It's too big for the Temple of Music and Art.

It's too ambitious for one company to handle.

Co-produced by the Arizona Theatre Company and the Phoenix Symphony, "Oklahoma!" is unlike anything either organization has produced.

"This is a trial run," says David Ira Goldstein, ATC's artistic director. "If it goes well, we'd like to do it again."

Though ATC has mounted small-scale summer productions in the past, this is the first big-budget summer show for the 28-year-old company.

"ATC has talked about doing something like this for years," says Goldstein. "We wanted to do something in the summer for families . . . and something for the 700,000 people who live in Tucson year-round."

The Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II musical will be performed at the Tucson Convention Center Music Hall starting next week, and will run from June 30 to July 9 at Symphony Hall in Phoenix.

The budget for the revival is roughly $830,000, Goldstein says. The project is supported by a $200,000 grant from the Flinn Foundation, plus smaller grants from the Carol Franc Buck foundation, the Arizona Community Foundation, Arizona Bank and Jim Click Automotive.

ATC and the Phoenix Symphony are splitting the expenses and the revenues down the middle.

"We're hoping that we can reach some audiences we don't normally reach. Another hope is that we can break even and possibly even make some money that we can spend on other things," Goldstein says.

"It's going to be a wonderful show," he adds. "The people involved are great. We aimed high, and we were able to get the people we wanted."

The director is Vivian Matalon, who won a Tony Award in 1980 for his staging of "Mornings at Seven." In addition to his Broadway career, the British-born Matalon has directed in London's West End and at many American regional theaters, including the Hartford Stage Company and Seattle Repertory Theatre.

The veteran director will be working with an up-and-coming choreographer, Joey McKneely, who was nominated for a 1995 Tony Award for his work on "Smokey Joe's Cafe."

The musical director is Jack Lee, who has conducted many shows on Broadway. The cast is likewise dominated by Broadway performers, including Marsha Bagwell, Michael Cone, Jay Douglas and Michael Gruber.

Matalon sees "Oklahoma!" as a story about young people in a young territory. "When I read the script, I became obsessed with it. I realized what would happen if I did it with very young people, because I think it is about kids."

The choreographer is 28 years old, and has never seen a production of "Oklahoma!" Nor had he heard the music before he started working on it.

Says Matalon:"For obvious reasons, he is going to bring a fresh perspective. That's thrilling, and also dangerous."

McKneely says his first reaction when approached about choreographing "Oklahoma!" was "Ugh, `Oklahoma!' in 1995. Why?"

"But I've tried to approach it as a new musical. It's been fun to get into the nitty-gritty of the story. People don't just dance. They dance for a reason.

"I'm excited by the chance to use ballet to tell the story. It's a challenge," McKneely says.

Matalon says "Oklahoma!" has remained popular for more than 50 years because it's a celebration of the American ideal.

"It's not the American reality, but the ideal, which was written down in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. The ideal is always something to strive for."

He says the classic musical will take on added resonance in the aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing. There is no way that people will be able to hear the title song and not think about that tragedy, Matalon says.

He adds:"The musical encourages people to come together as friends. It's a reminder that we are one people, and I think that's why it has endured. That would be my guess, to say nothing of the fact that it has some very nifty songs."