Rodgers and Hammerstein's most celebrated musical masterpiece is the perfect way to lift those end-of-summer blues with its infectious songs and amazing sets.
The iconic musical, set in an island paradise during the Second World War, tells two parallel love stories while confronting the dangers of prejudice and war and the performance absolutely thrilled theatre-goers at the Theatre Royal in Newcastle.
Despite the serious undertone of tackling racism the show remains at heart unashamedly romantic, which is reflected in a score as breathtaking as its lush setting, including numbers like Some Enchanted Evening, Younger Than Springtime, I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair, Bali Ha’i, Happy Talk and There is Nothing Like a Dame.
The story, set in the Pacific, has American ‘Seabees’ – as men of the US Naval construction battalions were called – thrown together with native islanders and French colonial settlers.
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Julian Ovenden, whose TV credits include Bridgerton and Downton Abbey, plays widowed Emile de Becque, the French plantation owner whose romance with US Navy nurse Nellie Forbush (Gina Beck) is central to the plot of the Rodgers and Hammerstein award-winning favourite.
Arkansan nurse Nellie rejects him when she discovers his children had a Polynesian mother. This is an awkward moment. But supporters of Rodgers and Hammerstein say they deliberately exposed racial prejudice in their work.
Meanwhile, Lieutenant Joe Cable is caught in a similar dilemma as he falls in love with Liat, the beautiful and serene daughter of Bloody Mary. Only time will tell how these two enchanting, heartfelt love stories unfold.
It's difficult to say who was the best in the show, which opened in Chichester last year, as all the performers were outstanding.
Our leads were simply wonderful. Julian’s delivery of Some Enchanted Evening is mesmerising and Gina also brings charm, exuberance and great spirit to her role and has an equally brilliant voice. The audience was completely still when they both performed together or individually.
Rob Houchen played young officer Joe and his rendition of You’ve Got To Be Carefully Taught was another highlight of the evening. Sera Maehara plays the role of island girl Liat beautifully. Her mother Bloody Mary, a resourceful woman wheeling and dealing to survive, is played by Joanna Ampil, a performance brimming with energy and she delivered powerful singing all the way.
And hats off to the wonderful Douggie McMeekin playing the self-obsessed black marketeer Luther Billis. The entire audience loved him!
The score is wonderful. Richard Rodgers (music) and Oscar Hammerstein II (lyrics) had both enjoyed enormous Broadway success from the 1920s, but when they got together in the 1940s, the musical theatre scene was changed forever. The show premiered in 1949 on Broadway and in 1951 opened in London where it ran for 802 performances and was seen by King George VI less than a week before his death. And it wasn't just me who loved it. The show earned rapturous applause and, at the close, a well deserved standing ovation.
South Pacific is at Newcastle Theatre Royal until September 24. For tickets, tel. 0191 232 7010 or go to www.theatreroyal.co.uk
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