South Pacific

Last Friday night my sister Rebecca invited me to the Hollywood Bowl to see South Pacific. Her friend from work is an actor and he was one of the navy men. He did an excellent job!the musical concert was great. The singing was excellent. My teacher for elementary voice class suggested I do one of the songs in this musical by Rodgers and Hammerstein so she lent me the movie and I perused the music. I ended up not doing any of the songs but the one song I find so powerful and moving is You've Got to Be Carefully Taught. It's really the anchor( pun intended) that holds it down makes you stop and think and then you make a change and move on! I love that song! ng Here's the info:

Musical Concert South Pacific at the Hollywood Bowl

Fri. Aug 3 8:30 PM South Pacific with Reba McEntire and Brian Stokes Mitchell
Artists:
Reba McEntire, Ensign Nellie Forbush; Brian Stokes Mitchell, Emile de Becque; Hollywood Bowl Orchestra; Paul Gemignani, musical director; David Lee, director; Mark Esposito, choreographer; Armelia McQueen, Bloody Mary; Aaron Lazar, Lt. Joseph Cable (USMC); Conrad John Schuck, Capt. George Brackett (USN)
and; Michael McKean, Luther Billis

Program:
Rodgers and Hammerstein: South Pacific

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the stage musical. For the 1958 film, see South Pacific (1958 film).

For other other uses, see South Pacific

South Pacific is a musical play, with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and book by both Hammerstein and Joshua Logan. The story is based on two short stories by James A. Michener from his book Tales of the South Pacific, which itself was the winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1948. It was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1950. The issue of racial prejudice was sensitively and candidly explored, particularly for a 1949 work. James Michener claimed he was pressured to ask Rodgers and Hammerstein to remove the song You've Got to Be Carefully Taught, because of its biting comments about racial prejudice.

South Pacific is generally considered to be one of the greatest musicals of all time ^{[1] [2]}, and a number of its songs, such as "Bali Ha'i," "Younger than Springtime," and "Some Enchanted Evening," have become worldwide standards. South Pacific is the only musical to date (12/18/2006) to have won all four Tony Awards for acting. It was nominated for 9 Tonys and won all of them.

Synopsis

On a South Pacific island during World War II, a U.S. Navy nurse, Ensign Nellie Forbush, falls in love with a middle-aged French plantation owner, Emile de Becque.

Meanwhile, the restless U.S. Navy sailors, led by the entrepreneurial Seabee Luther Billis, lament the absence of women or combat to relieve their boredom, when Lieutenant Joe Cable of the U.S. Marine Corps arrives on the island to take part in a dangerous spy mission that might help turn the tide of the war against Japan. As only officers can sign out boats, Billis convinces Lt. Cable to accompany him to the mysterious and valuable island of Bali Ha'i. There, Bloody Mary, the native souvenir dealer, introduces Cable to her teenage daughter, Liat, and the two fall in love.

The two couples prosper, and proposals of marriage are made; however, Nellie has deep-seated ethnic prejudices, and Emile is a widower with children from his marriage to a Polynesian wife. Nellie has to choose between her long-held biases and her heartfelt love of Emile. Similarly, Cable refuses to marry Liat due to her race, infuriating Mary. Though recognizing, and being ashamed of, their bigotry, Nellie and Cable feel that they have no options, due to pressures of society and their own upbringing.

Dejected and with nothing to lose, Emile agrees to join Cable on his dangerous mission behind Japanese lines, successfully sending back reports on enemy forces. The Americans use this information to intercept and destroy Japanese convoys, "Operation Alligator" gets underway, and the previously idle sailors, including the reluctant Luther Billis, are sent into battle. Cable is killed during the mission, and Emile narrowly escapes a similar fate to return home to the now-understanding Nellie and his children.

Songs

Act I Overture - Orchestra Dites Moi (Tell Me Why) - Emile's Two Children or Islander chorus A Cockeyed Optimist - Nellie Twin Soliloquies - Nellie and Emile Some Enchanted Evening - Emile Dites Moi (reprise) - Emile and his Two Children Bloody Mary - Men's Chorus There Is Nothing Like a Dame - Men's Chorus Bali Ha'i - Bloody Mary I'm Gonna Wash that Man Right Outta My Hair - Nellie and Women's Chorus Some Enchanted Evening (reprise) - Emile and Nellie A Wonderful Guy - Nellie and Women's Chorus Younger than Springtime - Cable Bali Ha'i (reprise) - Offstage Chorus or Islander chorus A Cockeyed Optimist (reprise) - Emile and Nellie Twin Soliloquies (reprise) - Nellie and Emile A Wonderful Guy (reprise) - Nellie and Emile Finale: Act I (Some Enchanted Evening) - Emile

Act II Entr'acte - Orchestra Happy Talk - Bloody Mary Honey Bun - Nellie Younger than Springtime (reprise) - Cable You've Got to Be Carefully Taught - Cable This Nearly Was Mine - Emile Some Enchanted Evening (reprise) - Nellie Finale - Nellie, Emile, and his Children