Forestburgh Playhouse travels to South Pacific

By TOM KANE

FORESTBURGH, NY — The Forestburgh Playhouse is wise in producing old classics that have survived the test of time. In summer theater, it’s the popular classics that get the crowds out.

This week, the playhouse’s production is the Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II smash hit, “South Pacific,” which jammed the house on the night I attended.

As usual, the players that Norman Duttweiler has collected for this production did a stunning job in interpreting the book and score for this long-running Broadway show. The musical will play until August 7, so there’s still time to see it, and I urge you to do so.

“South Pacific,” based on James Michener’s novel, “Tales of the South Pacific,” is a simple collection of stunning compositions by America’s most ingenious musical collaborators, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, creating characters with simple though cohesive through-lines. The composers create wondrous melodies that tell stories that grip us because we recognize ourselves in the painted characters.

The male chorus blew me away, with some outstanding voices in ensemble. The female chorus gave me a thrill or two as well, but not as much as the men. How can you miss with a rousing numbers like “There Is Nothing Like a Dame” and “Bloody Mary,” which come early in the show, led by the amoral scoundrel, Seaman Luther Billis, played with remarkable stage presence and timing by Ryan Robert Loucks.

There’s one great song after another: “A Cockeyed Optimist,” “Bloody Mary,” “There is Nothin’ Like a Dame,” “Bali Ha’i,” “I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Out of My Hair,” “Some Enchanted Evening,” “A Wonderful Guy,” “Younger Than Springtime,” “Happy Talk,” “Honey Bun,” “You’ve Got To Be Carefully Taught” and “This Nearly Was Mine.” Each one of them is a hit by itself.

The story is about Nellie Forbush, played sweetly by Rebekah Jacobs, an ensign nurse stationed on an island somewhere in the South Pacific at the beginning of World War II, who falls for a cultured but mysterious wealthy French landowner, Emile de Becque, played with dignity by Ken McMullen.

The Japanese are menacingly based on an island nearby. The sailors and Marines stationed on the island are waiting for the war to begin, meanwhile taunting a native woman named Bloody Mary, played with a primitive juicyness by Illeana Kirven.

The military brass, represented principally by Captain George Brackett, played with authority by playhouse principal Norman Duttweiler, need to spy on the Japanese bases on a nearby island. They talk de Becque into joining Lt. Joseph Cable, played by tenor Richard Barth, who sings the beautiful ballad, “Younger Than Springtime,” to take part in a dangerous spy mission.

De Becque takes on the mission because Nellie has rejected his offer to marry after she suddenly meets the two children whom he had fathered with a native woman. Nellie, a typical girl from Little Rock, Arkansas, is surprised by her spontaneous racial prejudice, which she later rejects.

Lt. Cable falls in love with Bloody Mary’s daughter, Liat, played by Liberty grand fiddler Erin Slaver (without her fiddle this time) and, bristling in response to Nellie’s racism, sings “You’ve Got To Be Carefully Taught,” describing racism as a hatred that is drummed into children by their parents.

Remember, this was written in 1949—not a period of tolerance for people of color. Hammerstein was pressured by the show’s producers to drop the song but to his credit refused to change one word of it.

The show was directed by Ron Nash, who has a long list of credits from Broadway to regional theater. The choreography was created by actor/dancer Richard Amelius, who also played the part of Seaman Stewpot.

The remaining shows at the playhouse are “Grease” from August 9 to 21 and “The Full Monty” from August 23 to September 4.

Two productions especially directed toward children remain on the schedule – “Cinderella” from July 28 to August 6 and “The Three Little Pigs” playing from August 11 to 20.

For reservations, call the playhouse box office at 845-794-1194.