November 30 – December 2, 2007
Download the Cast List…
Music by Richard Rogers
Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II
Book by Oscar Hammerstein II and Joshua Logan
Adapted from the Pulitzer Prize winning novel “Tales of the South Pacific”
by James Michener
Director – Kristan Burke Sturtevant
Music Director – Paula Bishop
Choreographer – Amanda DeAngelis
South Pacific ranks among the most celebrated of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s acclaimed musical masterpieces. Adapted from two short stories by James Michener, the original production of South Pacific featured Mary Martin and Ezio Pinza and was only the second musical to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It opened on Broadway in 1949 and ran for 1,925 performances. In 2005, a concert version of the musical was presented live at Carnegie Hall. The score is as breathtaking as the tropical setting and includes “Some Enchanted Evening,” “Bali Ha’i,” “There is Nothin’ Like a Dame,” “I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair”, “Younger Than Springtime” and more.
Set in an island paradise during World War II, two parallel love stories are threatened by the dangers of prejudice and war. Nellie, a spunky nurse from Arkansas, falls in love with a mature French planter, Emile. Nellie learns that the mother of his children was an island native and, unable to turn her back on the prejudices with which she was raised, refuses Emile’s proposal of marriage. Meanwhile, the strapping Lt. Joe Cable denies himself the fulfillment of a future with an innocent Tonkinese girl with whom he’s fallen in love out of the same fears that haunt Nellie. When Emile is recruited to accompany Joe on a dangerous mission that claims Joe’s life, Nellie realizes that life is too short not to seize her own chance for happiness, thus confronting and conquering her prejudices.
South Pacific is produced by arrangement with, and the music and dialogue material furnished by R&H Theatricals.
