Laden with seven Tonys, this Broadway revival of South Pacific was always at risk of collapsing beneath the weight of expectation before it even opened on these shores. In fact, it holds up rather well.
OK, so the post-war attempt to tackle racism and American sexual imperialism may seem absurdly dated, but what a score. From the moment the excellent orchestra strikes up the overture you are reminded that this is one of Rogers and Hammerstein’s most glorious achievements. It’s jam-packed with music treats brought to vigorous life under the baton of Jae Alexander.
But what of Samantha Womack, on whose slender shoulders much of the pre-show publicity has rested? Well, when she sings without losing her accent – which is never easy – she is utterly convincing as Nellie from Little Rock, Arkansas. It is only between numbers that her performance seems a little stagey. It’s almost as though she is performing in an “am dram” play within a play. Perhaps she needs to convince herself that she really is in love with sophisticated but lonesome French planter Emile De Beque – an attraction that has always struck me as ridiculously far-fetched, given that he reads Proust and she admits to not reading anything at all. But this is a musical and the musical numbers more than make up for any shortcomings in the story. De Beque is sung brilliantly by Brazilian baritone Paulo Szot, and the Seabees, led with great aplomb by another former EastEnder, Alex Ferns, in the role of Luther Billis, combine high comedy with genuine menace. “There is Nothing Like a Dame” is less a celebration of femininity and more a demonstration of sexually aggressive masculinity which sets the scene nicely for the first appearance of Bloody Mary, played with a chilling cupidity by Broadway survivor Loretta Ables Sayre, who would make the most marvellous pantomime villain. Another outstanding performance is by Aussie tenor Daniel Koek who plays Lieutenant Cable. “Younger than Springtime” is both a joy and a portent of the avaricious sexual tourism to come in Act Two, when Bloody Mary sells the lieutenant her own young daughter.
The problematic pacing of South Pacific is all too apparent as we are rushed headlong from the toe-tapping lightness of “Happy Talk” and “Honey Bun” towards the actual horror of war in the South Pacific, which does at least provide Szot with the evening’s highlight. “This Was Nearly Mine” is simply tremendous, momentarily bringing a hush to the theatre before the second (or is it the third?) reprise of “Some Enchanted Evening”. By this stage, I’ve lost count. Needless to say, Nellie overcomes her distaste at the prospect of step-mothering two mixed-race children and, despite the off-stage sounds of war, everything works out beautifully. Following its run at the Barbican, one of London’s most uncomfortable theatres, South Pacific goes on a nationwide tour. If you demand nothing more from a musical than fabulous songs well sung, I suggest you go to see it.
