TOP PICK - South Pacific

Left: Lincoln Center Theater cast ensemble.
Lincoln Center Theater's new revival of South Pacific, directed by Bart Sher wowed audiences and garnered seven Tony awards with its loving recreation of the great Rogers and Hammerstein classic.
Harriet sent us her review:

"Well, the revival is terrific, a first-class job in every respect. Comparisons are inevitable--Mary Martin, Enzio Pinza, Juanita Hall, Bill Talbot--but this young, gorgeous, extremely talented cast won my heart right from the start in this musical classic, not seen since 1954. The audience, whether they'd seen the original or not, was charmed and enthralled by the performance. The music is gorgeous. The staging is creative. The themes of apple pie and racism are carefully and artfully developed. You'll be cheering in your seat long before the curtain calls and humming all the way home."

I heard several people say as they left the theater: "I didn't realize what a dark play this is." Perhaps that is because the technicolor movie version sugar-coated the dark themes, but also because Bart Sher has brought forward the aspects that earlier stage and screen productions didn't accentuate. Lieutenant Cable (played by Matthew Morrison) is more of a coward and less like a hero in this version, and Nellie Forbush (the wonderful Kelli O'Hara, who previously starred in The Light in the Piazza and The Pajama Game) does not belt the songs as Mary Martin did in the same role. The stage setting is not lush and tropical, but rather it is a claustrophobic naval base on a tiny island, the temporary resting place for people who would have been brought into improbable proximity by the coincidence of a global war.
NOTE: There have been numerous changes of cast; most notably, Paulo Szot left the cast of South Pacific to fulfill opera engagements from December 2, 2008 - Janaury 25, 2009, and will also be away from March 10 - April 12, 2009. During his absences, David Pittsinger plays the role of Emile de Becque. Matthew Morrison has also been replaced. -- Ellen