To the Theatre
with Holly Caster

Terrific South Pacific

One of the joys of living in Nyack is the proximity to Broadway theater. I recently had a magical -dare I say enchanting -evening at Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific at the Vivian Beaumont Theater in Lincoln Center. The musical originally hit Broadway in 1949, ran for 5 years, won 9 Tony Awards and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Now it's back, complete with a 30-piece orchestra and a cast of almost 40, showing what New York does best.

Based on the book by James Michener, which won a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, the story takes place during World War II in the Pacific. Along with the nurses, marines, and SeaBees on the island, there lives a French plantation owner with a mysterious past. Played by handsome Brazilian opera singer Paulo Szot making his Broadway debut, middle-aged Emile falls in love with nurse Ensign Nellie Forbush, a young "cockeyed optimist" from Little Rock, Arkansas.

In addition to being a fun romp of a musical, South Pacific tackles love, war, ageism and, above all, racism. Nellie falls hard for Emile but is repulsed by his previous marriage to a Polynesian woman that produced two Eurasian children. The character of Lieutenant Cable falls in love with a Tonkinese girl but has reservations about marrying her because she's nonwhite. Were Nellie and Cable born racist, or did they have to be "carefully taught"?

The issues brought up are powerful, but the real pull of South Pacific comes from the music, possibly some of Rodgers & Hammerstein's best. That's saying a lot, as they also wrote The Sound of Music, The King and I, Oklahoma, and Carousel. The orchestra brilliantly, jubilantly plays the timeless score-Happy Talk, Younger Than Springtime, Bali Ha'i-and Szot's gorgeous baritone will leave you limp when he delivers Some Enchanted Evening and This Nearly Was Mine.

The evening isn't sheer perfection. I felt something missing in the Nellie of Kelli O'Hara-a spark, or star quality-but she's pretty, likeable, and possesses a beautiful voice. Act 2 is a bit heavy on exposition, some off-stage action I would've preferred to see, and I could easily live without the Honey Bun number. These are minor complaints. The show will undoubtedly receive many Tony nominations on May 13th.
With two romances, buff sailors enthusiastically singing There is Nothing Like a Dame, nurses in bathing suits watching Nellie wash that man right outta her hair, the sounds of bombers flying overhead, a strong anti-racism plot, and top-notch cast, South Pacific has everything. And it's given a first-class treatment. It may be considered a golden-oldie, but golden it is, and its tale of racism and war couldn't be more timely.

Holly Caster has lived in Nyack with her playwright husband, two kids, and two cats for over 10 years. She is by trade a writer and by nature a fan of theater, movies, books, history, & art.