South Pacific (musical)
South Pacific is a Rodgers and Hammerstein musical that opened on Broadway on April 7, 1949, and ran for more than five years. It is generally considered to be one of the greatest musicals of all time[1] [2] and a number of its songs, such as Bali Ha'i, Younger than Springtime, and Some Enchanted Evening, have become worldwide standards. It was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1950. The play is based upon two short stories by James A. Michener from his book Tales of the South Pacific, which itself was the winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1948. The original cast starred Mary Martin as the heroine, Nellie Forbush, and opera star Ezio Pinza as Emile de Becque, the French plantation owner. Also in the cast were Juanita Hall, Myron McCormick, Betta St. John, and William Tabbert. The music was by Richard Rodgers and the lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. Brooks Atkinson, the influential theater critic of the New York Times, found it a "tenderly beautiful idyll of genuine people inexplicably tossed together in a strange corner of the world." At the time it closed, after 1,925 performances, it was the fifth-longest running show in Broadway history. [3]
In spite of its great initial success on Broadway, it was not until 59 years later that a major revival was seen in New York City. A new production, starring Kelli O'Hara and Paulo Szot opened on April 3, 2008 at the Vivian Beaumont Theater in Lincoln Center. It was warmly reviewed by Ben Brantley of The New York Times, who wrote, "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." He finishes by quoting Brooks Atkinson's description of six decades earlier and adds, "I think a lot of us had forgotten that's what 'South Pacific' is really about. In making the past feel unconditionally present, this production restores a glorious gallery of genuine people who were only waiting to be resurrected."[4]
References
- ↑ Critic John Simon writes: "Many are the knowledgeable and discriminating people for whom Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific, brilliantly co-written and staged by Joshua Logan, was the greatest musical of all." http://www.broadway.com/gen/Buzz_Story.aspx?ci=533001
- ↑ http://www.theatrehistory.com/american/musical012.html "With South Pacific, Rodgers and Hammerstein rose to new towering heights of success, both commercially and artistically, following their triumph with Oklahoma! and Carousel. There was hardly any question in anybody's mind at the première performance of South Pacific that this was a classic of the musical theatre of the stature of Oklahoma! and Carousel. The veteran producer Arthur Hammerstein called it the greatest musical show Broadway had ever seen, perfect in every respect. The critic Richard Watts, Jr., described it as 'a thrilling and exultant musical play, an utterly captivating work of theatrical art'."
- ↑ The World Almanac and Book of Facts, 1966, page 137
- ↑ "Optimist Awash in the Tropics," by Ren Brantley, in the "Weekend Arts" section of the New York Times, page B1, April 4, 2008. The full review can be found at [1]
Sources
The World Almanac and Book of Facts, New York, 1966, New York World-Telegram