Gayer than laughter am I

[darkemeralds]

Well, I'm not, but I saw the touring re-re-re-revival of "South Pacific" last night at the Keller, and contrary to my expectations, I enjoyed it a lot; some beautiful melodies are stuck in my head today as a result.

It's a 60-year-old musical that was (according to my mom, who went with us) hugely talked about, nationwide, at the time, for its forward view of racism and its controversial stance on the recently-ended war in the Pacific. It won pretty much ALL the Tony awards in 1949.

I can kind of see why--and why it keeps being revived. Unlike many revivals of classic Broadway musicals, the story of "South Pacific" was serious in its time, and more than just a framework to hang songs and dances from, so it has aged reasonably well. I suppose it doesn't hurt that Hammerstein and Logan adapted it from James Michener stories rather than from tabloid headlines or something.

Sure, the characters all act out of a World War II era sensibility, and it wouldn't pass Bechdel. But it does have a major character, Bloody Mary, who is both a woman and a person of color, and who acts from realistic motivations rather than being a mere comic-relief stereotype (though she's also darkly funny). There's even a gender-swap scene. (I know, that was always a staple of the musical stage.)

And the songs are still beautiful. "Younger Than Springtime," "Bali Hai," and "Some Enchanted Evening" have some of Richard Rodgers' best melodies and most lush orchestrations, and even though the tenor lead does sing "Gayer than laughter am I", I managed to bite back the 12 year old snicker as he soared up to the high notes.

Comments

[twistedchick]

If you can find a copy of Mary Martin's autobiography, she says a great deal about the controversies over the seriousness of the story and the way characters were put together.

[darkemeralds]

Interesting. I see that it's titled My Heart Belongs, which, considering the rest of that line, is a provocative choice. I'd totally forgotten that she was Larry Hagman's mother.

She must have been wondeful on stage as Nellie.

[executrix]

The *very* Technicolor movie was directed by Josh Logan, who was known for the meticulous care devoted to scenes with large numbers of shirtless men.

FWIW I often wonder if Sean Maher's musical comedy days included a stint as Lt. Cable.

[darkemeralds]

Yeah, there's just no getting around that in Broadway musicals, is there? No matter how enthusiastically they sing that there is nothing like a dame, it's a hard sell.

[executrix]

South Pacific also foreshadows SGA fics in the perpetual Chain of Command problem--all nurses were officers, so they were forbidden to date the sailors even if they wanted to. Hence, Nellie's involvement with DeBecque, who is a civilian, and Lt. Cable's with Liat, who is way outside the Navy's frame of reference.

[darkemeralds]

Good point!

I think Liat was actually kind of within the Navy's frame of reference, hence the taboos on Bali Hai, right?

[executrix]

But the Navy couldn't piss off the local population *too* badly, so it really could exercise (a degree) of influence over one party, whereas in a hypothetical Cable/Billis situation (still problematic because it's Officer/Enlisted Man), the Navy would be in charge of both.

[tehomet]

I've never seen it, but, weirdly, I know the songs you mentioned, and they are beautiful.

I didn't know what Bechdel was, googled it, and am now enlightened. Thank you.

[darkemeralds]

The Bechdel test is well worth having in one's cultural vocabulary. It's depressing how few works of popular culture pass it, even today--at least, American works.

But the existence of the idea of a Bechdel test has changed my consciousness about the matter, and I imagine it changes a lot of people's. Eventually that may change the landscape.