South Pacific

‘South Pacific’ is a wonderful evergreen Rogers and Hammerstein musical which has become one of the top dependable musicals for an amateur theatrical society. Set on an Island in the South Pacific at the time of the Japanese invasion in World War 2, it has become a period piece of musical theatre and the wonderful score ensures it will continue to be revived. CLOC did justice to this complex musical, with a younger than average cast  it needed skill and talent to ensure the audience felt all the nuances of emotion in this tragic but heart warming tale, and CLOC found just the  right performers to achieve expectations.

To ensure pace (the show is long and has many changes of scene) the director set the show on a very basic set with a few palm trees and inserts to determine the location the scenery was minimal and this allowed for smooth transition from scene to scene. The only jarring note for me was the plain backcloth, not always lit to provide colour and warmth to the colourful story, it frequently looked like a bank grey wall, flat to look at, adding nothing to the scene. But the warmth of the characters, the good acting and the fine singing more than compensated for this. The insert for the Captains office was good, but if you are going to use the door then everyone must use it, not occasionally walking off stage into the wings.

The costumes fitted the period and the excellent uniforms (apart from the footwear of Brackett and Harbison which should have both been brown) looked striking at times, particularly when nurses and airmen were all on stage for the departure. The sound was very good and the wireless effects including the ‘static’ were impressive. The orchestra improved over the course of the show, in the overture and at times throughout the show the trumpet was very strident sometime spoiling the emotion and effect on stage. But the MD had control and the cast coped very well with a conductor /player.

The director handled the show with sensitivity, the story is so well known he knew not to be too contemporary with it and it worked well. The minimal dancing was performed well (although I didn’t  like Nellie sitting to sing the start of ‘Wonderful Guy’ - I’m as Corney as Kansas in August verse - such an up tempo song needs life, fun and animation!.

All the principals performed very well. John Prescott was outstanding as Emile de Beque; the beard and greyed hair helped age him but he managed to portray a middle aged man as a tour de force, well observed, never wavering for a moment and beautifully sung. He was well matched by Danni Froude as Nellie Forbush, her fine voice is very skilled and a joy to hear. Joe Cable gave a mature performance as did Luther Billis, both performing well above their ages with confidence and talent. Bloody Mary gave an amusing interpretation of the part, with good voice and emotion. I was impressed with the Captain and the Commander; they worked very well together in their non singing roles. All other principal characters performing were good. The Seabees, Marines and the Nurses made a lively and entertaining chorus, the singing was good and the well known songs were brought to life. My favourite song did not disappoint... Emile’s singing of This Nearly was Mine was a delight!

The show is a long one, but it’s difficult to see what can be done to shorten it, ironically a lovely song (Carefully Taught), scrapped from the current staging would have made it even longer! This production was entertaining and faithfully true to the original concept of the show. Congratulations to CLOC your solid playing membership is enviable.

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