subject: Prize-wining Musiacl South Pacific [print this page] The great South Pacific offers moments of cheerful entertainment unforgettable songs such as There Is Nothin Like a Dame and Im Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair, spirited comic scenes charged by the pent-up energy of the bored Navy Seabees" and the scheming island entrepreneur Bloody Mary, deliberately and adorably amateurish dance routines. A fine balance of modesty, slyly understated sexiness be suitable a mainstream, mid-20th-century hit. On the other hand, the shows core concerns are serious it builds up an exquisite tension in the life-and-death stakes of one of the plots main devices (a spy mission to a Japanese-held island nearby, at a time when World War II still is going badly for the Allies), makes subtle yet powerful points about the social roots of injustice and the costs of war, strikes particularly poetic notes about the universal human hunger for happiness. Lincoln Center Theater, in association with Bob Boyett and NETworks Presentations, presents a new production of Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein's prize-winning musical SOUTH PACIFIC, directed by Bartlett Sher. Rodgers & Hammerstein's SOUTH PACIFIC makes its Denver first appearance at the Buell Theater, playing July 20-August 1 as part of Denver Center Attractions 2010 Season.
Rodgers & Hammerstein's SOUTH PACIFIC swept the 2008 Tony Awards, winning seven honors including Best Musical Revival and Best Director for Bartlett Sher. This breathtaking new production has created a sold-out sensation on Broadway, lauded by the critics as "Simply Wonderful! Beguiling theatrical magic!" (New York Post), "Ravishing and overwhelming" (Variety) and "Rapturous and revelatory!" (The New York Times). Based on James Michener's Pulitzer Prize-winning book Tales of the South Pacific, Rodgers & Hammerstein's SOUTH PACIFIC has music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and a book by Oscar Hammerstein II and Joshua Logan.
Nowadays everybody thinks they have seen the genuine 'South Pacific' only because its songs exist in the combined American unconscious," wrote Frank Rich in The New York Times a couple of months after the musicals celebrated return to Broadway in 2008. That's a very New York kind of view which only a Broadway production counts as the real thing. But the success of this revival, won seven 2008 Tony Awards, is evidence not just to the 1949 Rodgers & Hammerstein classic's enduring reputation as arguably the best of all American musicals but to its contemporary relevance and significance. The show's national tour begins a six-night stint in the Broadway Across America series at the Keller Auditorium on Tuesday. Measured as complete entertainment, it offers plenty, the colorful setting and costumes, two convincing romances and songs as memorable as "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair," sung here by Carmen Cusack in the central role of Nellie Forbush. But what the show demonstrates about the costs of war and prejudice is as much a part of its lasting legacy. Opens 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, continues 7:30 p.m. through Aug. 7, plus 2 p.m. Aug. 7, 1 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Aug. 8, Keller Auditorium. If you want to see the great show south pacific so you can buy the cheap south pacific tickets and get the real fun.
