SOUTH PACIFIC Reviews...

[Princeton78]

Posted: 4/3/08 at 6:55pm

Talkin' Broadway is a rave...
http://www.talkinbroadway.com/world/

[Princeton78]

Posted: 4/3/08 at 6:57pm

Talkin' Broadway..
"What a joy it can be to be swept away by a tidal wave! But don't worry: The most engulfing and enrapturing experience of this year - and quite a few others in recent memory - is not the product of global warming or any other natural disaster. In fact, the word "natural" fails to properly describe its provenance: Something this transporting, this precise, and this beautiful can only be crafted by the most skilled of hands.

Specifically, those of Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II, and Joshua Logan, who created the enduringly exquisite musical called South Pacific, which Lincoln Center Theater is now resuscitating in a glowing revival at the Vivian Beaumont. As directed with superb reverence by Bartlett Sher and performed by an astonishing company, this production speaks and sings to your heart in a way few shows today do.

Everyone else is spectacular. Szot, an opera notable, brings an unimpeachable baritone, nuanced acting skills, and an effortless sense of comedy to Emile, as ingratiating in his own semi-silly reprise of "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair" as he is sensual in "Some Enchanted Evening" and searing in "This Nearly Was Mine." Sayre is a down-and-dirty Bloody Mary who wrenches you into her fantasies without ever falling for them herself. Li is an appealingly innocent Liat, while Burstein is a complete hoot as the opportunistic Billis.

Best of all, however, might be the orchestra. While the infinite vistas of beach of Michael Yeargan's set, Catherine Zuber's crisp costumes, and Donald Holder's excellent tropical lighting give the show the opulent look it deserves, the 30 outstanding musicians conducted by Ted Sperling give it an even more invigorating sound. Their playing of Robert Russell Bennett's peerless original orchestrations reminds you with every note how gloriously musicals once insisted on catching your ear.

If there's anything dated about this show, it's its mindset that the theatre should be a place where even the intervening concerns of the outside world are sublimated to the magic of art. Sher's meticulous and delicate staging, the 40-person cast, and the rich look and sound of everything put to shame the season's other threadbare and vulgar revivals, Grease, Sunday in the Park with George, and Gypsy.

Those keep you anchored in your seat, but this one sets you sailing the seas. To where? As Bloody Mary coos to Cable, "Bali Ha'i may call you any night, any day." But it's the siren song of this magnificent South Pacific you'll struggle to resist in the weeks, months, and hopefully years to come."

[jewishboy]

Posted: 4/3/08 at 7:03pm

I agree with him, except for his views on Morrison

[BustopherPhantom]

Posted: 4/3/08 at 7:07pm

Variety is a Rave:

Before Bartlett Sher's staging of "South Pacific" gets under way, an excerpt splashed across a front scrim from James A. Michener's source stories characterizes the writer's time stationed in the region during WWII: "The waiting. The waiting. The timeless, repetitive waiting." It's been almost six decades between the 1949 opening of the Rodgers & Hammerstein classic and the show's first Broadway revival, but the Lincoln Center Theater production sure makes the waiting worthwhile. From the seductive swell of a full orchestra playing the glorious five-minute overture through the poignant final tableau of love and reconciliation, this is ravishing theater.

http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117936698.html?categoryid=33&cs=1

[Weez]

Posted: 4/3/08 at 7:16pm

MAN Morrison looks good with no shirt on. O_O

[GoSmileLaughCryClap]

Posted: 4/3/08 at 7:23pm

LA Times is mixed to negative.

"Sadly, everything old can't be new again."

http://www.calendarlive.com/stage/cl-et-south4apr04,0,1251819.story

[H.Higgins]

Posted: 4/3/08 at 7:35pm

Matthew Murray is and a**hole and I should be used to the a**hole comments he makes, but I find this remark offensive:

--"Sher's meticulous and delicate staging, the 40-person cast,
and the rich look and sound of everything put to shame the
season's other threadbare and vulgar revivals, Grease,
Sunday in the Park with George, and Gypsy."

I haven't seen South Pacific, but I'm excited to do so and have every reason to believe it's a stunning production. That can be said, though, without unfairly and incorrectly labeling the INCREDIBLE revivals of both "Sunday" and "Gypsy."

[bertandrew2]

Posted: 4/3/08 at 7:40pm

I have to agree with Murray --the production values of GYPSY did indeed look threadbare and as Mr. Musto says Lupone plays the role as though she is eating a live lobster. That sort of screams vulgar to me.

[H.Higgins]

Posted: 4/3/08 at 7:48pm

Another great review from David Rooney of "Variety." What a class act.

[BustopherPhantom]

Posted: 4/3/08 at 7:49pm

AM New York is a Rave:

"Grease," "Gypsy" and "Sunday in the Park with George" are receiving strong Broadway revivals, but none is so enchanting as Lincoln Center's revival of Rodgers & Hammerstein's "South Pacific."

Bartlett Sher's winning production, marking the first Broadway revival of the 1949 musical, is reverential yet freethinking, cinematic yet intimate, militaristic yet romantic...

http://www.amny.com/entertainment/stage/am-pacific0404,0,4967135.story

[BustopherPhantom]

Posted: 4/3/08 at 7:51pm

If the reviews continue like this, we're going to have a very competitive Best Revival category...

[MiracleElixir]

Posted: 4/3/08 at 7:54pm

"I have to agree with Murray --the production values of GYPSY did indeed look threadbare and as Mr. Musto says Lupone plays the role as though she is eating a live lobster. That sort of screams vulgar to me."



I disagree with you on the GYPSY set/production; I think the "threadbare" look is completely intentional and works perfectly with the type of acts that are being performed (as well as the venue), but I at least can see some people feeling the way you do. I don't agree, but I understand.

However, how in the hell could someone accuse the SUNDAY IN THE PARK... revival of being either "threadbare" or "vulgar"?

I saw SOUTH PACIFIC a few weeks ago and it's a pretty terrific revival, but I still prefer SUNDAY. I just don't quite get how someone could accuse it of what Murray seems to be.
Updated On: 4/3/08 at 07:54 PM

[lovesclassics]

Posted: 4/3/08 at 7:56pm

I agree with you H. Higgins. Those bashing comments were unnecessary.

Not to mention, Gypsy's sets and costumes SHOULD be threadbare. They are traveling around the two-bit vaudeville circuit and don't have a penny to their names. And Rose SHOULD be vulgar. She practically pimps out her own daughter, for heaven's sake. And if you've ever read stories about the real Rose, she was quite the bulldozer. She supposedly killed one of her female lovers for making a pass at Louise!

OK, back on topic. I wasn't eager to see South Pacific, but these reviews may get me there!

lc

[Princeton78]

Posted: 4/3/08 at 8:08pm

If the reviews keep going this way, the revival Tony will go to South Pacific. Gypsy will get its rewards in the acting categories. Lincoln Center seems to be a darling of the Tonys.

[bertandrew2]

Posted: 4/3/08 at 8:09pm

So Sorry to continue this off-topic issue but... I totally GET the concept that of the two-bit vaudeville circut and the tattered look of things...but its not done well. Its so sparse! I looks very random. Why is the chinese restaurant the SAME table as in Papas house, yet the dressing room for Gotta Get a Gimmick is more of a full set? It not well thought out--In my opinion. Now, we all know that the real Rose was a bulldozer and yes, I've read up on it over the years!!!! But this is not a documentary...its a show. Its a musical. Herbie has to fall in love with her. She has to grow. This just didnt happen for me the night I saw it.

Now back to the rave reviews of South Pacific!

[AvenueQResident]

Posted: 4/3/08 at 8:22pm

Woah, it looks as if the revivals are the main highlights this year!

[Ed_Mottershead]

Posted: 4/3/08 at 8:26pm

And to think I'm going to see it this Saturday.

[courtnyj]

Posted: 4/3/08 at 8:40pm

Princeton78 - I agree. The best revival Tony will go to S. Pacific and the acting Tonys to Gypsy.

[chinkie azn jai]

Posted: 4/3/08 at 8:53pm

NY1 is a rave:
http://www.ny1.com/ny1/Living/theater_reviews.jsp

[Greekmusicalfan]

Posted: 4/3/08 at 8:53pm

NY Times is a RAVE !!!!

http://theater2.nytimes.com/2008/04/04/theater/reviews/04paci.html
Updated On: 4/3/08 at 08:53 PM

[H.Higgins]

Posted: 4/3/08 at 8:55pm

--"If the reviews keep going this way, the revival Tony will go
to South Pacific. Gypsy will get its rewards in the acting
categories."


Agreed, Princeton. And that's just fine by me!

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 4/3/08 at 9:00pm

Excellent reviews for an exquisite production.

[Greekmusicalfan]

Posted: 4/3/08 at 9:01pm

I am sure the extension announcement is a matter of days, if not hours !!!

[Elphaba3]

Posted: 4/3/08 at 9:11pm

I'm grinning from ear to ear right now. I'm so happy for everyone involved in the show!

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 4/3/08 at 9:11pm

They are now officially shaking in those thread bare boots over at GYPSY.
I believe Kelly got more paragraphs than that other Dame.
Love that there is so much talent emerging in a rather lackluster season.