South Pacific
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Cititour.com Review
If absence makes the heart grow fonder, then Lincoln Center's exquisite production of this musical classic is a love affair for the ages. Eschewing reinvention or reinterpretation, director Bartlett Sher allows the first Broadway revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein's 1949 show to soar dramatically, musically and emotionally.
As he did with 2005's The Light in the Piazza, Sher pays meticulous attention to setting and casting. From the rich orange-red sunset over the South Pacific islands to the soft, earthy hues of the design, this production is a feast for the eyes as well as the ears. And the casting of opera singer Paulo Szot, making his musical theater debut as Emile de Becque, and the luminous Kelli O’Hara as Nellie Forbush, a role well suited to the sunny songstress' talents, is a coup, not only for what they bring to the show musically but also for what they do for its emotional center.
It's a testament to honesty and simplicity of character and style in an age when too many musicals never stop winking long enough to show you what's inside their hearts. Maybe that's because the show's scope is so vast. Adapted by Oscar Hammerstein and director Joshua Logan from James A. Michener's bestselling story collection Tales of the South Pacific, its canvas is the soldiers, nurses and citizens of the South Pacific whose lives are forever altered during World War II.
The crux of the show, Nellie and Emile's powerful love story, comes to vibrant life with the pure beauty of songs like "Some Enchanted Evening," "A Wonderful Guy" and "This Nearly Was Mine," and with a 30-piece orchestra and the restoration of Richard Rodgers' original orchestrations they soar to glorious heights.
Like Michener's words, which are splashed across the curtain as the audience takes its seats, the show is firmly implanted in its era. That it doesn't feel dated also makes it a testament to its richly talented creators and interpreters, then and now.
By DIANE SNYDER
Visit the Site
http://lincolncentertheater.org/calendar/event_detail.cfm?ID_event=14879622
Cast
Kelli O'Hara, Paulo Szot, Loretta Ables Sayre, Matthew Morrison, Danny Burstein, Sean Cullen, Victor Hawks, Luka Kain, Li Jun Li, Laurissa Romain, Thomas G. Waites, Noah Weisberg
Open/Close Dates
Opening 3/1/2008
Closing 8/22/2010
Box Office
(212) 239-6200
Theatre Info
Vivian Beaumont Theater
150 West 65th Street
New York, NY 10023
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