Editing Oklahoma! (section)

===Early U.S. tours===
The first of several national tours began in [[New Haven]], Connecticut, in 1944. A 1953 article in ''[[The New York Times]]'' reported that the show was "believed to be the only musical to have enjoyed a consecutive run of ten years. It ran on Broadway for five years and two months, grossing $7,000,000. The tour of the national company, which started late in 1943, has grossed $15,000,000."<ref>Gelb, Arthur. "Facts and Figures on a Gold Mine", ''The New York Times'', March 29, 1953, p. X1</ref> These tours reached 250 cities.<ref>[https://www.okhistory.org/learn/musical3#:~:text=original%20Broadway%20cast.-,Oklahoma!,a%20break%20from%20the%20story. "75th Anniversary of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Production ''Oklahoma!''"], [[Oklahoma Historical Society]], 2018</ref> [[John Raitt]] played Curly in the original production in Chicago.<ref>[http://www.johnraitt.com/career/broadway "Career: Broadway"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120821010935/http://www.johnraitt.com/career/broadway |date=August 21, 2012 }}, John Raitt – Broadway's Legendary Star, Definite Maybe Productions, accessed May 19, 2016</ref> The [[United Service Organizations]] sponsored a tour to U.S. military bases in 1945 that lasted for several years.<ref>Hischak, p. 203</ref><ref>Mordden, Ethan. ''Beautiful Mornin: The Broadway Musical in the 1940s'', Oxford University Press U.S., 1999, {{ISBN|0-19-512851-6}}, p. 78</ref>  ''The New York Times'' reported in 1953:

{{blockquote|The tenth anniversary of the Broadway opening of ''Oklahoma!'' will be celebrated in Washington, where the Theatre Guild's touring company of the phenomenal musical will be playing at that time. ... According to a Guild estimate, "upwards of 20,000,000 people thus far have seen the show in the United States, England, Sweden, Denmark, South Africa, Australia and through [the U.S.O. shows] during the war".<ref>"''Oklahoma!'' to Celebrate 10th Birthday March 31", ''The New York Times'', February 15, 1953, p. 79</ref>|}}