From the moment the baton is raised and the overture begins
for
”
South Pacific,
”
you know you are in for a truly enchanted evening. Although 60
years old, this show’s music is ageless.
From the moment the baton is raised and the overture begins for “South Pacific,” you know you are in for a truly enchanted evening. Although 60 years old, this show’s music is ageless.
It features a love story that has a delicate message from a more innocent time. But it is modernized with a solid dose of morality and a sense of what is right and wrong running through like target practice in paradise. You know you are in for a fine evening of entertainment when the overture becomes a breathtaking, unforgettable moment.
Rodgers and Hammerstein’s magnificent score for “South Pacific” was one of their greatest achievements in their 17 years of collaboration. More than half the songs have become solid standards. Even this generation (some people anyway) recognizes “Some Enchanted Evening,” “Bali Ha’i,” “Younger Than Springtime,” “Happy Talk,” “A Wonderful Guy” and “There is Nothing Like A Dame.”
They still bring back nostalgic warm memories for most of us that have survived the late forties and fifties. “South Pacific” became the crown jewel in musical theatre after winning eight Tony Awards and just about every award offered in the 1948-49 Broadway season including the Pulitzer Prize for drama.
Taken from two stories from James Michener’s Pulitzer Prize winning book “Tales of The South Pacific,” (a collection of stories about military life in the Pacific during World War II), South Pacific tells of the romance of a young, optimistic, innocent, navy nurse from Arkansas and a mature French Planter on an tranquil island sitting on the edge of the war in the South Pacific.
The plot also includes the meeting of a young lieutenant and a beautiful native girl. The racial issues in this plot are more aggressively addressed than in the original version.
The first act sets the story at a gentle, comfortable pace. But the second act moves like a fast moving kaleidoscope that seems to compact the story into a too neat tidy package. The contrast is a little unnerving.
Carmen Cusack brings a delightful Ensign Nellie Forbush to this production. She is captivating as the love smitten navy nurse with a voice that comes across solid and clear.
Emile de Becque, the French Planter, is played by Rod Gilfry, who does not seem comfortable in this role. The chemistry for Nellie is not there.
He has a magnificent baritone and overwhelms the audience with his classically trained voice. When he sings “Some Enchanted Evening,” it resounds throughout the theatre, but his stiffness keeps otherwise romantic moments tepid.
Anderson Davis as the young Lt. Joseph Cable USMN brings the finest moment when he sings “Younger Than Springtime” to Lait the native girl he falls in love with – now there is chemistry.
This revamped revival walked away with seven of the 2008 Tony Awards including Best Musical. The San Francisco production is the start of the national tour of this rendition of “South Pacific.”
For a feel good nostalgic evening, “South Pacific” should be on your schedule. At sixty, she wears well and entertains. The music is most enchanting.
