Richard Rodgers, left, and Oscar Hammerstein
South Pacific opened last night at Lincoln Center’s Vivian Beaumont Theater. Now there’s a sentence I never thought I’d get to write. Fifty-nine years after the show originally opened in the Majestic Theatre on Broadway, it’s back and as magical as ever.
The legendary 1949-1953 run starred Mary Martin as the hick from the sticks of Little Rock, a self-described "cockeyed optimist," who’s as corny as Kansas and in love with a wonderful guy played by opera singer Ezio Pinza. The revival has Kelli O’Hara and Paulo Szot as the romantic leads. They’re terrific, and the cast as a whole gives off a kind of radiance — as if the players know how lucky they are to be singing and dancing these songs in this sequence. Stacey and I saw it in previews and were utterly enchanted.
As a theatrical experience South Pacific may be the finest of Richard Rodgers’s collaborations with Oscar Hammerstein. Rodgers himself preferred the music of Carousel, and he was not alone in holding that opinion. And some may vote for Oklahoma! for its brash exuberance. But as an integrated musical, where the songs suit the character and advance the plot, it’s hard to beat South Pacific.
Rodgers derived his idea of the musical play from Jerome Kern, and South Pacific is an American operetta in the precise sense that Show Boat was: it’s not an accident that in both cases Hammerstein was the librettist and lyricist.
The score is sublime. Love songs: A Wonderful Guy. Younger Than Springtime. Some Enchanted Evening. This Nearly Was Mine. And great chorus numbers: There Is Nothin’ Like a Dame in scene two, Honey Bun after the intermission. As one of the glories of Old Broadway,the beach sequence that begins with I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair, segues into a reprise of Some Enchanted Evening, and culminates in A Wonderful Guy deserves the full-throated jubilation it gets from Kelli O’Hara, Paulo Szot, and the chorus of nurses.
Rodgers wrote very fast. One night while working on South Pacific he was having dinner with Hammerstein and the show’s director Joshua Logan. Between courses Rodgers stood up and excused himself. A musical idea had occurred to him. Ten minutes later, in plenty of time for dessert, he returned from the piano with Bali H’ai.
— DL