Surrey With the Fringe Cast - James O'Keefe gets on his high horse in 'Oklahoma!'

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Free Beacon

James O'Keefe isn't used to the spotlight.

The Project Veritas founder, known for his undercover exposés, usually needs anonymity to do his job. That was hardly the case on Saturday, as O'Keefe rode a horse up the hill of Mount Rouge Farm belting the opening bars of "Oh, What A Beautiful Mornin'."

For the past few weeks, O'Keefe has traded his hidden camera for a body mic to star in an immersive, outdoor production of Oklahoma!, Rodgers and Hammerstein's classic tale of love and community in a territory on the verge of statehood. It's the latest offering from Brian Clowdus, a veteran director who specializes in "immersive site-specific theater."

 

Mount Rouge Farm has everything you need to immerse yourself in the frontier musical, which follows cowman Curly McLain (O'Keefe) in his quest to woo local beauty Laurey Williams away from the menacing farmer Jud Fry. Audience members watch the show from plastic lawn chairs—or, for a few extra dollars, a VIP, front-row picnic table. Those who arrive early can sample local barbecue and ride horses while interacting with the cast, who broke neither character nor a sweat while working the crowd on the 97-degree day.

An unnatural ability to withstand the heat isn't the only thing uniting the company. The actors and actresses are, for the most part, political outcasts in the theater community. Some are outspokenly pro-Trump, while others are simply wary of the leftward drift of the American theater. But they all lament the increasing politicization of the arts.

"The cast just wants to create art and is tired of things being overly political," Clowdus told the Washington Free Beacon. But while the director is quick to say he's not trying to create "conservative theater," he can't help but notice some parallels between Oklahoma! and our present political moment.

"It's a show about people who, against all odds, are fighting for their freedom and for what is right," said the director.