THEATER REVIEW: 'South Pacific'

James Michener’s “Tales of the South Pacific” is a nuanced study of racism, colonialism and existential conflict in World War II. In 1949, Rodgers and Hammerstein distilled those tales into a musical, “South Pacific,” which is now entrancing audiences in the current Asolo Rep production. No wonder.

Calling this musical “great” falls short.

It’s the Platonic ideal of a musical. The template from which all others after would cut their cloth.
The action unfolds in, well, the South Pacific, on one of the Solomon Islands. A group of Seabees stationed on a tiny island are gearing up for “Operation Alligator” against the Japanese in the Coral Sea. The sailors are in a holding pattern, and have time to put on a Thanksgiving pageant. To jump-start the stalled operation, Marine Lt. Joseph Cable (Anthony Festa) arrives with a plan to go behind enemy lines on an occupied island and secretly radio information about Japanese troop movements. He enlists the help of Emil De Becque (Ben Davis), a French planter who knows the territory. The planter says non. He has someone to live for: Ensign Nellie Forbush (Kelly Felthous), an American Navy nurse. Emil’s fallen in love with her. The feeling is mutual, but Nellie’s ship of love hits the rocks when De Becque introduces her to his two children from his late wife — a Polynesian woman. Nellie rejects him. De Becque agrees to follow Cable on his dangerous mission.

Do they come back? Will true love triumph?

In case you’re one of the few people on the planet who haven’t seen “South Pacific,” I’ll let you find out for yourself.

The musical sets its small human stories against the background of global war. Director Rob Ruggiero (who helmed last year’s “Showboat”) makes the material come alive with a deft, light-handed touch. The script weaves its way in and out of the songs and Ralph Perkins’ high-energy, swing era-inflected choreography. Ruggiero keeps your eye on the story with the counterpoint of action and reaction takes, hilarious bits of business and shamelessly larger-than-life tableaux, where the actors suddenly resemble figures in a patriotic Norman Rockwell painting.

The songs are strong, as The Observer’s music columnist, June LeBell, pointed out. The story and characters behind those songs are also note-for-note perfect. Davis’ De Becque is a nice cocktail of gravitas and roguish charm — conveying true electricity, chemistry and pizzazz with Felthous’ Nellie. Her character’s a sweet kid who describes herself as “a little hick from Little Rock, Arkansas.” But, along with her honey-dripping Dixie accent, Nellie’s picked up Southern attitude toward race. She’s a nice person, but nice people can be racists, as Felthous’ performance drives home. Festa’s Cable is an indomitable warrior with one soft spot: Liat, a young Tonkinese woman charmingly played by Autumn Ogawa. (Cable also wrestles with his racist childhood conditioning, and Festa makes you feel his conflict.) Benjamin Howes’ Luther Billis is a crowd-pleasing, fast-talking, Sgt. Bilko-style wheeler-dealer. Loretta Ables Sayre is a comic gem as his Tonkinese counterpart, Bloody Mary, a role she originated in the 2008 Lincoln Center revival.

These are only the main characters, out of a total of 19 speaking roles — a fraction of the typical big-cast production. In another change of scale, this production features Brad Haak’s crisp, new orchestrations and a stripped-down, eight-piece orchestra led by Music Director William Waldrop. All that downsizing shifts the focus to the intimate human stories. You’re not blasted by bombastic orchestral overkill; the musical earns your laughs and tears. Less really is more.

Despite the small scale, Michael Schweikardt’s rotating set and smart production design create a grand, cinematic feeling. One second you’re on the beach, the next you’re at a hilltop plantation, and it sometimes seems like you can small the salt air and frangipani. John Lasiter’s dreamy lighting and Leon Dobowski’s realistic period costumes bring the illusion home. But the illusion holds a mirror up to life.

“South Pacific” really is a brilliant idea. Wipe the mists of sentiment from your eyes and consider the sheer nerve of making a musical out of Michener’s hard-hitting tales of racism, war and waiting in the first place. Reverse-engineer the moment of inspiration. The epiphany that came to whoever thought of it first …
It’s all about the name.

Consider the words “South Pacific.” Those words bring images and associations of Gauguin’s visions of topless, tropical paradise, assorted noble savages and the lagoons and palm trees of 1,000 pretty post cards. Whatever the truth of whatever island, this was the image in the Western mind in 1949. Now …
superimpose the hellish violence of World War II on that dream of paradise. The bullies of Imperial Japan, imposing their “Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere” on a tapestry of cultures — and the Allies of the free world doing their best to push them back.

Pretty good setting for a romantic musical, isn’t it?

IF YOU GO
“South Pacific” runs through Dec. 28, at the FSU Center for the Performing Arts, 5555 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. Call 351-8000 or visit asolorep.org for more information.