Rodgers & Hammerstein’s SOUTH PACIFIC is about Americans whose own prejudices belie their seemingly all-American “innocence” and bring them to shocking discoveries about themselves and how they see the world.  And, indeed, how the world seems them. It won the Pulitzer Prize not only for its’ exquisite musical storytelling, but for the forceful – and somewhat dangerous- forthright stand it takes about prejudice and how it can be stopped. For all its’ roots in the “golden” age of musicals, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s SOUTH PACIFIC has much to tell today’s audiences. It still stands tall as a perfect example of the power of words and intelligence. It is these words and this “lesson” that interests me the most.

Accordingly, we are seeking actors who will bring honesty and truthfulness to the characters they portray; and, as Director, I see the need and importance of finding the strengths and honesty of the Asian characters that surround the Americans in this story – and who in the midst of the ugliness of war, set simple but touching reminders of the basic needs of life .

For sure, this is truly a story about WWII; of Americans caught up in the grip of a war they do not much understand and who find themselves in a world so much different than the one they left at home. While other productions have seen the island settings of the show as a stretch of pretty beaches with a few jeeps here and there, our designers and I see this place much closer to the actual reality of where they were; a paradise that has been thrashed, demolished and bent to the needs of the Allied military machine which Is fighting a hard and probably unwinnable war against a determined and ferocious enemy. Overwhelming and sometimes overbearing, this is a far cry from Main Street USA.

 I take very seriously the plight of the Seabees caught in this place -waiting to be deployed and knowing many will never make it out alive, as well as the Nurses stationed here trying to keep these lives together. I do believe that this is how “The Greatest Generation” won its’ stripes. And why this classic musical has remained great for many generations.