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.
But before getting on to the marvels of Kelli O’Hara as World War II Navy nurse Nellie Forbush, Paulo Szot as Emile de Becque, the middle-age French planter she loves, Matthew Morrison as doomed Navy flier Lt. Cable and Danny Burstein as that incorrigibly corruptible Seabee, Luther Billis, let’s talk of the musical itself.
Curiously, not since its 1949 premiere and its subsequent 1,924 performances has “South Pacific” had a major Broadway revival, even though it may be the finest of the Rodgers & Hammerstein musicals, yielding “Some Enchanted Evening,” “There Is Nothin’ Like a Dame, “Younger Than Springtime” and more.
The manner in which music and the original James Michener stories unfurl throughout in a mix of comedy, romance and a touch of tragedy is theatrical magic of the most beguiling kind.
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!
Otherwise, O’Hara delivers Nellie on her own terms and in her own deliquescent persona. If you’ve never seen a “deliquescent persona” before, that’s just another good reason to rush to the Beaumont.
I regret never seeing the great bass Ezio Pinza as Emile, but he was nearly 57 when “South Pacific” opened, even though the text places Emile at 44.
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.