Tony-Winning South Pacific at 5th Avenue Brings the Meh

Friend Rachael and I got all gussied up Sunday night to go find out why it was that two unabashed musical theater fans like ourselves didn't know diddly about South Pacific (at the 5th Avenue Theatre, Tuesday-Sunday through February 21; tickets $25-$103). By night's end, we knew the answer. This Rodgers & Hammerstein so-called classic about love in World War II hasn't aged well.

I don't regret spending three hours watching the outstanding sets and the tremendous vocal talent in this national touring production, and I wouldn't have regretted buying a ticket. If you are a fan of musicals, you should go. But if you're the type of person who's only going to see a musical once in a while, save your money for the 5th Avenue's productions of On the Town and Candide later this year. [For a contrary view, consider "11 Reasons Not to Miss South Pacific."]

Let me first absolve the director, cast, and crew of any responsibility. Bartlett Sher's staging is inventive and adds a little Heart of Darkness tinge to the story. Rod Gilfry has as powerful a baritone as I've ever heard. As "little hick" Nellie Forbush, Carmen Cusack is cute and charming and everything that role should be. The comic relievers--Matthew Salvidar as Luther Billis and especially Genson Blimline as Stewpot--throw strikes. The fault lies with Rodgers & Hammerstein themselves.

The plot, at its best, is convoluted. At its worst, it makes no sense at all. The characters' behavior is contradictory. The songs aren't memorable, and those that are don't have much meaning within the story. I was excited to hear "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair," but mortified to discover that the supposedly washed-out man is forgiven just a few moments after the last bars are sung. I call bullshit on that.

Perhaps it was all a matter of getting this musical out too fast. South Pacific had its premiere in April 1949, less than four years after the war ended. Every audience member would've had a friend or family member who'd served in the Pacific (about three million Americans did a tour toward the rising sun, including future presidents John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon.) South Pacific surely fulfilled a nationwide need for large entertainment related to such a massive national undertaking. I assume that this topicality is what led to the show winning a Pulitzer Prize and a Tony despite some major flaws.

The novel South Pacific, based on James Michener's Tales of the South Pacific, won a Pulitzer as well, but that novel isn't even considered among Michener's best, let alone approaching Catch-22 (1961) or  Slaughterhouse Five (1969) as important works about the American experience in World War II. Likewise, the best English-language prose work about World War I, Vera Brittain's heartbreaking memoir Testament of Youth, didn't appear until 1933.

Point being, South Pacific is a fine musical, probably perfect for the times. I'm glad I saw it. But the story can't hold up now that the echoes of the shooting are so faint. The musical doesn't deserve classic status; I doubt I'd ever see it again.