Jay Blackton(1909-1994)

He conducted the orchestra for three major productions of "Oklahoma!"--the original 1943 Broadway stage version, the 1955 film version, and the 1979 Broadway revival. Each of these three versions featured orchestrations by Robert Russell Bennett (slightly revised and expanded for large orchestra in the film). The 1979 Broadway revival cast album, which used the original 1943 orchestrations, is perhaps the only instance in Broadway history in which a show's original conductor re-recorded his interpretation of the score in hi-fi stereo thirty-six years after his original recording.