Tomorrow
after 37 previews and 1000 performances, Broadway will bid farewell to the
critically-lauded,
award-
winning,
first-ever revival of the classic
Rodgers & Hammerstein musical
South Pacific.
I wish I could tell you about the South Pacific. The way it actually was. The endless ocean. The infinite specks of coral we called islands. Coconut palms nodding gracefully toward the ocean. Reefs upon which waves broke into spray, and inner lagoons, lovely beyond description. I wish I could tell you about the sweating jungle, the full moon rising behind the volcanoes, and the waiting. The waiting. The timeless, repetitive waiting....
First
produced on Broadway in 1949 starring
Ezio Pinza and
Mary Martin,
South Pacific quickly became a staple of American musical theatre through productions in
countless schools and
community theatres across the country. It's been seen on tour
numerous times. But it didn't get the formal revival treatment until 2008, nearly sixty years after the curtain rose on the original production.
Directed by
Bartlett Sher (Broadway's
Light in the Piazza, the forthcoming
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown), the production starred
Kelli O'Hara (
Light in the Piazza,
The Pajama Game) as Nellie Forbush (the Martin role), newcomer
Paulo Szot as Emile de Becque (the Pinza role), and
Matthew Morrison (
Glee,
Light in the Piazza,
Hairspray) as Lieutenant Joe Cable. Szot (pronounced Shot), a
veteran opera performer, made his Broadway debut with the production. A
thirty piece orchestra (
revealed at the beginning and end of the show) performed the original
Robert Russell Bennett orchestrations. The creative team
restored cut dialogue to give clarity to the show's
racial themes.
The New York Times' Ben Brantley
called the results "rapturous," saying "I know we're not supposed to expect perfection in this imperfect world, but I'm darned if I can find one serious flaw in this production." Clive Barnes for the New York Post
said it was "simply wonderful!" and had "not a single weakness." Variety's David Rooney
proclaimed it "ravishing" and an "outstanding achievement." Szot would go on to
win the Best Actor in a musical Tony Award, Sher
won for Best Director of a musical, and the production would be
named Best Revival of a musical (in a
highly competitive year for musical revivals). The
entire design team was nominated (and won) as well, garnering the production a total of seven Tony Awards. Originally
a limited run,
the production extended into an open-ended run
that closes tomorrow.
PBS
broadcast the production live this past Wednesday for its
Live From Lincoln Center series. Check your
local listings for re-broadcast information, but don't hesitate - it can't be aired (
or purchased) after Sunday. Playbill compiled a few
Enchanted Evenings from past productions. Lincoln Center has
clips from the show and
press video on their
YouTube channel, and
behind-the-scenes peeks on their website. They've also got a
blog with
cast interviews,
stories, and more.
The closing performance is sold out, but you can see the
production on tour (
it's very good).
They will live a long time, these men of the South Pacific. They had an American quality. They, like their victories, will be remembered as long as our generation lives. After that, like the men of the Confederacy, they will become strangers. Longer and longer shadows will obscure them, until their Guadalcanal sounds distant on the ear like Shiloh and Valley Forge. - James A. Michener, Tales of the South Pacific
Yes, I might be a Glee fangirl. And?
posted by booksherpa at 8:27 AM on August 21, 2010