Review: "South Pacific" at Stages is an enchanted evening

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To close their 2017 season, Stages St. Louis is giving us enchanted evenings with a very strong production of South Pacific. Using the slightly revised version of the original script prepared for the 2008 Broadway revival, director Michael Hamilton honors both the comedy and tragedy of the show.

Leah Berry and the company
Photo by Peter Wochniak, ProPhotoSTL

If you only know Rodgers and Hammerstein's classic as a high-gloss widescreen musical from 1958, the show's occasionally trenchant commentary on the folly and futility of war, issues of racism, and what Emile De Becque, in a moment of despair, refers to as "a mean little world / Of mean little men" might come as a surprise. We need to remember that when the show opened in 1949, the aftermath of the horror that was the war in the Pacific was still very much on everyone's minds.

We need to remember, as well, that less than a year before that opening, President Truman had issued Executive Order 9981 desegregating the armed forces—provoking a violent backlash that continues to this day. "You've Got to Be Carefully Taught," Lt. Cable's bitter commentary on racism, provoked anger and accusations of indecency and Communism when South Pacific arrived in the southern USA. Rodgers and Hammerstein, to their credit, refused to cut the song.

The Stages cast is a great one, headed by Leah Berry as a captivating Nellie Forbush and Michael Halling, radiating gravitas as Emile De Becque. Matthew Hydzik is compelling as the conflicted Lt. Cable and Mark DiConzo could illuminate a small city with the comic energy he brings to role of the conniving Luther Billis.

Matthew Hudzik and Sydney Jones
Photo by Peter Wochniak, ProPhotoSTL

Joanne Javien's Bloody Mary is a ball of comic ferocity and Muny Teen Troupe member Sydney Jones is the epitome of wordless grace as Mary's daughter Liat. There is, in fact, not a single performance here that isn't on target. Simple, evocative sets and atmospheric lighting add to the overall polish of the production.

So if you haven't seen South Pacific in a while, now is a good time to renew your acquaintance. Its condemnation of racist folly remains, I'm sorry to say, as relevant now as it was in 1949. Apparently we learn from history that we learn nothing from history.

The show got an enthusiastic reception from a sold out house when we saw it, so you'll want to visit the Stages web site soon to order tickets. Performances continue through October 8th.

TPTBT (The Place to Be Tonight): Sunday, July 14, 2013

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Who: The Muny
What: Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific
When: Tonight at 8:15
Why:  When South Pacific hit the stage in 1949, the aftermath of the horror that was the war in the Pacific was still very much on everyone’s minds.  Combine that with the show’s occasionally trenchant commentary on racism, the futility of war, and what Emile De Becque, in a moment of despair, refers to as “a mean little world / Of mean little men,” and you can easily understand why the show took Broadway by storm.

The war has since receded to sepia-tinged nostalgia (although the mean little world of mean little men is still with us), so it's harder to put on a South Pacific with any real impact these days.  Judging from the critical response, the Many has nevertheless managed to do just that.  In his review for 88.1 KDHX, Bob Wilcox describes this South Pacific as "maybe the finest production of it I've ever seen."  In the Riverfront Times, Paul Friswold gives it "two thumbs up."  In the Belleville News Democrat, Lynn Venhaus says it's "simply magnificent, creating an as-good-as-it-gets enchanting evening at the Muny."

I could go on, but you get the idea.  For more information: muny.org