WRAL-TV To Air Oklahoma Disaster Relief Teleon and University of NC School of the Arts Production of Oklahoma!

WRAL-TV To Air Oklahoma Disaster Relief Telethon and University of NC School of the Arts Production of Oklahoma!

-- Thursday, May 30 8-11pm --

UNC-EX will simulcast WRAL broadcast statewide

WRAL-TV will devote three hours of commercial free primetime to raise money for the many Oklahoma families in need following the deadly tornado. WRAL's Here to Help: Disaster Relief effort includes a tribute to the people of Oklahoma, and the award-winning HD broadcast of the University of North Carolina School of the Arts' (UNCSA) production of Rodgers & Hammerstein's Oklahoma! The station will provide live cut-ins throughout the 8-11 P.M. broadcast, taking viewer pledges via a studio phone bank. All donations will benefit tornado victims through the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army.

We wanted to find a uniquely North Carolina way to help those impacted families in Oklahoma, says WRAL-TV Vice President and General Manager Steven D. Hammel. We believe in the power of local television, both in saving lives during a life-changing event, and to help people recover afterwards.

The commercial free telethon and Oklahoma! broadcast is made possible with permission from Rodgers & Hammerstein: An Imagem Company (formerly The Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization). The program will be simulcast statewide by UNC-TV on UNC-EX, the Explorer Channel. Check local listings.

WRAL.com will also take donations online: http://www.wral.com/help-victims-of-oklahoma-tornado/12467906/

The American Red Cross is providing food, shelter and emotional support to those affected in Oklahoma. Salvation Army personnel from 10 states are providing food, drinks, spiritual care, and cleanup supplies to multiple communities in Oklahoma, Texas and Arkansas. Donations from the WRAL telethon will be earmarked for Oklahoma residents.

About the UNCSA production of Oklahoma!

In 2011, the University of North Carolina School of the Arts staged an historic reconstruction of Oklahoma! painstakingly recreating the sets, costumes, and choreography of that original landmark production. UNCSAs ambitious restoration represented a collaboration between all five of its arts schools with faculty, staff, and students working side-by-side, including Chancellor John Mauceri who served as musical director and conductor of the student orchestra. UNCSAs Oklahoma! was directed for the stage by UNCSA School of Drama alumnus Terrence Mann (nominated for a Tony Award this year for Pippin). Longtime Agnes de Mille associate Gemze de Lappe set the choreography. A generous grant from the A.J. Fletcher Foundation and additional support from the Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts and the William R. Kenan, Jr. Fund for the Arts provided for the production to be filmed in HD in a partnership between UNCSA and UNC-TV. Acclaimed television director David Stern directed the cameras.

Thanks to WRAL-TVs Debbie Tullos for this capcom story.

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POSTED: May 30, 2013

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