Saw South Pacific yesterday, its first major revival since its 1949 Broadway run. The director of the show says that when you hear this music, you think, Oh my god, I knew this sound before I was born. My parents saw it to celebrate their first anniversary, in February 1950, so in my case that's probably true. It's eerily, thrillingly familiar.
But... those Hammerstein lyrics, you say. He's as corny as Kansas in August and the corn is as high as an elephant's eye. His plucky heroines are cock-eyed optimists who whistle happy tunes about happy talk and their favorite things. (His self-doubting heroes, from a carousel barker to a king, get soliloquies and puzzlements. Emile, in South Pacific, gets "This Nearly Was Mine," possibly one of the most magnificently heart-wrenching songs of loss ever.)
But let's leave the lyrics aside for the moment. Rodgers created some of the most exquisite music of the 20th century, and there is nothing like hearing a 30-piece orchestra in one of the most beautiful theaters in New York dig into that overture and those sweeping, rapturous melodies.
Isn't the show, you know, dated? you ask. Those pieties and preachments about tolerance and whatnot? Well, I did look at my watch during "You've Got to Be Carefully Taught." But is a show about war and racism dated? In today's New York Times, Frank Rich explains it better than I can.
It's also about romance, though, the yearning and dreamy kind. Romance as in "Some Enchanted Evening"/"Younger Than Springtime," and if that's passé, well, I can live with that.
Here's the Carnegie Hall concert version with Reba McEntire and Brian Stokes Mitchell (who happens to live around the corner from us and is a very lovely guy).
My Trusted MOGs
I was hoping you'd mention Frank Rich. My wife saw South Pacific last month on a brief trip to NY last month, and she said tears were on her cheeks during most of it. Knowing those things and watching this video got me all emotional too.
My Trusted MOGs
Yeah, I think Rich nailed it. And your wife isn't alone-- there was lots of sniffling. It seems to be (for whatever one's personal reasons) an unusually intense experience. I'm buying the new cast recording on Tuesday.
My Trusted MOGs
So glad to read your words on this show. We just bought tix for my father-in-law to celebrate his 75th birthday. The lyrics to the tunes are timeless (whether 7 or 75.
My Trusted MOGs
My vinyl-to-MP3 device is a little glitchy, but I still wanted to post these tracks from the version of "South Pacific" by the Reprise Musical Repertory Theatre. We get Keely Smith adding a sexy drawl to the quite unsexy "A Wonderful Guy" and Bing Crosby comfortably crooning "Younger Than Springtime," bracketed by two stellar Sinatra-Riddle recordings.
My Trusted MOGs
Debi: Best to your father-in-law. He'll love it.
Emscee: Unsexy when it's Mary Martin, not so much when it's Kelli O'Hara, who is fetching. These are lovely renditions; thanks. (I considered posting Sinatra's "This Nearly Was Mine.") But, you know, they're almost impossible to muck up.