Goodspeed Musicals Artistic Director Donna Lynn Hilton & Managing Director David B. Byrd present Rodgers & Hammerstein’s SOUTH PACIFIC. Music by Richard Rodgers. Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. Book by Oscar Hammerstein II & Joshua Logan. Directed by Chay Yew. Choreographed by Parker Esse. Music Direction by Adam Souza. Scenic Design by Alexander Dodge. Costume Design by Juinghyun Georgia Lee. Lighting Design by Amith Chandrashaker. Sound Design by Jay Hilton. Wig & Hair Design by Tommy Kurzman. At The Goodspeed, East Haddam, CT through August 11, 2024.
by Linda Chin
When Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein II’s South Pacific premiered on Broadway in 1949, it garnered massive critical and audience acclaim, sweeping the Tonys with ten awards, including Best Musical, Libretto, and Musical Score. It also was a box-office success, running for nearly two thousand performances until its final bow in 1954. Seventy years later, the show’s sensational score remains one of the most impressive in the American musical theater canon and enjoys mass appeal. Theatergoers attending Goodspeed Musicals’ production of South Pacific (through August 11, 2024) will be treated to an enchanting evening (or afternoon matinee) of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s magnificent music.
Based on James A. Michener’s Pulitzer-Prize-winning book, the musical is set in the South Pacific during World War II and follows two budding romantic relationships between people who were raised miles and cultural worlds apart. Emile de Becque, a French planter and expat, and Nellie Forbush, a US Navy nurse from Little Rock, AK, fall in love with each other, as do Joseph Cable, an Ivy-League educated lieutenant from Philadelphia, PA, and a young, beautiful Tonkinese (Vietnamese) woman named Liat.
With direction by Chay Yew, choreography by Parker Esse, and music direction by Adam Souza, a stellar cast with vocal prowess and stage presence, Goodspeed’s South Pacific soars. Rodgers & Hammerstein filled their show’s playlist with many memorable tunes, but the following musical numbers stood out in terms of advancing the storytelling: The opening “Dites-Moi” by Emile’s children, Ngana and Jerome was performed, in French, with excellent diction by absolutely adorable young actors Sky Vaux Fuller and Emjay Roa. The classic “There is Nothin’ Like A Dame” features an energetic ensemble of triple-threat Seabees led by Luther Billis (Keven Quillon) that captured the restlessness, bawdiness, and loneliness of being in a wartime environment, thousands of miles from home. Another remarkable storyteller is a middle-aged woman nicknamed Bloody Mary (Joan Almedilla) who is a Tonkinese vendor of grass skirts and souvenirs. Almedilla paints wonderful descriptions of the mysterious island visible through the clouds (that is off limits to all except officers) in “Bali Ha’i” and of the benefits of domestic life with her daughter Liat in “Happy Talk.”
The performance I attended included understudies and swings in leading and supporting roles and the ensemble, adding to my admiration of every member of the talented cast and crew’s contributions to the show “going on” seamlessly. Nellie and Nurses (Hannah Jewel Kohn, understudy for the role of Nellie usually played by Danielle Wade) delivered “I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair” without missing a beat, and the heartwarming “I’m in Love With a Wonderful Guy” showcased Kohn’s lovely singing voice.
The character Emile de Becque, an older widower and expat from France whose lived experiences include the loss of his home country and raising two children who lost their mother, requires strong acting and singing skills; opera singers were cast in the original Broadway and revival. Eric Briarley (understudy for the role of de Bec usually played by Omar Lopez-Cepero) delivered engaging renditions of “Some Enchanted Evening” and “This Nearly Was Mine” and provided a strong balance of command and vulnerability, seriousness and humor. The parallel but intertwined love stories between Emile and Nellie and Cable and Liat are hampered by racial prejudice and the war. Nellie finds it difficult to accept Emile’s former marriage to a Polynesian woman, and their mixed-race, dark-skinned children. Considering if he wanted to marry Liat, Cable realizes he cannot bring himself to bring her home to America (where people of color face discrimination and interracial marriage is illegal). The final song of mention is “You’ve Got to Be Carefully Taught,” sung by Cable after Emile asks him why he and Nellie harbor such prejudices. He responds that “it’s not something you’re born with,” but learned – and ingrained – when they were growing up.
As an Asian American woman, a daughter of immigrants from China, and mom of biracial children from my (legal) interracial marriage to a pretty wonderful guy, speaking for myself, the lyrics of this song did not have the same impact on me as it has had in other renditions, including a recent professional production of South Pacific at Reagle Music Theatre in Waltham, MA, or as an “anti-racism anthem” that’s been included in albums by Barbra Streisand, Billy Porter, or James Taylor, or sung by the late Asian American musical theater veteran Alvin Ing in his final live performance.
My take on this scene is that Nellie and Cable are unhappy (Cable even self-loathing) about the racism they were raised with, and still (to their horror) internalize. Cameron Loyal’s vocal performance is strong and his stage presence striking, but the production’s intentional casting of a Black actor in the role of Cable changed the focus of this song from one that implores listeners of all races to examine and confront their own racist attitudes to feeling empathy for Cable’s pain as a Black man. Overall, I’d happily see this show again, to experience the impressive and impactful score performed by the passionate company. For tickets and information, go to: https://www.goodspeed.org/
