SOUTH PACIFIC Reviews... — Page 4

I am SOOOOO happy for this cast/crew/show. Its my favorite R&H show and one of my all-time favorite musicals. I really HAVE to see it, or I might die. I just might.

Anyway, I have to agree with the others about Mr. Brantley's georgously written review, I can't get this line out of my head:

"...the score performed by the sumptuously full orchestra (with musical direction by Ted Sperling) feels from the beginning like thought made effortlessly audible."

I've never thought of it like that. Its such a beautiful idea.

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I may be missing a few, but here goes:

On Broadway, my kids have seen--

Grey Gardens
The Drowsy Chaperone
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels
Follies
The Full Monty
The Producers
Hairspray
Annie Get Your Gun
Curtains
Legally Blonde
Cry-Baby
The Little Mermaid

In London--

Billy Elliot
Mary Poppins
The Lion King

They've also seen the Kennedy Center productions of CARNIVAL and MAME.

They have (and often watch) the DVDs of THE SOUND OF MUSIC, FLOWER DRUM SONG, OKLAHOMA and THE KING AND I. (And tons of other movie musicals.)

And my daughter is appearing in her school's production of THE KING AND I, so I think I just answered my own question.

I'll call Lincoln Center today.

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NY Post Clive Barnes is another RAVE:

SIMPLY wonderful! Bartlett Sher's masterly reinvention of Rodgers & Hammer stein's "South Pacific" opened at the Vivian Beaumont last night with enough wattage to keep Lincoln Center alight for years.
...
Sher has been helped here by Christopher Gatelli's boisterous but unobtrusive choreography, Michael Yeargan's beautiful settings (at the start, the thrust stage rolls back to expose the full and eloquent orchestra) and Catherine Zuber's carefully accurate costumes.

Where Sher and Yeargan have been especially effective is in their sense of period, and, more important, a period filtered through the perspective of history. (Interestingly, although the races are carefully kept apart, the show updates the integration of the US Navy by a couple of decades.) This "South Pacific" is not a faded photograph, but a modern etching.

Except in one delicious respect: O'Hara, who gives a totally different reading from the role's great originator, Mary Martin, offers an uncannily precise re-creation of her "Honey Bun." Charming!

...

The Brazilian-born Szot is only 38. Also a refugee from opera, he has a splendid voice, fine presence and acts superbly. When this gig is ended, he'll no doubt resume a burgeoning operatic career.

As for the rest, there's not a single weakness - with Burstein offering a magnificent mix of sleaze and heart as Luther, and the excellent Morrison (whose profile resembles James Dean's) leaves a poignant impression as the young airman, Cable.

This is a great staging of a great show, not least for its portrait (now too sadly apt) of young America at war.

FUN ENCHANTED EVENING

Washington Post is a rave. "Musical Perfection."
I've never seen the word perfect used in so many reviews.

This is much deserved!




Musical Perfection

Foster- Pasquale wasn't let out of his contract. It wasn't because he didn't want to do it. Very often, TV shows won't let their actors out of their contracts when they want to do a movie or a show and it interferes with filming.

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I'm well aware, wickedfan. My point was, because of his TV show, he has had to pass up the opportunity to create the role of Fabrizio in PIAZZA and now Cable in an acclaimed revival of SOUTH PACIFIC.

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Another great quote from the Washington Post on the sets:

"The evocation here of the gritty military intrusion on paradise is one of the evening's triumphs. Designer Michael Yeargan devises what feels like the set of an epic movie, one on which the harsh realities of war and occupation virtually push the natural beauty of the place to the sidelines. Off in the distance, beyond the planes and trucks and detritus of war, we glimpse an ocean and the dunes of the beach, over which sailors and islanders depart for mystical Bali Ha'i, whose twin volcanoes seem to emerge, thanks to lighting designer Donald Holder, magically from the mist."

Just from the orchestra to the cast to the sets and everything in between: a glorious revival!

This revival is probably the best musical production I've seen on any Broadway stage.

"I know we’re not supposed to expect perfection in this imperfect world, but I’m darned if I can find one serious flaw in this production. (Yes, the second act remains weaker than the first, but Mr. Sher almost makes you forget that.)"

Yesss!

Thanks, everyone, for your input and support. I decided to get the kids Lincoln Center memberships, too, so we going. We got great seats, too!

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After all of these AMAZING reviews, I happened to stumble upon Telecharge this afternoon. I'm treating my grandmother to the show in August as an early-birthday gift. Her birthday is actually Sept. 11, but yeah, I wanted a summer sizzler to really lift the spirits! We have C-ORCH / D / 303-304? For anyone who's attended previously, how's the view, etc., etc.? Any and all insight appreciated. I am VERY MUCH excited!

Best,
- Mike

...I have Row D of the 300's section. The 300's IS the Center, right? I hope I don't have any problem seeing the set.