ON STAGE
FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
Sailors and G.I.s get musical in Rodgers and Hammerstein's version of World War II, in "South Pacific," being staged by Hawaii Opera Theatre.
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‘South Pacific,’ their way
There's a Korean War movie built around James A. Michener's cyclopaedian fiction that features an actor playing the author. In it, a Navy veteran exclaims, "Mr. Michener, I fought in the South Pacific in World War II, but I never realized how much fun it had been until I read your book!"
'South Pacific'
Presented by Hawaii Opera Theatre
Time and tickets:
» 8 p.m. Friday, 4 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 3 and 5, $20 to $75
» 7:30 p.m. Saturday, for those with military ID or minimum group purchase of 20 tickets, all seats $25
» 2 p.m. Aug. 4, family matinee, all seats $25 to $35 adults and $10 children
Call: 596-7858 or online at hawaiiopera.org
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And the faux Michener replies, "I never realized how much fun it was either, until Rodgers and Hammerstein set it to music!"
We come here not to praise "South Pacific," except that to note that, for many connoisseurs of Broadway musicals, it is simply the best of all time. It is a part of American pop culture, a rollicking, thoughtful, bounding exultation of the narrow threads of life, and at the core of it, a sharply edged meditation on racism and the horrors of war.
Sing THAT, why don't you?
But the musical is a business as well as an art, and "South Pacific" was no different. When Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein began hammering out the melodies, they were built to order for the major voices of the day. Nellie Forbush, for example, was tailored to fit Mary Martin, certainly the foremost Broadway star of that era, while the Frenchy gravitas of plantation luna Emile de Becque was cobbled together to suit opera star Ezio Pinza. The songs were written for the strengths of these two bankable stars.
The 1958 movie featured stars from a different universe: Mitzi Gaynor as Nellie and Rossano Brazzi as Emile -- whose vocals were dubbed by Giorgio Tozzi. You can fake singing voices in movies, but not on stage (unless you're Ashlee Simpson).
The 2001 remake featured Rade Serbedsija as Emile and Glenn Close as Nellie. Pleasantly voiced, but not the power of Martin or Pinza.
Curiously, the character of Bloody Mary was played by Juanita Hall both on stage and in the film, and although Hall sang on stage and on the cast album, she was dubbed in the film by Muriel Smith. (Lori Tan Chinn played Bloody Mary in the remake.)
All of which means that there are awfully big shoes to fill in Hawaii Opera Theatre's version for the summer season this year.
ALTHOUGH IT'S Hawaii singer Marlene Sai's HOT debut, it's not her first time playing "South Pacific" on stage. "I was one of the little kids running around in the cast when it was at the Fort Ruger Theatre, way before it became Diamond Head Theatre," giggles Sai, who's also played Queen Liliuokalani on stage and performed in "Side By Side With Sondheim."
"I'm learning the lines and getting the character down, the fun and sassiness of Bloody Mary. It's like anything else -- once you know your lines and blocking, the more fun you can have building within it. Yes, it's like knowing how big the ballfield is so you can play hard in it."
As usual, HOT is coupling local talent with international stars. From the "corn fields, rolling hills and snowstorms of South Dakota" -- as he puts it, comparing his hometown Flandreau to a Pacific paradise -- comes the boundless baritone of Louis Otey to wrestle with vocal challenge of Emile de Becque. It's a smackdown.
"I'm grateful there's an operatic tradition behind the 'South Pacific' score," said Otey, who mostly does straight opera, but has also sung in "The King and I" and "Carousel." "And I'm very comfortable with playing Emile as an older man, which I am now!"
What about the Frenchiness of the character?
"My wife is French, and my manager is French as well, and I related to the role as an older man in love with a younger woman, which seemed French, and so they'd straighten me out whenever my French accent went wandering away."
The 1958 movie, which was filmed on Kauai, provides the standard cultural link to the production -- but was it a useful reference?
Otey watched the film several months ago, and said it "was helpful, but we all have to find our own way. And it was not appropriate to the stage. I've never seen it on the professional stage, and that's too bad."
Even so, it was "South Pacific" that lured Otey to singing.
"There were tryouts for opera/chorus in high school and the teacher was really cute, and so I was hanging around. One boy simply couldn't hit the low note, and the teacher asked who could, and said, 'Uh, me. I can.' And so, directly from that, the first song I ever sang on stage was 'There Ain't Nothing Like a Dame.' "
Otey said there's a revival version being cast on Broadway, and he's considering trying out for it. "But I don't know what they're looking for on Broadway now ... listen to me! I sound like an old fogey! I've loved musicals since I saw John Davidson in 'Brigadoon' in Sioux Falls when I was 10."
As for Sai, she's "not seen the movie in a very long time, but not that long ago it was on (American Movie Classics) and I loved it. I got in tune with it. And I bought the DVD and watched it, but once is enough: I need to do my own interpretation, not a re-creation.
"From what I remembered as a kid, Bloody Mary seemed to be not as funny. There's a serious side to her that passed right by me as a youngster. That's when I decided not to look at the movie again, to become my own Bloody Mary.
"Hawaii Opera Theatre is providing everything I need to become the character physically, costumes and trinkets and things. Luckily my hair is long enough to put up in a top knot."
Does Bloody Mary remind you of any aunties you know?
"Oh! I think there are a few Bloody Marys around! The folks who know me say I naturally bring my own personality to it. Bloody Mary? Me?"