Good bye South Pacific and Thank You
Good bye South Pacific and Thank You
dramamama611
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/4/07
#1Good bye South Pacific and Thank You
Posted: 8/22/10 at 10:19am
For creating one of the most satisfying theatrical experiences I've had. A work of art to be sure!
You will be missed.
#2Good bye South Pacific and Thank You
Posted: 8/22/10 at 10:22am
I never saw the revival in person, and have been obsessed with it since the broadcast. I regret missing it on Broadway, but I plan on seeing the tour next month.
Thank you, Bart Sher, and the amazing company of Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific.
RIP
#2Good bye South Pacific and Thank You
Posted: 8/22/10 at 10:44amThank you for proving that classical musical theatre still has a place on Broadway.
#3Good bye South Pacific and Thank You
Posted: 8/22/10 at 10:48amMy favorite show on Broadway. I'll be very sad to see this gorgeous show go. I'll be at the closing performance today and will report back all the details.
#4Good bye South Pacific and Thank You
Posted: 8/22/10 at 11:00am
I'll be there as well... Its going to be hard to say goodbye to this one. 
justafan2
Broadway Star Joined: 3/25/04
#5Good bye South Pacific and Thank You
Posted: 8/22/10 at 11:07amdramamama611---you summed it up---it is an incredibly satisying theatrical experience. It is more than just a viewed show--and it will be missed.
#6Good bye South Pacific and Thank You
Posted: 8/22/10 at 11:17amAnd here's to a succesful West-End run!
#7Good bye South Pacific and Thank You
Posted: 8/22/10 at 11:31amI finally got to see it about two weeks ago and it really was one of the most amazing experiences I have had in a Broadway theater. No words can describe the feeling I had when the stage opened up to reveal the orchestra playing that glorious overture. And the spectacle just continued from there. I am glad I will the broadcast to enjoy for years to come!
#8Good bye South Pacific and Thank You
Posted: 8/22/10 at 11:39am
Random question.
I'm seeing the show today, do you guys think the stage door will be swamped?
dramamama611
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/4/07
#9Good bye South Pacific and Thank You
Posted: 8/22/10 at 11:43amYes.
#10Good bye South Pacific and Thank You
Posted: 8/22/10 at 11:43am^ Probably. If anyone here can, please record the curtain call, they'll probably make a speech
FindingNamo
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/22/03
#11Good bye South Pacific and Thank You
Posted: 8/22/10 at 11:45am
Danny Burstein and Carlo Szot, please contact me for your complimentary "Congratulations Massage" at your earliest convenience.
Love,
FindingNamo
#12Good bye South Pacific and Thank You
Posted: 8/22/10 at 11:46amThis is a thread on here just about everyday, but could someone please remind me where the stage door is?
tommyboy
Broadway Star Joined: 12/21/06
#13Good bye South Pacific and Thank You
Posted: 8/22/10 at 12:27pm
You know: SOUTH PACIFIC leaves me so may wonderful thoughts and memories.
I was so fortunate to be a member of the cast of out local production -- I was one in Thanksgiving Specialties dance number and Nothin' Like a Dame Seabee
Stratford Ontario -- Festival Stage
Friend of George Britton (the 2nd Emile de Beque) in the original production.
OMG -- now you all know how old I really am. But that does not matter, since I am really "Younger Than Springtime", or says my BFF
dramamama611
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/4/07
#14Good bye South Pacific and Thank You
Posted: 8/22/10 at 12:31pmPaulo Szot. (Unless you are really talking about his lesser know older brother the pharmacist.)
tommyboy
Broadway Star Joined: 12/21/06
#15Good bye South Pacific and Thank You
Posted: 8/22/10 at 12:35pm
Add to this thought: R&H got all the kudos, but does anyone remember the idea of the show was inspired by the popular author James Michener who wrote "Tales of the South Pacific", among others, i.e. "Hawaii; The Source".
Interesting summer reading (it was written @60 years ago), available at your local library or worth the investment to your own personal library collection.
dramamama611
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/4/07
#16Good bye South Pacific and Thank You
Posted: 8/22/10 at 12:38pmYup. I own it.
Dollypop
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
#17Good bye South Pacific and Thank You
Posted: 8/22/10 at 4:00pmI didn't catch up with this production until a few weeks ago. It was one of the most wonderful experienced I've had in the theatre in recent years.
dramamama611
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/4/07
#18Good bye South Pacific and Thank You
Posted: 8/22/10 at 6:38pm
I saw this not too long after it opened (April 0
.
Funny thing: I almost didn't go. I went to the city for a week, and there was so many other things I wanted to see that I almost tried to sell my ticket. Then before I knew it, the week was upon me and I hadn't done anything to 'get rid' of the ticket. So I figured, "what the hell"!
So, I went, not expected a heck of a lot. From the moment the orchestra cover slid back, I KNEW it was going to be a special evening. (Oh, the smiles on the faces of the musicians!) About 1/2 throught Act I the tears started falling (I don't remember at what moment.) and they pretty much continued throughout.
I walked out feeling that I had just witnessed the closest thing to theatrical perfection as I would ever experience. SO wonderful, in fact, that I didn't want to see it again -- fearing another viewing could not possibly live up to the grandeur. In fact, I didn't go back until the begining of the month, knowing that it was closing.
It didn't quite live up to my original experience, but I am not sorry, at all, to have seen it again.
Dollypop
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
#19Good bye South Pacific and Thank You
Posted: 8/22/10 at 6:49pm
I'd done three productions of SOUTH PACIFIC (two as Harbison, one as Billis).
This production was so fresh and wonderful that it was like experiencing it for the first time. Did I actually say those lines? Did I actually do a belly dance like that?
#20Good bye South Pacific and Thank You
Posted: 8/22/10 at 6:56pm
Thank you, South Pacific, for being the most complete and completely satisfying theatrical experience I've ever witnessed. Congrats to all involved! This production will be sorely missed.
~Steven
kooky
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/12/05
#21Good bye South Pacific and Thank You
Posted: 8/22/10 at 6:57pmTHANK YOU SO MUCH ..... for all the many hours ( saw you 3 times) of wonderful music and acting & everything that makes "South Pacific" the TOTAL JEWEL that it is.. it is like a diamond ..... & as we all know DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER .....
#22Good bye South Pacific and Thank You
Posted: 8/22/10 at 7:35pmJust got back from the final performance..all I can say was that was "wow"..EVERY cast member was excellent, as always, but there was obviously something "special" about todays performance...The majority of the pit band were wearing leis...and probably the funniest moment was at the bridge of the Entr'acte the brass and woodwinds stood up and played completely to top of the balcony like it were a jazz fest/parade. It was hilarious. There were enormously long applauses after every song of course, but the best was the curtain call....the production team came out and introduced R&H's daughters in the audience, but more importantly...the producer gave one of the most moving speeches I have ever heard about how important South Pacific is to our culture,..and that in the original production the producer said they would not lower the curtain because the curtain must never close on South Pacific....so in this production the curtain came down as to read the final words of "Tales of the South Pacific" and then it was raised because yet again the curtain will never fall on South Pacific...thus ending another afternoon at the theatre....
dramamama611
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/4/07
#23Good bye South Pacific and Thank You
Posted: 8/22/10 at 7:38pm
Awwww...sweet.
Thanks for taking the time to let us know.
#24Good bye South Pacific and Thank You
Posted: 8/22/10 at 9:53pm
I was there this afternoon as well and the tears keep coming in waves. They started when I arrived a little before the house opened. I spotted Laura Osnes who I had met before, so I went and chatted with her for a bit and congratulated her on her run (I had previously only seen her as Nellie) and I started tearing up as I talked to her. I was also standing right near Loretta Ables Sayre's family and Mary Rodgers Guettel, Alice Hammerstein and Ted Chapin, all wearing their leis.
In tears again during the overture. The sliding back of the floor always does it to me and today was no exception. Beautiful orchestra and I'm so glad that there is one theater who will pay the worthwhile price of all those musicians to give us a wonderfully lush musical experience.
As I said, this was my first time seeing Kelli O'Hara (in anything live, but I've been a fan for a long time). She was FANTASTIC. So natural in the role and it was really a pleasure to have finally been able to see her. Everyone was really on tonight and it was a dream to have been there. As noted above, long applauses after each song, especially after "This Nearly Was Mine" which has always been a great favorite of mine.
LesMiz described the curtain speech well. It was so touching and I was in tears. I love this production so much that I feel like it is a part of me and it's hard to know that it is closed. I am so glad to have seen it. Like others, I consider it the closest thing to perfection that I have ever seen in a theater. I hadn't thought about the fact that it was the longest running Rodgers and Hammerstein revival until Andre Bishop announced that at the curtain. It's a true testament to Bart Sher and the fantastic production he put on that he managed to create a gorgeous piece of theater that remains relevant today and can enchant audiences for 2 and a half years.
Stage door was a bit of insanity. Most everyone came out and I had to be a dork and get pictures with Danny, Loretta, Kelli and Paulo. Alice Hammerstein bumped into me as she was making her exit and that was really cool!
Thank you to everyone involved in this production. You have all created the most enjoyable and beautiful show that I have ever seen and I will be forever grateful to have seen it so many times.
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