SOUTH PACIFIC ENCHANTS ALL OVER AGAIN

We had a 50th reunion Friday night—South Pacific and a sold-out audience at the Vivian Beaumont. It was sweet.

My friend and I told the woman next to us that we might have to sing along. “Only if you are Mary Martin or Enzio Pinza,” she said, effectively putting a stop to any nonsense.

I know all the songs with the exception of “My Girl Back Home.” Not only did those songs relate to a history that touched my family (a brother served in the navy in the Pacific and one uncle was a seabee, a builder) but also we sang them in school vocal groups. All were unabashedly romantic and they informed our dreams. Most hoped for their own “enchanted evening” and “seeing a stranger across a crowded room.” Some still do.

The NY premiere of South Pacific was in Aril 1949, a simpler time. There was agreement then about fundamental values: belief in self-improvement, conviction about the can-do attitude and the courage and willingness to fight for the collective good. South Pacific was described then as “lovely, warm, fresh and beautiful.” It is still!

Friday night the biggest laugh in the entire production came when Lt. Buzz Adams observed that Ensign Nellie Forbush couldn't possibly be in love with Emile de Becque because "he is an older man. He is forty-four."