty charms, Curly is busy singing such tunes as “Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’ ” and “The Surrey With the Fringe on Top.” Ruiz doesn’t have a big, knock-’em-out-in-the-back-rows kind of voice, but it’s bright with personality.

Another decent performance comes from Ron Samson as Jud, the misanthrope who also has feelings--not-so-nice ones--for Laurey. Samson is a glowering presence with a shade of madman. Samson’s voice is also one of the production’s most accomplished, as he shows on “Lonely Room.”

As the center of all this is Long’s Laurey, a sweet girl who’s a bit full of herself. She’s also not that clever--how brainy could she be, using the dangerous Jud to work up Curly’s jealousy?

Long has a good voice, probably the show’s best (she excels on “Many a New Day”), but her acting is flat. For one thing, there’s almost no heat, subdued or otherwise, between Curly and Laurey.

This staging slips in other areas, like Roberta Kay’s homespun choreography against Linda Garran-Smith’s simple backdrops and scenery. The ensemble numbers need more finesse and pep to come alive. Even the famous and abstract “Dream Sequence”--originated by modern-dance great Agnes deMille--is handled delicately but too mechanical to satisfy.

* “Oklahoma!” Huntington Beach Playhouse, 7111 Talbert Ave. 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday. $12-$15. Ends Sept. 13. (714) 375-0696. Running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes.

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“Oklahoma!”

Laurie Hancock: Aunt Eller

Scott Ruiz: Curly

Bree Long: Laurey

Matt Kahler: Slim/Dream Curly

Michael De Mocko: Will

Ron Samson: Jud

April Madigan: Gertie

Daryl Mendelson: Ali Hakim

Lindsay Martin: Dream Laurey

Natalia Schroeder: Ado Annie

A Huntington Beach Playhouse production of the musical by Richard Rodgers (music) and Oscar Hammerstein (book and lyrics). Directed by Kent Johnson. Set: Linda Garran-Smith. Musical direction: Bill Wolfe. Choreography: Roberta Kay. Costumes: Loretta Lupo. Lighting: David Overcash and Terri Foy Verhaegen. Sound: Ed Gates III. Stage manager: Ron Samson.