The Lincoln Center Theater revival of “South Pacific” had its official opening last night, receiving the same sort of powerful press endorsement that I gave the show in this space a few weeks ago when I saw an early preview (March 12 item “Back to Bali Ha’i).
LCT announced today that based on the rave reviews (and strong business so far) what was originally set to be a limited run, ending in June, has become an open-ended engagement.
Director Bartlett Sher has now positioned himself as one of the modern masters of musical staging — Sher has conquered the often ungainly thrust-stage space of the Vivian Beaumont Theatre as easily for the 1940s Rodgers & Hammerstein classic as he did for Adam Guettel’s new classic “The Light in the Piazza” in the same theater a few seasons ago.
“South Pacific” leads Kelli O’Hara and Paulo Szot more than live up to the aura of their famous predecessors in the roles of Nellie Forbush and Emile DeBeque, but I was just as impressed by the performance of Matthew Morrison as Lt. Cable, the terribly conflicted Philadelphia naval officer who at first fights his attraction to the island girl played by Li Jun Li.
Morrison played opposite Kelli O’Hara in “Piazza” and has one of the strongest singing voices in the Broadway theatre — his renditions of “Younger Than Springtime” and “You’ve Got to Be Carefully Taught” are flawless. But the young star acts as well as he sings.
Yesterday, a perfectly timed new Simon and Schuster book, “The South Pacific Companion” by Laurence Maslon, landed on my desk.
Maslon traces the history of the show, starting with an account of the South Pacific theater of World War II and how James Michener’s service there led to his Pulitzer Prize-winning book “Tales of the South Pacific” — the source material for the musical.
The oversized “South Pacific Companion” is packed with great pictures from the original 1949 production, as well as stills from the somewhat controversial 1958 film version (Maslon explores the use of color filters that many people believe ruin some scenes in the movie).
Maslon digs into fascinating details of the show’s history, including director/co-writer Joshua Logan’s anger over the huge annuity he did not receive after he was cut out of a writer’s royalty for the show.
The book brings the reader right up to date with an account of the two-years-in-the-making Lincoln Center revival.
(For performance and ticket information on “South Pacific” go to www.LCT.org)
Joe's View
With Joe Meyers, entertainment writer
Thank you, Joe, for your “Forum” site. I have been a life long movie and Broadway fan. I never did see the original South Pacific, but what can you compare today to Rodgers & Hammerstein’s incredible music. The word “genius” is tossed around today, and it is a joke. I have watched PBS specials on Rodgers and Hart and Oscar Hammerstein and was reminded what a genuine musical genius is. The scope and depth of their songs and music still amazes you.
Please keep up your informative writings. I looke forward to them!