Dominic Massa / Eyewitness News
Just minutes into “South Pacific,” the sailors remind us, in one of their rollicking opening numbers: “There is nothin’ like a dame, nothin’ in the world.” The revival now playing at the Mahalia Jackson Theater for the Performing Arts reminds us there is nothin’ quite like this Broadway classic, either.
This touring version of the musical, set on the South Pacific Islands during World War II, has it all - the story, the songs, the Seabees and the subtle and not-so-subtle lessons about prejudice. The show playing here through Sunday is based on the 2008 Lincoln Center revival, which won seven Tony awards, including Best Revival of a Musical.
It adeptly revives all the songs you know (music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II) and there’s nothing like hearing them performed by a big orchestra, led here by Richard Dunn II. From “Some Enchanted Evening” and “Bali Ha’i” to “I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair” and “Happy Talk,” they're all here.
The story draws from James A. Michener’s Pulitzer Prize-winning 1947 book. Rodgers and Hammerstein’s version premiered on Broadway two years later, just four years after the war had ended.
A 62-year-old musical, perhaps more popular with your grandparents than your peers, is bound to have some old-fashioned dialogue and references (“Pepsodent,” for example), but the story still contains the important lessons that challenged audiences in the 1940s and 1950s. Here, it is well-told and illustrated by unique set pieces in this production, featuring palm trees and World War II-era backdrops, which are moved effortlessly on and off stage.
Katie Reid is Ensign Nellie Forbush, every bit the blonde, Little Rock girl Mary Martin was in the movie and on stage. As the mysterious but suave French plantation owner Emile de Becque, star Marcelo Guzzo has the baritone singing voice that made his character’s songs famous. Like Ezio Pinza who originated the role on Broadway, Guzzo has an operatic background. But his speaking voice, in a thick and sometimes overdone accent, made some of his lines difficult to understand, and the budding relationship between him and Nellie a little less believable at times.
The supporting cast is equally talented. Christian Marriner’s “Luther Billis” stands out as comic relief and the mischevious leader of the band of singing sailors. Cathy Foy-Mahi brings laughs, and serious moments too, as Bloody Mary, the Tonkinese matriarch whose “Bali Ha'i” rendition is one of the definitive moments of the show.
Those who are only familiar with the 1958 movie and its instantly recognizable songs owe it to themselves to see this Broadway classic on stage. And those who aren’t familiar with it all – like your teenage children or grandchildren – deserve to experience it for the first time. An enchanted evening, indeed.
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"South Pacific" plays at the Mahalia Jackson Theater for the Performing Arts in Armstrong Park, through Sunday, Dec. 4. Tickets are available at broadwayinneworleans.com or 1.800.218.SHOW (7469).
