South Pacific Revival Slated to Begin in Late Feb. '08

According to a casting notice, the upcoming Broadway revival of the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic South Pacific will begin previews at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre in February of 2008.

South Pacific - directed by Tony Award-nominee Bartlett Sher (The Light in the Piazza, Awake and Sing!) - will begin previews on or around February 28th of next year.  A spring '08 run was previously announced in Variety. 

Equity principal auditions are set for January 25th, 2007.  

South Pacific concerns the love affairs of two couples who are living on a Polynesian island during World War II. Both romances - those of Nellie Forbush and older Frenchman Emile de Becque, and Lieutenant Joe Cable and Liat - are threatened by racism and misunderstanding.

South Pacific, which is based on James Michener's Tales of the South Pacific, starred Mary Martin as Nellie and Ezio Pinza as Emile when it opened at the Majestic Theatre on April 7th, 1949. Rodgers and Hammerstein's second-longest running show at 1,925 performances, it won all of its 9 Tony nominations in 1950, including Best Musical.

A number of its songs, such as "This Nearly was Mine," "Bali Ha'i," "Younger than Springtime," and "Some Enchanted Evening," have become worldwide standards thanks to the musical's success. Along with the many Tony Awards, Rodgers and Hammerstein, along with co-writer Joshua Logan, also won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1950.

Lincoln Center Theater is currently presenting Tom Stoppard's three-part epic The Coast of Utopia. 

Visit www.lincolncentertheatre.org for more on Lincoln Center Theatre.

Photo - Bartlett Sher