Are critics harder on shows they know and love – or does their previous affection soften their hearts toward new stagings of them? I have no good answers for that. Nevertheless, I publicly admit that South Pacific is one of my favorite shows, and I argue that it’s the best of any of the Rogers and Hammerstein works. STAGES St. Louis offers it as the final show of their 2017 season. It’s a good chance to see this very emotional show up close, as opposed to the large venues where it’s usually staged.
Yes, emotional: Two love stories and a war, plus really cute kids. Nellie Forbush (Leah Berry), a Navy nurse on a small island in the Pacific, is being wooed by Emile Debecque (Michael Halling), a Frenchman who owns a plantation on the island. A young Marine lieutenant, Joe Cable (Matthew Hydzik), arrives with orders for a dangerous reconnaissance assignment but falls in love with a local girl, Liat (Sydney Jones). Both relationships are cross-cultural, with the added fillip that Debecque has two children by his late wife, who was Polynesian.
Liat’s mother, Bloody Mary (Joanne Javien), is an entrepreneur hustling souvenirs to the military personnel on the base. Her drive is almost matched by Luther Billis (Mark Diconzo), one of the Seabees. (Seabees were members of the Navy construction battalions – CBs.) Billis surely must have been the inspiration for Sergeant Bilko of the eponymous television series, working his own schemes for fun and profit.
Berry gives us a slightly older Forbush but one that never got away from home before, not so relentlessly perky as many earlier Nellies, thus more believable. Halling, as Debecque, sounds so great I’m willing to overlook his lack of chemistry with Berry; it’s easy to forgive body language that’s a little stiff (and a mustache that doesn’t look decade-appropriate) when he starts to sing. Hydzik’s Philadelphia Main-Line Cable feels right as he shows his approach-avoidance conflict. Jones’ Liat will loosen her initial stiffness as the show’s run goes on – it works in the initial scenes but needs to relax as the two fall in love.
The secondary cast here is remarkably strong. Diconzo, as Luther, is clearly a guy of the streets, strong and mentally quick, and Javien’s Bloody Mary doesn’t need to whine to let us see her motivation. She tears up “Bali Hai”, just one of the many, many stunning songs in the score. Farther down the line, John Flack, as Captain Brackett, the CO, and Steve Isom, as Commander Harbison, Brackett’s executive officer, have fun with things, especially Flack’s lovely tirade on older men still having a good time. Having a good time is something the Seabees are big on; they surely seem to enjoy themselves, and on the night I was there, “There Is Nothing Like a Dame” was the first explosive applause of the show. Given the last chord of the song, alone, it’s understandable.
Michael Hamilton directed and staged the show with Ellen Isom’s choreography, especially fun in the Thanksgiving show numbers. The relatively minimalist set from James Wolk works very well indeed, thanks in no small part to Sean M. Savoie’s lighting.
A very satisfying evening, even for a critical critic.
South Pacific
through October 8
Stages St. Louis
The Robert G. Reim Theatre
Kirkwood Civic Center
111 S. Geyer Rd., Kirkwood
314-821-2407