Based on James Michener's Pulitzer Prize winning book 'Tales of the South Pacific,' Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific has music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and a book by Oscar Hammerstein II and Joshua Logan. Set on a tropical island during World War II, the musical tells the sweeping romantic story of two couples-US Navy nurse Nellie Forbush (Kelli O'Hara) and French plantation owner Emile de Becque (Tony Award winner Paulo Szot), and Navy Airman Joe Cable and a young local native girl, Liat-and how their happiness is threatened by the realities of the war and by their own prejudices.Rodgers & Hammerstein's SOUTH PACIFIC premiered at the Majestic Theatre on April 7, 1949 and went on to enjoy a five year Broadway run, winning countless awards including nine Tony Awards (including Best Musical) and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Considered by many the finest musical ever written, the score's songs include such musical theater classics as "Some Enchanted Evening," "Younger Than Springtime," "Bali Ha'i, There is Nothin' Like A Dame" and "A Wonderful Guy."
South Pacific
Bartlett Sher's sometimes bubbly, sometimes brooding production of South Pacific makes Joshua Logan's 1958 film look flippant by comparison. Sher has added subtext and depth to a work widely considered to be impossibly dated. Mounting a stage production that's stunning to look at and deeply dramatically satisfying, he's elevated the material immeasurably. The actors who picked up Tony nominations for their work (Szot, O'Hara, Burstein, Ables-Sayre) are extraordinary. The charismatic Paulo Szot, in particular, has an old Hollywood glamor that's breathtaking.