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Popular Musical comes to Plattsburgh State University College South Pacific steals your heart away Story by Christine Thompson Remember those old Elvis Presley movies where Elvis is charismatically pursuing a woman on some Hawaiian beach? Elvis somehow manages to make time stop for a moment and send you into a state of infatuation and you can't help but believe in love? The Plattsburgh production of South Pacific mirrors this and inspires the hopelessly uninspired.
On April 20 and 21 at 8 p.m., Roger Hammerstein's South Pacific opened its doors to the public from the Giltz Auditorium at Plattsburgh State University College. The beautiful love story played by Broadway actor George Hearn and his wife, Leslie Hearn, is the main storyline of this musical set during World War II. South Pacific starts off with French fugitive Emile de Becque's (George Hearn) children and Au Pair practicing a French song. Then, we meet U.S. Navy nurse Nellie Forbush (Leslie Hearn) from Arkansas on Emile's terrace. We quickly learn of the budding love affair between Emile and Nellie as they begin to get to know each other. Nellie points out their differences - she being from a small town in Arkansas and Emile being an intellectual Frenchman. Throughout the rest of their encounters, there is an emotional battle between the pair as Nellie tries to work through their differences and accept each other's pasts. While Nellie and Emile begin to fall in love with each other, the U.S. Navy sailors lament for companionship to ease their boredom or war combat. The U.S. Marine Corps send Lt. Joseph Cable, played by Peter Gonyo, to the island for a dangerous spy mission. In the course of Cable being on the island, native souvenir dealer Bloody Mary, played by Susan Richards, attempts to get Lt. Cable to marry her daughter, while the Lt. of the sailors convinces Lt. Cable to travel to the mysterious island of Bali Ha'i. Emile proposes to Nellie, who accepts, but then lets prejudice get in the way of her love for Emile and refuses to see him. Lt. Cable falls in love with Bloody Mary's daughter, but he also allows prejudice to come between their budding relationship. Each struggle to let go of their American values to fall in love. Emile and Lt. Cable decide to take the dangerous spy mission, feeling hopeless without the ones they love, sending reports back to the U.S. Navy, calling their mission "Operation Alligator." South Pacific delivers a remarkable combination of music, dance, acting and humor. While the opening orchestra melody almost left me unenthusiastic for the following two hours, Emmy and two time Tony award winning George Hearn and wife Leslie Hearn quickly captured my attention for the rest of the night. Contrary to my past beliefs, musicals can be as entertaining as anything else - if done the right way. For me, South Pacific was a perfect combination of everything. Director Derrick Hopkins knew what he was doing when he enlisted the efforts of George and Leslie Hearn, PSUC students and faculty, and the Essex Theatre Company. The mix of age groups and personalities on stage contributed to the immediate success of this musical.
Nothing, however, is ever perfect and I did object to the overall spatial arrangement. The orchestra was set right on the stage leaving minimal space for the actors and actresses to move. While they managed to make it work, the overlapping of 8 - 10 performers on stage at one time proved to be a little distracting. It seemed as if the actors and actresses really had to pay attention to their placement to not run into each other, to not end up in the wrong place, and to not fall into the orchestra. Thus, the orchestra placement also overshadowed the voices of the actors and at times could be a little distracting to what the actors were performing on stage. The women's ensemble was placed behind the orchestra which had that eerie effect of hearing voices from God when they would randomly appear and burst out in song. But the actors used all of their skills to enhance their performance and keep the audience attentive. "Bloody Mary," a song performed by the U.S. Navy soldier was a creative combination of American culture and Japanese culture. The sailors swooned over Bloody Mary, the native of the South Pacific Island for her being, not only one of the few women on the island, but for her swooning over them as well. She shimmied her hips, got soldiers to wear grass skirts, and coerced them to buy her souvenirs for the prices she wanted to. It represented female empowerment. This whole singing and dance number was crafted beautifully - even the color schemes of the costumes made the scene that more powerful, as the sailors were in all black and white and Bloody Mary wore a red and white polka dotted dress. The sailors continued to exude their hyper masculine behavior through the musical number "There's Nothin' like a Dame."
The most powerful scene in this whole musical captured the love between Emile and Nellie during their performance of "Some Enchanted Evening." It goes back to those old Elvis Presley movies, where you know Elvis is in love with whatever woman he is pursuing and you capture the moment where she falls in love with him - George and Leslie Hearn delivered a captivating performance throughout the whole musical. Their scenes together, however, were the most powerful. Their love on stage made your heart beat fast and made you genuinely feel like they needed to be together, or you were going to be sad for them if they weren't. They would use the aisles frequently, creating a very inclusive vibe, and their energy on and off stage made me feel more connected to the actors and actresses. I could tell by watching South Pacific that the actors and actresses had a lot of fun preparing all of their scenes, and because they had fun, I had fun. Their energy connected the audience to these characters on this island in the south pacific. South Pacific won me over, and has made me musically inspired. |
Music by Richard Rodgers Director Derrick Hopkins
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