South Pacific

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 12/29/04 at 11:09am

This show is so ripe for a revival it's absurd. I was listening to the RNT revival recording (London's second revival of the show) and with the exception of the new prologue instead of the overture, it is a very fresh, yet respectful revision. I was thinking about casting for a Broadway revival and I'll probably get maimed for this, but I would love to see Lindsay Lohan and Mark Kudisch as Nellie and Emile, Matthew Morrison as Cable, and Anne Duquesnay as Bloody Mary. Should the traditional casting of a more "mature" Nellie be used (which I think is unwise), my choice would be Liz Callaway, but I think it woud be refreshing to see an actual young and naive Nellie Forbush as she was originally written.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 12/29/04 at 11:27am

I would have liked to have seen Karen Ziemba do it. However, if they wait much longer, she'll be too long in the tooth to do it.

I think any production of Rodgers & Hammerstein is going to need some rethinking. The recent revival of The Sound of Music suffered because there was not enough reason for anyone to revisit it. And the casting was uninspired. However, the revival of Carousel gave us some glimpses of how the material could be played in a different way. (Carrie as a shrew expertly played by Audra; Heaven presented as a Puritanical environment) But I think the recent Glenn Close tv version hurts the chances of a revival. Whatever revival of the show is done, it has to be different.

[NativeNewYorker]

Posted: 12/29/04 at 11:35am

How about Harry Connick, Jr. as Cable? He was the highlight of the TV movie remake a few years ago...love him, I have been wanting him to come to Broadway forever.

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 12/29/04 at 11:36am

Ziemba is younger now than Close was when she did it, I believe.

Edit: according to IMDB, there is ten years difference between the two.

Updated On: 12/29/04 at 11:36 AM

[Gothampc]

Posted: 12/29/04 at 12:11pm

I don't think anyone bought into the idea that Close was Nellie. It was a star turn designed to bring in the ratings. The only expenditure required of us was using the energy to click the remote to the correct channel. I'm sure a revival will try to cast young (which is fine) but we'll end up with Chenoweth playing Nellie because she will pull in the audience dollars.

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 12/29/04 at 12:12pm

Exactly, Gotham. I had no desire to tune in to Close as Nellie - I don't enjoy her singing at all. And you're right - no way would Ziemba be cast in that role - she's not money.

Updated On: 12/29/04 at 12:12 PM

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 12/29/04 at 12:16pm

Liz Callaway is four years younger than Ziemba, but Lohan is 25 years younger than Callaway. By the time a revival was mounted, Lohan would be the right age for Nellie and I think she has the strong enough voice for it. Her performance in Mean Girls was of similar character (perky naive newcomer forced to face descrimination of sorts) and she did it well. I just think she's a perfect fit.

[My Fair Lady]

Posted: 12/29/04 at 12:19pm

I just don't want ti to be stunt casting. I'd rather have someone other than Lohan.

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 12/29/04 at 12:21pm

If we're going for movie stars, how about Brittany Murphy?

[MasterLcZ]

Posted: 12/29/04 at 12:24pm

Does anyone have any scoop on the unorthodox staging that was done of this recently (it was mounted in a soldiers hospital ward)? Don't know where this was done, but the R&H office supposedly closed it down.

I agree, this show is LONG overdue for a revival.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 12/29/04 at 12:25pm

Master, you might be talking about the Anne Bogart production at NYU.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 12/29/04 at 12:27pm

I don't consider Lohan stunt casting at all. Sure, I think she could sell a house, but I also think she is a good actress and singer and right for the part.

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 12/29/04 at 12:30pm

From the singing I've heard Lohan do, I am unconvinced that she has the power for Broadway. Not that much is needed nowadays...

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 12/29/04 at 12:33pm

As much as I love MEAN GIRLS and think Lindsay Lohan is a talented and hot actress, she would be out of her league in SOUTH PACIFIC. Nellie Forbush isn't supposed to be an 18 year old girl. Even though Lohan played that sort of shy character in MEAN GIRLS, her undeniable "star power" would cause her performance to suffer - and plus, she can't really sing that score. There's no way I would buy into an 18 year old Forbush and a 50 year old DeBecque. It just wouldn't work for me - not one bit.

Although when looking at just the writing and form of SOUTH PACIFIC, it is brilliant in it's own right. I can't help but have a jaded opinion of it, because I was involved in a mediocre production and can't listen to the soundtrack seriously anymore. As much as I can't bear to sit through the show or even let myself enjoy it anymore, I would LOVE to see a new production of this show. Like OKLAHOMA and CAROUSEL, I had always thought they were great shows, but had always been bored by them, due to the bland movies and dry, uninspired productions I have seen of them. Skeptical about seeing them on Broadway, I went anyway and the two recent revivals of those shows reminded me of why they're so brilliant. Watching them was like a revelation - like it was the first time I was discovering these beautiful shows. CAROUSEL was leagues better than OKLAHOMA, yet OKLAHOMA's fresh staging and bright, bold, unmistakable Mackintosh flare entertained me more than I ever thought I would be at an old R&H musical. SOUTH PACIFIC needs to do the same, and stay away from all tradition staging. We need bright new orchestrations, and an amazing new cast that actually would give peopel a reason to revisit the show, and make them all in love with it all over again.

As much as people might cringe at my suggestion, I see Tom Hewitt as a possible Emille. Given strong direction (unlike DRACULA,) he could be brilliant. I would also love to see Michael Cerveris tackle the role. HE's a brilliant actor.

How about Erin Dilly as Nellie? Or am I just saying that because she played the role before? Did she play the role before? I'm not quite sure why she came to mind. As much as people might cringe at my next suggestion - and keep in mind that I am not a Chenoweth or WICKED fan - I think Kristin would be a fantastic Nellie. It's something she has never done before. It would surely advance her career and draw young people in to see a classic musical they might not have ever been exposed to.

Actors that can play Cable are a dime a dozen. Norbert Leo Butz, Patrick Wilson, Hunter Foster, Stephen Buntrock, Cheyenne Jackson, Chad Kimball, Mark Kudisch, Matthew Morrison, Joey McIntyre, even maybe Michael Arden or Carey Shields.

Anne Duquesnay is a wonderful performer, but she's all wrong for Bloody Mary. Bloody Mary is polynesian, not African American. She doesn't have the right look - shje needs to be a short, fat woman. The person playing bloody mary doesn't need to be a broadway name - just a fun performer.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 12/29/04 at 12:51pm

Actually, I saw an African American actress, Charlaine Woodard, as Bloody Mary on tour and she was wonderful. It never entered my mind that she wasn't Polynesian.

By the time a revival was produced, Lindsay would be at least 20 and I think she'll have the acting and vocal chops for the role. I think she could easily handle Cockeyed Optimist, Wash That Man, Wonderful Guy and Honeybun.

The Royal National Theatre offered up brilliant new orchestrations already as well as restoring the cut song My Girl Back Home to the score.
South Pacific RNT CD

[MasterLcZ]

Posted: 12/29/04 at 1:13pm

Its funny, munk, I almost posted my wish that Chenoweth play Nellie.

I love her, but she REALLY needs to get away from the sexless cutesey roles that she's specialized in and play a woman who falls in love and has her heart broken.

And you are right - if she played Nellie, you'd have one very hot ticket.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 12/29/04 at 1:21pm

Juanita Hall who created the role of Bloody Mary on stage and also played it in the film was African-American and one of the leading black performers of her era, playing featured roles in the Pulitzer-prize winning all-black "Green Pastures," "St. Louis Woman," "Sing Out Sweet Land" and "House of Flowers." Her complexion was light (as is Duquesnay's) so she was able to "pass" convincingly as an Asian Pacific Islander in "South Pacific" and as an Asian-American in "Flower Drum Song." Duquesnay would be fine in the role (though ideally I would cast an actor of Asian descent).

[WOSQ]

Posted: 12/29/04 at 2:48pm

One key thing about casting these two roles is that they need to look different in age. 10 years apart is too close and that would remove another conflict from the debate about whether these two ought to get together. Maybe 20 years difference.

Nellie is a naive little hick from Arkansas (her own words not in that order) in the early 1940s. She needs to be in her early 20s. De Becque is early 40s.

However these two ooze romanticism. They want each other and they want it bad. Nellie however is a "good girl" of the time, but they need to play it that they can barely contain themselves. Not physically though--with the eyes and the songs.

"Once you have found her, never let her go...." = I have found you and I want you to stay with me, now, tonight, every night, for the rest of our lives.

Jodi Long, Madam Liang in the recent Flower Drum Song, would be a terrific Bloody Mary.

Whoever plays Cable has to be able to describe the first sexual experience of his buttoned up life when he sings Younger Than Springtime. Its all subtext.

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 12/29/04 at 2:53pm

I'm with you on Jodi Long.

[MusicMan]

Posted: 12/29/04 at 3:35pm

In Michener's short stories, Nellie Forbush is described as a "pretty young nurse of 22" and Emile DeBecque as being in his "mid-forties." The "December-May" romance is one of the unique aspects of SOUTH PACIFIC and needs to be cast accordingly, especially since Nellie's change of heart at the end of the story is in part dependent on the flexibility of her youth.

The orchestrations, by the way, are already brilliant and no contemporary revival of any Rodgers and Hammerstein musical has ever succeeded in surpassing the original Russell Bennett or Don Walker orchestrations.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 12/29/04 at 4:11pm

Mmmmm... I love the RNT SOUTH PACIFIC. The new opening and everything... ahhh... perfection.

[Daniel3]

Posted: 12/29/04 at 4:42pm

It had lots of WW2 footage in it, so it wasn't so lovely. my only problem with it is people are soooo in love. My fav Hammerstein/Rogers is always CHAROUSEL (sp), but alas, in the 10 minute love scene, they fall in love

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 12/29/04 at 7:03pm

Am I the only one that didn't understand Daniel's post?

[Shawk]

Posted: 12/29/04 at 7:14pm

Lauren Kennedy was a delightfully goofy Nellie, I thought, and I wouldn't mind seeing her in the role again. I have trouble picturing Tom Hewitt as Emile, but it could work in some strange way. He'd probably be more sauve than Quast, who was kind of rumpled and shambling in the role.

Just please keep Robert Goulet far, far away from the show.

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 12/29/04 at 7:21pm

I'm shocked that people haven't dismissed Lohan as quickly as I did and I thought others would. She cannot sing. At all. Her acting is fine, but she's the same in everything. I would need to see her do something dramatic before I would say her acting is up to par. Besides, they would never be able to pay her the amount of money she would require.

CAll me crazy and really gay, but I can actually see Britney Spears pulling off the role of Nellie. She's the right age, and she is that kind of girl!