![]() ![]() The secondary story line concerns marine lieutenant Joseph Cable, nicely played by John Kerr with dubbed singing voice. The primary story is the romance between nurse Nellie Forbush from Little Rock, Arkansas and French expatriate planter Emile DeBecque, Brazzi's character. It's described on stage, but here you can enjoy it first hand. And then sits back and enjoys the show as a whole slew of fighters pound the Japanese on that island. He's thrown a rubber life raft and has to paddle like mad to get out of range of the enemy weapons. He accidentally falls out of a plane with a parachute fortunately just off a Japanese held island. In fact Walston's big scene is a reminder of how film can do things that on stage you can only imagine. On Broadway the part was done by Myron McCormick. He plays Luther Billis, sailor and conman extraordinaire. The comedy is supplied by Ray Walston who was fresh from Broadway and Hollywood playing Mr. Bing Crosby and Perry Como had big selling records in 1949 and Al Jolson as well. The popularity of that song made the South Pacific original cast album a big seller. The big hit of South Pacific, probably the greatest hit from Rodgers&Hammerstein is Some Enchanted Evening. Pinch hitting for Pinza is Rossano Brazzi and for Pinza's voice, Giorgio Tozzi. How great she would have been in some Busby Berkeley epics. It's a shame that Mitzi Gaynor did not come along when musicals were at their height. Check the routine she has when she sings and dances about that wonderful guy she's just fell in love with. Mitzi Gaynor stepped very nicely into Mary's shoes and being more of a dancer than Martin, Gaynor's part had more dancing than on Broadway. Also in a previous sojourn in Hollywood she hadn't done that good for some inexplicable reason. Mary Martin was also getting a bit long in the tooth by 1958 to be playing young Ensign Nellie Forbush. Too bad he didn't get to do that film either. He had done a couple of films in Hollywood that didn't do that good, but Pinza scored another great success on Broadway in Fanny. It's only too bad that South Pacific was not made with the original Broadway leads because it took so long to come to the screen. The success of South Pacific boosted Michener's reputation as a novelist in no small way. The show is based on two short stories from an anthology of stories entitled Tales of the South Pacific by James Michener. Opening on Broadway only four years after VE Day, South Pacific found a ready made audience with the American public who believed in the rightness of the cause just fought for. It gave Mary Martin her career role on Broadway and made a pop star out of Metropolitan Opera basso Ezio Pinza. On Broadway it opened in 1949 and closed 1925 shows later in 1954. Considering all the dubbing in the movie version and the color experimentation that went awry, this is THE version of the musical that should be available to everybody.Though it is only the second longest running of Rodgers&Hammerstein's musical shows, South Pacific I believe contains the best score with The King and I running a close second. ![]() This production brought South Pacific back to life, I'm just sorry Lincoln Center's unwillingness to release DVD's or to allow PBS stations to air the show again will prevent others from experiencing this tremendous version of the classic musical. Heart felt performances from all, superb voices do justice to the timeless songs. ![]() It's great to hear a really big orchestra performing that sweeping music, the sound and production values seem to me to be near perfect, amazing considering it's a live performance. ![]() This production just seemed to flesh out the characters and their situation, it's serious and moving. O'Hara and Szot were a great romantic pairing, and I thought both their acting and singing far surpassed that of Mitzi Gaynor and Rosanno Brazzi, paired in the 1958 movie. Both Kelli O'Hara, who captured the essence of Nellie Forbush from "Small Rock," and Loretta Ables Sayre, who showed the dark desperate side of Bloody Mary, were also nominated for Tonys. Szot won the Tony for Best Actor in a Musical and this terrific production won 7 Tonys, the most a musical revival has ever won. The previous reviewer is incorrect, "Stranger in Paradise" is from Kismet not South Pacific and Paulo Szot's warm, rich baritone was never inaudible in this wonderful production. ![]()
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