South Pacific

“South Pacific is a musical composed by Richard Rodgers, with lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II (same as Carousel-See post of January 17, 2016).  The work premiered in 1949 on Broadway in New York City and was an immediate hit, running for 1,925 performances. The plot of the musical is based on James A. Michener's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1947 book, Tales of the South Pacific, and combines elements of several of those stories. 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.”

What racism?  The plot concerns two U. S. naval officers, Ensign Nellie Forbush, a nurse, and Lieutenant Joseph (Joe) Cable, USMC, who meet on a Pacific island during World War II.  No, they do not fall in love with each other.  They are only friends.  But, they do fall in love with other people and therein lies the rub. 

At a party on the island for officers, Nellie meets a rich, local planter named Emile de Becque, a French emigre.  They fall in love.  However, he is a widower with two young children.  Their mother was Tonkinese (people from Southeast Asia, near the Gulf of Tonkin), thus making them Eurasian.  Nellie was reared in Little Rock, Arkansas, where she learned a taboo against interracial marriage.  Thus, De Becque’s children complicate their relationship to the point where she breaks it off after she discovers who their mother was.

On a visit to the nearby island of Bali Ha’i, Joe meets a beautiful young Tonkinese girl, Liat, whom he falls in love with.  However, he can’t marry her because of the same above taboo, but instead will marry his white girlfriend back home in Philadelphia, PA.   

When Joe talks to Emile about why he can’t marry Liat, he sings a poignant song that gets to the essence of their mutual problem (also why Nellie can’t marry Emile).  In 1949, this song was extremely controversial, but Rodgers and Hammerstein were willing to risk artistic and financial failure to make their point.  The song, You’ve Got to be Carefully Taught, would stay in the show. 

You've got to be taught
To hate and fear,
You've got to be taught
From year to year,
It's got to be drummed
In your dear little ear
You've got to be carefully taught.

You've got to be taught to be afraid
Of people whose eyes are oddly made,
And people whose skin is a different shade,
You've got to be carefully taught.

You've got to be taught before it's too late,
Before you are six or seven or eight,
To hate all the people your relatives hate,
You've got to be carefully taught!  You’ve got to be carefully taught!

Joe is at this particular island’s naval base to engage in a very dangerous mission, spying behind Japanese lines.  However, he needs the help of de Becque to serve as his local guide.  Initially, de Becque is reluctant to risk his life because of his relationship with Nellie.  However, after their breakup, he believes he has little to live for (Emile, what about your children?) and agrees to help Joe spy on the Japanese.  Later, Nellie realizes that de Becque means more to her than living by the code of conduct she grew up with.  She is shocked and frightened to discover that he is on a dangerous mission and prays for his life to be spared.  Nellie then meets Liat whose lover is with de Becque.  The two women frantically wait for news of Emile and Joe.

There is a beautiful song, called Twin Soliloquies, which describes when Nellie and Emile first meet, and where they each privately show their insecurities.

Nellie:
Wonder how I'd feel
Living on a hillside,
Looking on an ocean,
Beautiful and still.

Emile:
This is what I need,
This is what I've longed for.
Someone young and smiling
Climbing up my hill!

Nellie:
We are not alike.
Probably I'd bore him.
He's a cultured Frenchman,
I'm a little hick.

Emile:
Younger man than I,
Officers and doctors.
Probably pursue her,
She could have her pick.

Nellie:
Wonder why I feel
Jittery and jumpy!
I'm like a school girl
Waiting for a dance.

Emile:
Can I ask her now?
I'm like a school boy!
What will be her answer?
Do I have a chance?

Later, Emile sings about meeting the right woman, Nellie, on Some Enchanted Evening.

Some enchanted evening
You may see a stranger,
you may see a stranger
Across a crowded room
And somehow you know,
You know even then
That somewhere you'll see her
Again and again.

Some enchanted evening
Someone may be laughing,
You may hear her laughing
Across a crowded room
And night after night,
As strange as it seems
The sound of her laughter
Will sing in your dreams.

Who can explain it?
Who can tell you why?
Fools give you reasons,
Wise men never try.

Some enchanted evening
When you find your true love,
When you feel her call you
Across a crowded room,
Then fly to her side,
And make her your own
Or all through your life you
May dream all alone.

Once you have found her,
Never let her go.
Once you have found her,
Never let her go!

On the other hand, Nellie expresses her true feelings about Emile with I’m in Love with a Wonderful Guy.

I expect everyone of my crowd to make fun
Of my proud protestations of faith in romance,
And they'll say I'm naïve as a babe to believe
Any fable I hear from a person in pants.

Fearlessly I'll face them and argue their doubts away,
Loudly I'll sing about flowers and spring,
Flatly I'll stand on my little flat feet and say
Love is a grand and a beautiful thing!
I'm not ashamed to reveal
The world famous feeling I feel.

I'm as corny as Kansas in August,
I'm as normal as blueberry pie.
No more a smart little girl with no heart,
I have found me a wonderful guy!

I am in a conventional dither,
With a conventional star in my eye.
And you will note there's a lump in my throat
When I speak of that wonderful guy!

I'm as trite and as gay as a daisy in May,
A cliché comin' true!
I'm bromidic and bright
As a moon-happy night
Pouring light on the dew!

I'm as corny as Kansas in August,
High as a flag on the Fourth of July!
If you'll excuse an expression I use,
I'm in love, I'm in love,
I'm in love, I'm in love,
I'm in love with a wonderful guy!

South Pacific is truly a classic musical you will enjoy again and again.