RIP Eartha Kitt (1927 - 2008)Even as I had celebrated the joys of Christmas throughout yesterday, I went to bed last night with a heavy heart after learning that the magnificent, sultry and completely irrepressible
Eartha Kitt died of colon cancer.
This triple threat (actor, singer, dancer) who once dared speak her mind at the White House was 81 and one of a kind. Never one to shy away from speaking her mind or living life to its fullest, Ms. Kitt was simply wonderrrrrrrful.
Given how often I heard her 1954 classic "Santa Baby" on the radio this holiday season, it was sadly ironic that this two-time Tony nominee -- for 1978's
Timbuktu! and 2000's
The Wild Party -- passed away on Christmas Day.
Personally, I had two opportunities to see her perform live on stage, and I'll always cherish those memories.
The first time came in the early part of this decade when she took on the role of the Fairy Godmother as part of a color-blind cast revival that
toured with
Rodgers and
Hammerstein's
Cinderella -- the chance to see Ms. Kitt was the sole reason I went, and despite the smallish role, she did not disappoint as she sang, "Impossible."
But the second, unforgettable time came nearly two years ago on Valentine's Day 2007. Ms. Kitt was part of a poetry reading. Not just any poetry reading, mind you, but one that featured the likes of a few other actors of note you may have heard of:
Joanna Gleason,
Charles Grodin,
Philip Seymour Hoffman,
Chris Sarandon,
Joanne Woodward and the late great
Paul Newman. Eartha Kitt and these other fine actors offered their own unique, individual voices on the ecstasy and agony that arguably make love life’s ultimate affection -- all as part of a mega-bite Valentine called
Come Be My Love...Love Spoken Here, a fundraiser for Connecticut's venerable
Westport Country Playhouse. I can still vividly recall Ms. Kitt's tender, impassioned humanity and humor, thinking how extraordinarily she made every single word dance in my ears.
During a reception after the performance, The Love of My Life and I had a unique opportunity to speak with this legendary diva, and I use that term in its true best sense. Ms. Kitt could not have been more gracious. For us, it was perrrrrrfection.
As my friend Eric in Atlanta has said, may she rrrrrrrrrrrrest in peace.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Broadway, Cinderella, Come Be My Love...Love Spoken Here, Eartha Kitt, In Memoriam, Musical, Oscar Hammerstein II, Richard Rodgers, Santa Baby, The Wild Party, Timbuktu, Touring Production
Pal Joey: Critics Were Bewitched, Bothered Or BewilderedLast evening, the latest revival of
Richard Rodgers and
Lorenz Hart's
Pal Joey opened at
Roundabout Theatre Company's
Studio 54. The tuner is directed by
Joe Mantello and features a new book by playwright
Richard Greenberg.
Pal Joey stars
Stockard Channing,
Martha Plimpton and
Matthew Risch, who replaced
Christian Hoff in rehearsals.
Critical response varied wildly across the board from those who were positively bewitched by the production, to those much more bothered by it all, with some bewildered reviews in between.
Praising the show as "snazzily revived by the Roundabout Theatre Company, (that) pumps much-needed fresh blood into a Broadway grown anemic," Bloomberg's
John Simon is positively bewitched: "Risch has the properly improper gigolo looks and persona of Joey, singing, dancing and acting with precarious insouciance spelled by the called-for defensive arrogance. Channing is appropriately sophisticated and cynical as Vera; if her singing seems a bit too studied, it fits in with Vera’s personality. Plimpton’s Gladys is as beautifully rounded as a hard-edged dame can be.... With splendid choreography from
Graciela Daniele, combining period with modern; scrupulously detailed staging by Joe Mantello; and
Paul Gemignani’s expert conducting of a spirited orchestra, it would take an aged-in-the-wood curmudgeon to ask for anything more."
David Rooney of
Variety is also vexed: "[W]hat makes the Roundabout revival of their 1940 show so compelling is Richard Greenberg’s trenchant adaptation of the original book by
John O’Hara. Erasing the sanitizing stamp of musical-theater coyness, Greenberg brings a fascinating melancholy grubbiness to this cynical story of sordid emotional transactions and opportunistic behavior in late-1930s Chicago. It’s a dark show for desperate times, with enough dramatic meat on its bones to work even as a nonmusical play.... The good news is that while Risch is neither a top-drawer singer nor dancer, he’s doing creditable work as louche lounge lizard Joey Evans. He has the right thuggish good looks, sleazy charisma and self-assured moves to play the unscrupulous gigolo. This is not quite a star-is-born moment, but Risch understands the role of the inveterate cad and he knows how to sell it. Likewise director Joe Mantello, choreographer Graciela Daniele and set designer
Scott Pask; their seamless collaboration makes this apparent the moment the curtain goes up."
Bewildered by Risch's "serviceable voice and none of the nuance needed to make Joey's amorous conquests remotely plausible,"
Eric Grode, who thankfully is reviewing again, now for Newark's
Star Ledger, sees the pluses in the female performers: "Greenberg has radically overhauled John O'Hara's script while remaining in sync with Richard Rodgers' shrewd riffs on supper-club pop and Lorenz Hart's shiv-sharp lyrics.... Greenberg has a sharp ear for the dimestore argot favored by just about everyone else on stage.... [I]n 'Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered,' which Channing delivers with a knowing rendition that makes up for in world-weary style what it lacks in vocal perfection. But the real surprise is Plimpton, a fixture of Broadway's more serious recent efforts (
Shakespeare,
Tom Stoppard and
Caryl Churchill in the last two years alone), who proves to be a sparkling musical theater performer, too. Greenberg and Mantello have bolstered her role considerably, and from a barn-burning rendition of 'Zip!' to a touching glimpse of envy near the end, Plimpton rewards their efforts in full."
Lamenting that the revival "seems more like grown-ups playing dress-up than gritty and cynically delicious pulp fiction,"
Newsday's
Linda Winer comes out swinging: "There is no nice way of saying this. Matthew Risch, the understudy who stepped into the starring role when Christian Hoff reportedly was injured, is a slick and stylish hoofer, and a competent singer. But he doesn't have the wattage to make us care about Joey Evans.... Without more spark behind Joe Mantello's handsomely imagined Chicago lowlife of a production, the darkness starts to feel more dull than glittery.... Channing, as Vera, the wealthy older woman who today would be called a cougar, pulls this off with husky-voiced aristocratic earthiness, looking great in
William Ivey Long's daring gowns and talk-singing her way through the music as if it were written that way. There is more unexpected delight in Plimpton, rapidly becoming one of the theater's most invaluable adventurers. Here she is fearless in a black lace corset and garters as Gladys Bumps, a sturdy been-around thug of a stripper."
Concluding that the show "is seriously undercut by the gaping hole at its center,"
Frank Scheck at
New York Post awards just two and a half stars (out of four): "As the tough-talking, second-rate nightclub performer Gladys Bumps, Plimpton -- not exactly known for musical comedy -- is terrific, the standout attraction of the flawed revival that opened last night.... While (Risch is) a strong dancer and a fair singer, he doesn't yet have the acting chops and, more important, the charisma to make his Joey as much of a charmer as he is a heel.... Joe Mantello has provided a smooth, reasonably entertaining staging that's enhanced by the slinky, sexy choreography of Graciela Daniele.... Stockard Channing, looking impossibly young for her 64 years, is compelling as the sexually rapacious socialite Vera Simpson, even if her renditions of such classic songs as 'Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered' are better acted than sung."
Bothered by "Mantello's low-impact staging,"
Joe Dziemianowicz of New York's
Daily News awards just two and a half (out of five) stars: "Risch ... gets an A for effort. He's a capable singer and deft dancer and gives just the kind of performance you'd expect -- solid and professional. Period.... Under Mantello's inconsistent direction, the acting styles range from realism to broad musical comedy while tuneful Rodgers and Hart songs ... land with little impression.... (Channing's) bluesy version of 'Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered' aches with longing and resignation. The delightful surprise is Martha Plimpton as the street-smart showgirl Gladys. The actress debuts a robust and smoky singing voice and makes the novelty number 'Zip' (usually sung by another character) enormously entertaining."
Blasting it as a "joyless revival,"
The New York Times'
Ben Brantley clearly feels a bit beguiled (and not in any good sense): "[N]obody, with the qualified exception of Martha Plimpton as a floozy with a grudge, emerges from this Roundabout Theater Company production covered in stardust. In shining a harsh light on the inner rot of selfish characters ... this revival has succeeded only in turning them into zombies. When Ms. Channing, as the alcoholic society matron Vera Simpson, sings the show’s most famous song, 'Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered,' it might as well be titled 'Benumbed, Bummed Out and Bored Silly.'... Joey, a part first played by
Gene Kelly, has to be the engine of the show, and that’s a challenge beyond Mr. Risch.... Ms. Channing, whose drollery is one of the greater natural resources of the New York theater, here pushes deadpan into deadness, talking and singing in a hushed, level voice as if in a trance.... But here it’s not easy to differentiate between a character’s distancing herself from her bad behavior and an actress’s distancing herself from a bad production."
The limited run revival of
Pal Joey is slated to close February 15, 2009. You can read my review of
Pal Joey by clicking
here (I actually liked the production).
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Broadway, Critics' Capsule, Joe Mantello, Lorenz Hart, Martha Plimpton, Matthew Risch, Musical, Pal Joey, Revival, Richard Greenberg, Richard Rodgers, Stockard Channing
Pal Joey (The SOB Review) - Roundabout Theatre Company, Studio 54, New York, NY*** (out of ****)Incredibly enough, the first time I ever heard
Richard Rodgers and
Lorenz Hart's enduring classic "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" on stage was not as part of a mounting of
Pal Joey. No, it occurred in 2006 when the enormously talented
Samuel Barnett delivered his poignant rendition as Posner in
The History Boys.Fast forward two years to
Joe Mantello's sparkling revival of
Pal Joey, when I finally had my chance to hear it as originally intended. Well sorta.
No matter that
John O'Hara's book has been substantially updated by
Richard Greenberg. With his decidedly contemporary and largely effective libretto, replete with allusions to abortion and outright depictions of closeted homosexuality -- circa 1930s -- this is certainly not your grandfather's
Pal Joey. Nevertheless, the underlying story of the ne'er-do-well ladies' song-and-dance man Joey Evans, who blithely bounces between women, remains true to the original.
It doesn't hurt that he's cavorting around the sleazy side of Chicago. In fact, with
Scott Pask's El tracks shrouded in shadows from
Paul Gallo's lighting, one can't help but wonder if a
certain disgraced governor could be found lurking here. He'd no doubt be welcome alongside Joey's lothario.
Of course, one of our anti-hero's conquests happens to be a cougar named Vera Simpson. As portrayed by
Stockard Channing, Vera has that rare opportunity to sing "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered," in this case right after being bedded by Joey. But alas, unlike Barnett's earlier performance in
The History Boys, I found myself bewildered by Channing's uneven, faltering voice. Pity, since she imbues her Vera with such natural grace, style and seductiveness ... whenever the music stops.
Fortunately, the flipside of this equation is the absolutely stunning portrayal of Gladys Bumps by a bewitching
Martha Plimpton. Talk about a revelation. We already knew this Tony-nominated actress had the dramatic chops, but who knew she also possesses such an sensational singing voice? Her "Zip" alone is worth the price of admission. Along with her sly moves, courtesy of
Graciela Daniele's uniformly captivating choreography, is there nothing Plimpton can't do? Look for a Tony nod in her future.
As for being bothered, well, let's just say that given the dynamic degree to which Joey Evans is a song-and-
dance man, it's hard to imagine anyone hoofing it -- including
Christian Hoff -- quite like the magnetic
Matthew Risch. Apart from what
Michael Riedel might suggest, Risch mostly succeeds in going from chorus boy to promising lead performer.
Adding to the overall luster of Mantello's well-executed revival are Pask's dazzling set, Gallo's wondrous lighting and
William Ivey Long's elegant costume design. Ultimately in this entertaining
Pal Joey, bewitched wins out over both bothered and bewildered.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Broadway, Joe Mantello, Lorenz Hart, Martha Plimpton, Matthew Risch, Musical, Pal Joey, Revival, Richard Greenberg, Richard Rodgers, Samuel Barnett, Stockard Channing, The SOB Review
Trying To Beguile Again, Pal Joey Opens On BroadwayThis evening,
Roundabout Theatre Company's retooled revival of
Richard Rodgers and
Lorenz Hart's classic
Pal Joey finally opens at
Studio 54. With
Joe Mantello at the helm, this is the final show to open on Broadway during this calendar year.
As noted above, this is not a straightforward revival as
Richard Greenberg has provided a substantial rewrite to
John O'Hara's book. This
Pal Joey stars
Stockard Channing as the stage's original
cougar, Vera Simpson, while Broadway's current straight play "it girl"
Martha Plimpton takes on Gladys Bumps -- her first musical role.
Much has happened since none other than
Hugh Jackman was first being touted for the title role.
Jersey Boys' Tony-winning
Christian Hoff was since cast as Joey Evans, only to be sidelined during previews because of "foot injury." Hoff was replaced last month by
Matthew Risch, whose most recent Broadway gig was as the reprehensible Carlos in the abysmal
Legally Blonde musical.
Will life imitate art with this former chorus boy making critics recall
42nd Street's Peggy Sawyer? Will critics be bewitched, bothered or bewildered? Find out tomorrow as I provide my critics' capsule, along with my very own SOB Review.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Christian Hoff, Joe Mantello, Lorenz Hart, Martha Plimpton, Matthew Risch, Musical, Opening Night, Pal Joey, Revival, Richard Greenberg, Richard Rodgers, Stockard Channing
Broadway Preview: Pal JoeyWant to know the Broadway show I'm
most looking forward to seeing during the 2008-09 Theatrical Season?
Look no further than
Roundabout Theatre Company's retooled revival of
Richard Rodgers and
Lorenz Hart's classic
Pal Joey, which begins previews at
Studio 54 on November 14. With an opening set for December 11, this incarnation is currently listed as an "open-ended" run.
What excites me most is that it ushers in the return to the Great White Way for
Stockard Channing as the stage's original
cougar, Vera Simpson. It's been nine years since this five-time Tony nominated actress -- who won once for her 1985 portrayal of Sheila in the 1985 revival of
Joe Egg -- last trod the Broadway boards.
Personally, I've loved this great American actress ever since "discovering" her as Miriam Knight in the 1973
ABC Movie of the Week "
The Girl Most Likely To." I'm practically embarrassed to admit that I've never seen her perform live. I've promised myself I would move heaven and earth to see her. Finally,
Pal Joey is providing me with my perfect opportunity.
Additionally, it doesn't hurt that the Main Stem's reigning denizen of drama is also in the show. Marking her first foray into Broadway musical theatre is
Martha Plimpton, who will portray Gladys Bumps.
Of course, the acting name that's been most frequently bandied about is that of
Christian Hoff as Joey Evans. This will be Hoff's first leading role on the Great White Way, and his first stage gig there of any kind since winning a Tony two years ago for his work as Tommy DeVito in
Jersey Boys. Hoff tackles the role once thought destined for
Hugh Jackman. But will he have what it takes?
Given that
Richard Greenberg (
Take Me Out,
Three Days of Rain,
The Well-Appointed Room and the upcoming Broadway production of
The American Plan) is rewriting
John O'Hara's book that Chris Caggiano (
Everything I Know I Learned From Musicals) calls "creaky at best," I have high hopes for both Hoff and this
Joe Mantello-helmed revival. And it certainly doesn't hurt that
Pal Joey boasts a terrific score, including timeless tunes like "Bewitched, Bothered, Bewildered."
Roundabout describes this fourth Rialto revival:
Set in Chicago in the late 1930s, Pal Joey is the story of Joey Evans, a brash, scheming song and dance man with dreams of owning his own nightclub. Joey abandons his wholesome girlfriend Linda English, to charm a rich, married older woman, Vera Simpson, in the hope that she’ll set him up in business.
Pal Joey first played Broadway's
Ethel Barrymore Theatre on Christmas Day, 1940, and would run for 374 performances, ending just a week before
Pearl Harbor launched the nation headlong into war.
Gene Kelly's Joey played opposite
Vivienne Segal's Vera, while none other than
the Baby/Dainty June,
June Havoc (the 94 year old actress has been forever immortalized in
Gypsy), portrayed Gladys Bumps.
The
first revival, once again starring Vivienne Segal as Vera, came less than a dozen years later in January 1952 at the
Broadhurst Theatre. With 540 total performances, it would enjoy a run outlasting the original. Joey was played by
Harold Lang, but it would be
Helen Gallagher's take on Gladys that would win a Tony. And the great
Elaine Stritch appeared in this version as Melba.
Barely ten years after the first revival closed, a
second one opened May 29 at
City Center for a mere fifteen performances. But it was enough to provide
Bob Fosse with his only Tony nomination in an acting role, this time in the title role. Fosse was cast opposite
Viveca Lindfors as Vera and
Elaine Dunn as Gladys.
The last revival of
Pal Joey came a whopping 32 years ago at the tiny (by Broadway standards)
Circle in the Square Theatre. Bereft of any Tony nominations, the 1976 revival starring
Christopher Chadman (Joey),
Joan Copeland (Vera) and
Janie Sell (Gladys) came and went after just 73 performances.
So how long will this new revival of
Pal Joey remain on Studio 54's stage? It could be zip, unless critics mustn't kick it around.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
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Labels: Broadway, Christian Hoff, Joe Mantello, Lorenz Hart, Martha Plimpton, Musical, Pal Joey, Revival, Richard Greenberg, Richard Rodgers, Stockard Channing
Wholly Happy Talk! South Pacific Turns Into Open-Ended RunIt's as if Bloomberg's
John Simon knew what was coming!
Bartlett Sher's critically-acclaimed revival of
Richard Rodgers and
Oscar Hammerstein II's
South Pacific has just been
officially extended into an open-ended run!
All I can say is "Oh, what a beautiful afternoon!"
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.Related Stories:Did Critics Think There Is Nothing Like South Pacific? (April 4, 2008)
South Pacific (The SOB Review) (April 4, 2008)
South Pacific: Some Enchanted Opening Night (April 3, 2008)
Is Johansson's South Pacific Journey Just Happy Talk? (March 14, 2007)
Will Broadway's First-Ever South Pacific Revival Provide Some Enchanted Evenings? (December 19, 2006)
Labels: Bartlett Sher, Broadway, Extension, John Simon, Lincoln Center, Musical, Oscar Hammerstein II, Revival, Richard Rodgers, South Pacific
Did Critics Think There Is Nothing Like South Pacific?Looks like critics collectively had some enchanted evenings (and matinees -- just like
I did) as they're rhapsodic in their praise this morning for the very first and long overdue Broadway revival of
Richard Rodgers and
Oscar Hammerstein II's
South Pacific, which opened last night at
Lincoln Center's
Vivian Beaumont Theatre. Directed by
Bartlett Sher, the first-ever revival stars
Kelli O'Hara,
Paulo Szot,
Matthew Morrison,
Loretta Ables Sayre,
Danny Burstein and
Li Jun Li.
Praising Sher and
Christopher Gattelli for having "reinvigorated the concept of the organic musical, in which song feels as natural as breathing,"
The New York Times'
Ben Brantley, who saw the very same performance as I, is effusive: "There’s not an ounce of we-know-better-now irony in Mr. Sher’s staging. Yet the show feels too vital to be a museum piece, too sensually fluid to be square.... It’s as if a vintage photograph had been restored not with fuzzy, hand-colored prettiness but with you-are-there clarity.... [I]n a superbly shaded portrait (O'Hara) gives the character a troubled, apprehensive guardedness as well.... When (Szot) delivers 'Some Enchanted Evening' or 'This Nearly Was Mine,' it’s not as a swoon-making blockbuster (though of course it is), but as a measured and honest consideration of love."
Proclaiming this a "gorgeous revival,"
Elysa Gardner of
USA Today offers four stars: "[D]irector Bartlett Sher and a gifted, great-looking cast fully engage both the challenges faced by these and other characters and the romantic sweep of Rodgers and Hammerstein's ravishing score. Led by Brazilian baritone Paulo Szot and the increasingly wondrous Kelli O'Hara.... When she kicks up her heels and does cartwheels while performing 'A Wonderful Guy,' O'Hara summons the spiritual buoyancy that makes a certain kind of American musical uniquely transporting. Such spine-tingling moments ensure that this
South Pacific doesn't just float; it soars."
"Simply wonderful!" raves
New York Post's
Clive Barnes in his rare four-star review: "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."
Trumpeting this as "ravishing theatre,"
Variety's
David Rooney heaps on the praise: "The keynote to Sher's approach is restraint. Nothing is pushed too hard in this naturalistic presentation, stripped of Broadway bravado, whether it's dramatic scenes, comedy or even the seemingly effortless vocals.... All that quiet restraint serves to make the stealth-like, cumulative emotional power more overwhelming..... Possibly the most accomplished young actress in American musical theater today, Kelli O'Hara's creamy vocals are perfection.... The strength of character, quiet masculinity, kindness and mellow intensity Szot brings to the role are all channeled in his velvety voice. His 'Some Enchanted Evening' is more measured than the usual impassioned declaration but all the more stirring for it, and his escalating regret in 'This Nearly Was Mine' delivers chills."
Practically wishing "It should easily play for at least 1,925 performances," Bloomberg's
John Simon also offers huzzahs: "Pretty Kelli O'Hara is deliciously girlish, with prance in her movements and glints in her glances.... The Brazilian baritone Paulo Szot is surely the best Emile ever.... Sher restored material cut from the original script that deals compellingly with racism. He has excelled at getting mute, peripheral characters to scurry about or linger atmospherically to perfection (note two distant, sunbathing nurses), and in making first-rate use of an airplane and all sorts of military equipment.... Most important, Sher has retained the cinematic flow, naturalism and suggestive use of
Trude Rittman's brilliant underscoring."
Concluding that Sher's "spring '08 creation is top of the line,"
Joe Dziemianowicz of New York's
Daily News has also fallen for the revival: "What makes this impeccably acted and designed production so extraordinary is Bartlett Sher's meticulous and dramatic direction.... The show is filled with fantastic and familiar songs that are presented here like musical conversation, making them sound fresh and exciting. Characters are played with such intimacy you practically hear hearts flutter as people fall in love.... O'Hara is just plain wonderful.... (Szot's) version of 'This Nearly Was Mine' thrills."
Lauding it as "the finest Rodgers and Hammerstein revival since
Nicholas Hytner's epochal
Carousel of 1994,"
The New York Sun's
Eric Grode is unequivocal: "Director Bartlett Sher has risen to the challenge, crafting a crisp, sumptuous, unabashedly emotional revival that finds an almost perfect balance between severity and opulence.... Mr. Sher is seemingly incapable of creating a stage picture that is imprecise or unattractive.... And just as his abundantly charismatic stars, Paulo Szot and the wonderful Kelli O'Hara, each show an acute sensitivity to dynamics as the conflicted lovers Emile de Becque and Nellie Forbush, Mr. Sher finds room for emotions of all shapes and sizes, folding everything from chaotic burlesque to piercing naturalism within
Michael Yeargan's inviting sets...."
Suddenly, there's a real race in the Tony category of Best Revival of a Musical. Will the overflowing praise for
South Pacific result in a well-earned extension for its limited run? We'd better hope so since it's currently scheduled to close on the very June afternoon that the Tonys will be awarded.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.Related Stories:South Pacific (The SOB Review) (April 4, 2008)
South Pacific: Some Enchanted Opening Night (April 3, 2008)
Is Johansson's South Pacific Journey Just Happy Talk? (March 14, 2007)
Will Broadway's First-Ever South Pacific Revival Provide Some Enchanted Evenings? (December 19, 2006)
Labels: Bartlett Sher, Broadway, Critics' Capsule, Kelli O'Hara, Matthew Morrison, Musical, Oscar Hammerstein II, Paulo Szot, Revival, Richard Rodgers, South Pacific
South Pacific (The SOB Review) - Vivian Beaumont Theatre, Lincoln Center, New York, NY
***1/2 (out of ****)From the moment
Ted Sperling cues his 30-piece orchestra, commencing the initial swells from the overture for one of the 20th Century's most beloved musical scores, it's clear that this
South Pacific is going to be a special island of enchanting entertainment in a Broadway sea dotted with lesser destinations.
Bartlett Sher's surprisingly innovative yet entirely natural direction begins by peeling back the stage to reveal the full orchestra, serenading the audience with
Robert Russell Bennett's lush orchestrations for the prelude to one of the truly classic scores from the oeuvre of
Richard Rodgers and
Oscar Hammerstein II. The audience responds rapturously -- and who can blame them given that it's taken an astounding 54 years since these familiar strains were last heard on the Great White Way.
Fortunately, it serves as a harmoniously honest harbinger of things to come as it depicts the early fragility of America's
Greatest Generation, which is regrettably on the cusp of forever fading into history. This truly majestic revival is not only mesmerizing with its timely focus on the sacrifice of war, but is absolutely gorgeous in Sher's loving interpretation aided by striking set (
Michael Yeargan) and lighting (
Donald Holder) designs.
What's more, Hammerstein and
Joshua Logan's Pulitzer Prize-winning book provided its earliest 1949 audience with one of the stage's first forthright depictions of racial bigotry and hate. Way ahead of its time, its enduring message still seems rather prescient even for today's audiences who -- thanks in no small part to our media during this presidential election cycle -- continue to deal with issues related to the color of one's skin.
Sher maintains
South Pacific's twin story centerpieces: the inability of Arkansas-born Ensign Nellie Forbush (
Kelli O'Hara) to accept the love of Frenchman Emile De Beque (
Paulo Szot) -- not because he may have once killed a man, but because he fathered two children from a Polynesian woman -- coupled with Lt. Joseph Cable's (
Matthew Morrison) personal disgust with himself over rejecting Liat (
Li Jun Li), the Polynesian beauty born from loudmouth trader Bloody Mary (
Loretta Ables Sayre), simply because of race.
But Sher also almost imperceptibly underscores the racial divide by slyly segregating what lonely African American troops inhabit this island to the sidelines. It's an image that sadly and quite outrageously was the norm in American society 60 years ago, yet it's one that's haunted me ever since taking in this production last Saturday.
If there's any weak moments in the show, it's when the banal barracks banter ensues among officers as they peruse the vast
National Geographic-style map that is curiously devoid of the two fictional islands taking center stage in the musical.
Now, I must confess right here that
South Pacific, for all its innovation, powerful messages and resonant score,
will always hold a special place in my heart. A whopping 30 years ago this fall, I "enjoyed" my lone stage appearance as Lt. Joe Cable in my high school production. Not only do I have fond memories of that effort, but also for the
1958 film with
Mitzi Gaynor,
Rossano Brazzi and
John Kerr; the
2001 television movie with
Glenn Close,
Rade Serbedzija and
Harry Connick, Jr.; and also a couple other stage versions including a late 2001 touring production with
Erin Dilly,
Michael Nouri and
Lewis Cleale.
But Lincoln Center's staging ranks as the best of the lot, and here's why.
If I've had a quibble through the years, it's that typically, very,
very mature men are cast as Emile, the expat who's found refuge in this formerly quiet little corner of the
South Pacific after killing a town bully. For me, the plausibility gap has always been in believing that the young and naïve Nellie would actually fall for someone looking old enough to be her grandfather.
Reminding us fairly early on that Emile is just 44 years old, Sher successfully shakes and stirs a credible concoction with handsome Brazilian baritone Paulo Szot opposite Broadway's
serious musical "It Girl" Kelli O'Hara. The two make an attractive, completely believable pair.
Through her nearly perfect performance, O'Hara effectively evokes another place and time when, tragically, even nice
typical white persons were carefully taught to be racist. In his stirring portrayal of the more evolved expat, Szot succeeded in eliciting genuine tears and chills (from me) as he realizes Nellie's rejection in singing "This Nearly Was Mine."
But it's Morrison as Lt. Cable who provides the most dynamic counterbalance to the question of race, not only as his Princeton-educated, would-be hero falls in love with Liat, but particularly when his moral indignation overcomes his ignorance in the potent "You've Got To Be Carefully Taught."
There are still plenty of great lessons to be learned from this groundbreaking and entertaining landmark musical. But you better make your way to Lincoln Center by June 15 when this school of a revival closes for the summer.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.Related Stories:South Pacific: Some Enchanted Opening Night (April 3, 2008)
Is Johansson's South Pacific Journey Just Happy Talk? (March 14, 2007)
Will Broadway's First-Ever South Pacific Revival Provide Some Enchanted Evenings? (December 19, 2006)
Labels: Bartlett Sher, Musical, Oscar Hammerstein II, Revival, Richard Rodgers, South Pacific, The SOB Review
South Pacific: Some Enchanted Opening NightAlmost exactly 59 years to the day after
Richard Rodgers and
Oscar Hammerstein II's landmark
South Pacific first opened at Broadway's
Majestic Theatre -- and a little more than 54 years after that same production
closed at the
Broadway Theatre -- the classic World War II musical based on
James Michener's "Tales Of The South Pacific" is finally set to open again on a Great White Way stage.
Directed by
Bartlett Sher, the first-ever revival of
South Pacific stars Broadway's current leading lady
Kelli O'Hara as Ensign Nellie Forbush and opera's
Paulo Szot as Emile De Beque. Other castmembers include
Matthew Morrison as Lt. Joseph Cable,
Loretta Ables Sayre as Bloody Mary,
Danny Burstein as Luther Billis and
Li Jun Li as Liat.
Back when
South Pacific first appeared a scant four years after World War II was won, it was revolutionary in its dignified depiction of mixed race couples, as well as in its revulsion over bigotry. The musical would go on to win the Pulitzer Prize and ten Tony Awards, including for Best Musical, Best Actress in a Musical (
Mary Martin) and Best Actor in a Musical (
Ezio Pinza).
Will critics want to wash this show right off of Broadway or will they provide some happy talk? Find out tomorrow as I provide my critics' capsule, along with my own SOB Review. Given that
The New York Times' Ben Brantley attended the same performance I saw, I'll be very interested to compare notes.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.Related Stories:Is Johansson's South Pacific Journey Just Happy Talk? (March 14, 2007)
Will Broadway's First-Ever South Pacific Revival Provide Some Enchanted Evenings? (December 19, 2006)
Labels: Bartlett Sher, Broadway, Danny Burstein, Kelli O'Hara, Matthew Morrison, Musical, Opening Night, Oscar Hammerstein II, Paulo Szot, Revival, Richard Rodgers, South Pacific
