Paolo Szot in South Pacific

I know that Paolo is leaving South Pacific in November. Does anyone know if someone has been chosen yet to do the role? Any speculations? I haven't seen the required casting notice yet, but then again, I did skip checking the Equity auditions for a couple of weeks this summer (bad me).

When does he leave? I mean, the exact date.

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Well, now I KNOW I have to get tickets to see it again REAL soon! Thank you.

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Nathan Gunn has not even been considered as a replacement for Szot. I doubt he would do it since in the operatic world he is a bigger star than Paolo Szot and much in demand besides being a tenured professor of voice at University of Illinois, although he is the right age and a fine actor and would probably be wonderful in the role.

After seeing the Youtube videos of James Anest and Stephanie Block I think Anest would be fantastic as Szot's replacement since he is now 10 years older and is a superb actor and singer.

Updated On: 8/9/08 at 05:08 PM

James Anest - please! What a beautiful voice.

Saw SP in April and Paolo was amazing. He stopped the show when he sang "This Nearly Was Mine."

James would be a wonderful replacement. I saw him and Stephanie in SP at Cabrillo Music Theatre. Was just in "Singing In The Rain" there, we closed this past Sunday.

Damn! I have been completely out of touch with the opera scene. This Nathan Gunn fellow is SMOKING! And married

The South Pacific CD is terrific but it doesn't do justice to Paulo Szot's singing. He's about 100 times better heard live at the Vivian Beaumont. Such a resonant voice. It really fills that space, especially the ending of Act I.

I agree -- Paulo sounds incredible live. However, the audience seemed to be half asleep when he sang "This Nearly Was Mine". I saw people glancing at each other and smiling little smiles...It was hard to tell if that meant, "Wow, listen to this guy" or "Wow, this song is going on foreeeeever".

Anyway, I heard the usher say that both Kelli and Paulo were going to be with the show all the way till the end of its run, but then again, he didn't even know why Kelli was out of the show the night I saw it (when she was on vacation in July), so, hmmmm.

I would like to see James Anest evolving voice. I love Stephanie J. Block, so I kind of think she outshone him in the recordings of South Pacific. But its been a while now, so who knows? It would be interesting and I have heard he's in the talks. I'm disappointed too, that I most likely won't be able to head back before he leaves SP

caitlinette - it was originally not an open ended run, but since it is now open ended, there is no way to know when SP is actually done. Paolo is leaving November 30th, and the rest of the principals should be signed on til January 4th... and of course, they could extend.

Updated On: 8/10/08 at 07:14 PM

Scrappy, I did not mean to imply that James Anest is ideal for South Pacific based on the Youtube clips. You have to keep in mind that these were 11 years ago when he was in his early 20's and had only been singing opera a short time. Also it was his first musical theater role and anyone is at a disadvantage next to Stephanie J Block, who I think is the closest anyone has come to duplicating the magic of Mary Martin as Nellie Forbush.

Also, by comparison I am sure that 11 years ago Paolo Szot and Nathan Gunn were not singing anywhere near the quality they are now.

I saw Anest 3 times as Gaston in two different productions of Disney's Beauty and the Beast in 2006 & 2007 and based on what I saw and heard, not only is he vocally ready for South Pacific, Sky Masterson, Billy Bigelow or any Broadway role, his baritone voice now has a gorgeous seamless sound with tenor like sustained high notes that literally shook the theatre. He is now singing difficult baritone roles such as the operas of Rossini, Massenet and Wagner. The fact is that Anest's voice may now be too good for musical theater if such a thing is possible. The role of Emile deBecque was written for Ezio Pinza, a bass-baritone. Paolo Szot is a lyric baritone and sings the role higher as do most singers performing the role today. 11 years ago Anest had to sing the role in the original bass-baritone style which must have been a disadvantage to such a young singer with a naturally higher voice. I hope this explains better why myself and others would like to see and hear what Anest could do with deBecque today and why he would be a wonderful replacement for Szot in the role, although I admit that he may still be physically too young for the part.

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Updated On: 8/11/08 at 09:20 PM

I'm not too impressed with Anest's voice, from what I've heard. He's no Szot, that's for sure. But I wouldn't write off Richard White. De Becque is often cast much older, and if White still has his heartthrob looks, he could probably pull it off.

I thought Paolo did a terrific job in South Pacific!

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