South Pacific

The classic Rodgers and Hammerstein musical ’South Pacific’ is an all time favourite in the world of musical theatre. The story is set on two islands in the Pacific during World War II. It follows a U.S.  Navy nurse, Nellie Forbush, who falls in love with a French plantation owner, Emile De Becque. He has two children from his late Polynesian wife, and delays introducing them to his new lover. At the same time a second love story emerges with U.S. Marine Lieutenant Joseph Cable and an island native girl named Liat. Both of these love stories take numerous twists and turns as the show progresses. The lovers struggle through the many obstacles that they encounter. This includes a military mission which leaves everyone in doubt if Emile and Lieutenant Cable will ever return. In addition to this we see numerous comedy characters that bring some fun and add extra themes into this musical. These include Bloody Mary, a native lady who is learning English from the American Naval men as well as being a budding business lady.  We also see Seabee Luther Billis, a sailor who charms his way into getting what he wants in his quest for a female companion.

Blackburn Musical Theatre staged their take on this classic musical at the Thwaites Empire Theatre in Blackburn. The show starts with a rendition of ‘Dites-Moi’ by Emile's children, this is followed by a scene where Nellie and Emile talk about their love for each other. This sets the scene for the show and enables the audience to understand the storyline. It creates a very slow and low key start to the show but this said it was well executed by the cast. Moving forward into act one we meet the full men's chorus for ‘ There is Nothing like a Dame’ this is the point where the show livened up and got the audience sitting up in there seats. Sadly this scene had some sound issues and seemed to distract from the overall feel of the scene. A number of lines were lost and a lot of crackling could be heard from the radio microphones. Thankfully after this number the issues were ironed out and the show progressed without any further problems with the sound. The chorus singing was good throughout the whole show and it was a highlight when they all took to the stage.

The rest of the first half went along at a steady pace. We saw some fantastic characterisations, as the cast are very talented actors. They managed to portray some very authentic accents. On occasion a couple of people did drop their accents but on a whole they were good. This half had many comedy moments as well as some interesting stage settings. The cleaver way that the 'Bali Ha’i' scene was staged was particularly good, the lighting design and scene configuration really captured the essence of the song and the feelings associated to it.

The second half of the show continued to build on the strong performances which were put across in act one. Emotions were well portrayed throughout with relative highs and lows in mood. The audience could understand the narrative due to the good quality of character portrayal. The show ended with a lovely feeling of contentment when the lovers and family were reunited. It flowed nicely into the final bows and the reprise of ‘Honey Bun’ got everyone clapping along and wanting to get up and dance. ‘Happy Talk’ as well as the ‘Honey Bun’ songs were a highlight of this second half.

The choreography within the show was suited to the cast and the Charleston influences were a nice touch and fitting for the era of the show. The orchestra sounded good throughout and the sound balance between the music and vocals were well managed throughout the whole show.

The set was interesting and well designed for this show. It had a large number of trucks which were suitably used to show a change of location for different scenes. This said the changes were visible on occasion due to no mid stage cloths or tabs and a lot of light bleeding from the orchestra pit, this may have been due to the location of our seats within the theatre. There were also a couple of very prompt lighting queues meaning the stage crew were still present when the stage was fully lit. They did however work swiftly and quietly. Props in the show were put to good use and were fitting for the era of the production. The lighting design was good and enhanced the production, they helped to capture the mood of certain scenes. Costumes were colourful, varied and fitted well. The military and nursing uniforms were very suited to this show and gave a real American feel.

Once again the society has managed to bring together a large and diverse cast of many abilities, which were cast appropriately and everyone was used to the best of their capabilities. This adds a real community feel to the production and it was nice to see such a strong male presence within the company.

Overall Blackburn Musical Theatre Company produced an enjoyable show where the story was easy to understand due to it clear portrayal. The society has a lot of strong performers and the high standard of direction enables the best to be brought out of everyone involved. I'd like to thank the society once again for their kind hospitality and wish them well for their 2016 production of ‘Sister Act.’

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