At the opening night intermission of “Oklahoma!” at Gammage Auditorium, I pondered how one might update this most American of musicals.

Perhaps town hussy Ado Annie could croon through “I Cain’t Say No” while nursing a cold sore. Persian peddler Ali Hakim and his cart of wares could be detained on suspicion of terrorism. Creepy farmhand Jud Fry could be a registered sex offender. And the city health department could shut down the box social for food violations.

Not that any of those updates would make for a better show.

The touring production — which takes its spirit from the 1999 London and 2002 Broadway revivals — also offers an updated take on Rodgers and Hammerstein’s classic story of love and class warfare as Oklahoma gears up for statehood. And though they’re not as dramatic as my ideas, they take a musical that’s nowadays a tired staple of high school and community theater stages and flip it on its ear.

The sets (by Anthony Ward on Broadway, recreated here) and lighting are subtle but exotically dreamy; Laurey’s ballet that closes the first act is a dream that becomes an ominous nightmare, beautifully stylized. And the character of Jud, typically a menacing cookie-cutter villain who forces himself on sweet Laurey, is given deeper consideration.

In theory, the ideas are wonderful. But the execution in this non-Equity (non-union) show is another matter entirely.

Producers have pinched pennies by hiring a mostly green cast — they say it’s to be age-appropriate for the characters of teenage lovers Laurey (played by Amanda Rose) and Curly (Brandon Andrus) and other young Okies in the production, but I’m not buying it. Neither Rose or Andrus have charm enough to command the show and too often they’re upstaged by the sets, lights and supporting characters.

Take Jud, for example. Mostly, he’s a baddie who tries to break up the budding romance between Laurey and Curly. Here, Jud — played wonderfully by Tom Lucca — is given more room to plead the case that he’s merely misunderstood and awkward around women (as in the oft-omitted song “Lonely Room”).

But while digging deeper into Jud is certainly thought-provoking, maybe it’s too jarring for audiences to pity him, thinking, “Hey, maybe this Jud guy got a bad break in life. How come he has to be killed off?” When the cast comes out at the end of the show to take its bows, it’s Jud who gets the biggest applause.

I loved the lights and sets — from the miniature town illuminated by a rising sun during the overture to the wispy patches of clouds that float through the blue sky background — though a botched effects machine on opening night sent a cyclone of clouds spinning behind the pivotal smooching scene between Laurey and Curly. Technical glitch aside, this “Oklahoma!” is a feast for the eyes.

It’s not as feasty for the ears, though. The cast’s singing is passable, certainly not as good as that of the Equity shows that played this season at Gammage, and the pit orchestra is too synthesizer-heavy.

Perhaps the next revival of “Oklahoma!” will focus on something that’s key to its story but goes overlooked in this production: that the musical hinges entirely on Laurey, who goes from tomboy farm girl to a woman ready to be swept off her feet.

Until then, here’s a production that suggests a new American sentimentality: Give the bad guy another chance.