South Pacific is a musical composed by
Richard Rodgers, with lyrics by
Oscar Hammerstein II and book by Hammerstein and
Joshua Logan. The work premiered in 1949 on
Broadway and was an immediate hit, running for 1,925 performances. The story is based on
James A. Michener's Pulitzer Prize-winning1947 book
Tales of the South Pacific and combines elements of several of the tales.
Rodgers and Hammerstein believed they could write a musical based on Michener's work that would be financially successful and, at the same time, would send a strong progressive message on racism.
The plot centers on an
American nurse stationed on a
South Pacific island during
World War II, who falls in love with a middle-aged expatriate
French plantation owner but struggles to accept his mixed-race children. A secondary romance, between a
U.S. lieutenant and a young
Tonkinese woman, explores his fears of the social consequences should he marry his
Asian sweetheart. The issue of racial prejudice is candidly explored throughout the musical, most controversially in the lieutenant's song, "
You've Got to Be Carefully Taught". Supporting characters, including a comic petty officer and
the Tonkinese girl's mother, help to tie the stories together. Because he lacked military knowledge, Hammerstein had difficulty writing that part of the script; the director of the original production,
Logan, assisted him and received credit as co-writer of the book.
The original
Broadway production enjoyed immense critical and box-office success, became the second-longest running
Broadway musical to that
point (behind Rodgers and Hammerstein's earlier
Oklahoma! (1943)), and has remained popular ever since. After they signed
Ezio Pinza and
Mary Martin as the leads, Rodgers and Hammerstein wrote several of the songs with the particular talents of their stars in mind. The piece won the
Pulitzer Prize for Drama in
1950. Especially in the
Southern U.S., its racial theme provoked controversy, for which its authors were unapologetic. Several of its songs, including "
Bali Ha'i", "I'm
Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My
Hair", "
Some Enchanted Evening", "
There Is Nothing Like a Dame", "
Happy Talk", "
Younger Than Springtime", and "
I'm in Love with a
Wonderful Guy", have become popular standards.
"Some Enchanted Evening" is a show tune from the 1949 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical South Pacific. It is "the single biggest popular hit to come out of any Rodgers and Hammerstein show." It is a three-verse solo for the leading male character,
Emile, in which he describes seeing a stranger, knowing that you will see her again, and dreaming of her laughter. He sings that when you find your "true love", you must "fly to her side, / And make her your own".
The song appears in the first act of the musical. It is sung as a solo by the show's male lead,
Emile de Becque, a middle-aged French expatriate who has become a plantation owner on a South Pacific island during World War II. Emile falls in love with
Ensign Nellie Forbush, an optimistic and naive young
American navy nurse from
Little Rock, Arkansas. The two have known each other for only a few weeks, and each worries that the other may not return his or her love. Emile expresses his romantic feelings for
Nellie, recalling how they met at an officers' club dance and instantly were attracted to each other. He asks her to marry him
. In the song, he describes a man seeing a stranger and instantly knowing he will see her again, hearing her laughter and dreaming of it. He says that when you find your "true love", you must "fly to her side, / And make her your own"; otherwise, all your life you will "dream all alone". The song is then reprised several times during the show by Nellie and/or Emile as their relationship experiences setbacks and reconciliations
.
In the original Broadway production, "Some Enchanted Evening" was sung by former
Metropolitan Opera bass Ezio Pinza. Pinza won the
Tony Award for
Best Actor in 1950 for this role, and the song made him a favorite with audiences and listeners who normally did not attend or listen to opera. In the
2001 London revival of the show,
Philip Quast won an
Olivier Award for Best Actor for his role as Emile, and seven years later
Paulo Szot won a
Tony for his portrayal in the 2008
New York revival.
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Wikipedia
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SONG LIST:
Some Enchanted Evening -
Vale Of
Tywi Male Voice Choir,
101 Strings,
Mantovani,
Melachrino Strings,
The Romantic Strings &
Arthur Fiedler &
The Boston Pops!
- published: 30 Mar 2016
- views: 0