BWW Reviews: SOUTH PACIFIC Takes Anchor at the Hippodrome

How can a song that is only 14 lines in length and lasts only about ninety seconds sum up a musical? When the lyrics are written by Oscar Hammerstein II and the music is by Richard Rodgers. The show is South Pacific, and the song is entitled "You've Got to Be Carefully Taught". It is sung by Lt. Joe Cable (Shane Donovan) who is confronting his racist feelings even though he loves a Tonkinese girl named Liat (Hsin-Yu Liao). Cable is from Philadelphia and wonders how he can ever overcome his bigotry to marry her. He sings to Frenchman Emile de Becque (Marcelo Guzzo) who like Cable will be facing a similar situation since he is the father of two adorable Polynesian children, Negana (Judae' A. Brown) and Jerome (Cole Bullock) and his hope of marriage to Ensign Nellie Forbush (Katie Reid) may be in trouble since she is not sure she wants to be step-mother to two dark-skinned children.

By the way, Forbush hails from Little Rock, Arkansas where just 53 years ago President Eisenhower, to insure integration at Central High School (probably where Forbush would have gone) sent in the 101st Airborne Division to ensure the safety of nine Black students.

I had heard the composers were told to cut this number from the show due to its controversy. I decided to go to a reputable source for more information. James Alan Lovensheimer is the author of "South Pacific: Paradise Rewritten" (Broadway Legacies) published in 2006. Lovensheimer reported to me that "The number was controversial from the start...Throughout the out of town tryouts, people in the business tried to convince R&H to cut "You've Got to Be Carefully Taught" due to its controversial nature. Their response was always the same: the number reflected why they were drawn to the piece in the first place and they were not about to cut it. Even Michener writes about their tenacity in his autobiography."

And according to the "The Oxford Companion to the American Musical", "There were cities in the deep south that would not allow the tour".

You will also notice that there are only three Black sailors on stage and due to the racism in the armed forces, mainly work together and do not have much interplay with the other sailors.

This is a new production based on the Lincoln Center production which recently played the Kennedy Center. There were subtle set design differences. I missed seeing the portion of an airplane the Black sailors worked on. One of the biggest differences is the orchestra. The Kennedy Center had 26 musicians. The Hippodrome has ten. It does sound great under the baton of Richard Dunn III. Does anyone not recognize the first three notes of the wonderful overture as "Bali Ha'I"?

Then there's the cast. Guzza's background is only in opera and it shows. He has a great voice but is mostly stiff and showed no emotion at all regarding his love affair with Forbush played by an exhuberent and talented Reid.

The highlight is Cathy Foy-Mahi as Bloody Mary. She is one of the most talented Marys I've seen

A slight suggestion to the two cute children. Is it really necessary to have to look obviously staight at the conductor for their opening number "Dites-Moi"? I also noticed the company didn't have a television monitor hanging from the balcony to watch the conductor. Is this production that bare-bones?

Both the women and men ensembles are superb. The men especially bring great energy from the moment they enter until they leave. I wish they had more work. You will love "There is Nothin' Like a Dame" and "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair".

For more information, log onto www.SouthPacificOnTour.com.

This short run ends Sunday night, October 9. For tickets, call 410-547-SEAT or www.Ticketmaster.com.

For comments, write to cgshubow@broadwayworld.com.

Photo Credit: Joan Marcus

Reader Reviews

To post a comment, you must register and login.

Need more Washington, DC Theatre News in your life?
Sign up for all the news on the Summer season, discounts & more...