I Think I'll Go To Heaven

I have returned from Paradise and it was a wondrous place.

You can go to Paradise, too. It isn't hard to get to, isn't hard to find, isn't hard to get back and it, definately, isn't hard to remember it, once you have returned. In fact, if you are lucky and have the right frame of mind and the right artistic temperment, you will remember it for the rest of your life. Here are the directions:

1) Go online or to your telephone

2) Contact the right agengies to get however many tickets you want

3) Get on the 1 Subway

4) Get off at the 68th/Lincoln Center Stop

5) Go to SOUTH PACIFIC.

Not the place, dear heart, the play.

Much ado has been made about the fact that the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic has not been revived on Broadway in fifty four years. I guess that is worth a ballyhoo or two, since almost every other classic musical of the last century has been revived at some point or another - in some cases more times than one really wants to think about (um....GYPSY... again? Well, that's another story, never mind, anyway...). We've seen OKLAHOMA, CAROUSEL, THE KING AND I, THE SOUND OF MUSIC, even FLOWER DRUM SONG revived on the Great White Way; to say nothing of reviews and the screen to stage version of STATE FAIR that ended up using songs from another R&H show, PIPE DREAM. We've seen revivals of the musicals of just about every other composer(s) of the Golden Age of Broadway. But never SOUTH PACIFIC. Regional theaters do the play but, consider it honestly, most of them would rather do THE BEST LITTLE WHOREHOUSE IN TEXAS or HELLO DOLLY than SOUTH PACIFIC. And why not, why not? WHOREHOUSE and DOLLY have glitz and glamour and women in red dresses. The masses want that kind of entertainment, don't they? Sure, people recognize the merit and beauty of SHOW BOAT and SOUTH PACIFIC; but they also recognize that they are not musical comedies and people love musical comedies. SOUTH PACIFIC is about a dirty beach, a war and racism. Mmmm Mmmm Good. Right?

You bet your Uncle Myron's player piano, mmm mmm good.

I have the answer to the question of why SOUTH PACIFIC has never been revived on Broadway. I have it and I'm going to share it. Is everybody ready?

SOUTH PACIFIC has never been revived on Broadway because the Universe, the heavens, the Gods, the ghosts of Rodgers and Hammerstein and the fates would not have a revival of SOUTH PACIFIC until it could be perfect.

We have been waiting for this cast, this creative team and this production, so that we could have a Broadway revival of SOUTH freakin PACIFIC.

And thank God they have arrived.

I will not, I repeat, I will not review the storyline of this play. I will not, I repeat, I will not review this production. I need not go into any of the details except to say: if you want to know who or what is responsible for the Utopian happening (and, dudes, this is a HAPPENING) taking place at Lincoln Center Theater right now, you have two options.

1) Go see the play.

2) Go to http://www.ibdb.com/ and look at the credits. There are the names of the people responsible.

I will, though, talk about our experience at SOUTH PACIFIC.

The lights dim on the theater and Pat and I are prepared to hear one of the greatest overtures of all time (and I am an overture afficionado), followed up by songs that are so much a part of our country's musical make up that they live inside of our skin and blood (that is, those of us lucky enough to enjoy musical theater). The stage is set and the play begins and we spend three hours gasping, wiping away tears and grabbing each other's hands in an emotional tidal wave that is based (not only on the artistry of the creative artists bringing this ride to us but also) on a feeling that we are involved in something historic. Not only is it historic, this revival 54 years in the making; but it FELT like we were in 1953, watching a new play in a theater that we go to all the time. The themes are still relevant, the songs are still new, the structure of the play and the dialogue is still modern. The staging is uncomplicated and yet intricate, to allow the words and music their opportunities to speak. The performances are honest and non grandstand-y, to allow the characters to come to life (instead of the actors' star values *ahem*). The director and choreographer have taken us back in time to show us how real theater is done.

I'm going to say something now that I didn't want to say but have to, to make a point: there are people who say that musical theater is in trouble. They have been saying it for years and I don't know if it is true. I only know that when I compare this classily put together production of this classical piece of theater, in the classic traditions of classic theater; when I compare the structure of the script and the relevance of the music and lyrics; when I compare the inteligence of the dialogue and the depth of the themes -- when I compare all these things to some of the new productions I have seen on Broadway in the last decade... I see why people say that musical theater is in trouble.

(I will also say that I find wonderful serendipity in the fact that Mr Rodger's grandson, Adam Guettel, wrote a piece that is as (unapologetically) intellectual and lush and relevant, decades after SOUTH PACIFIC and that Mr. Guettel's piece played the same stage with some of the same stars -- and the same director. It has extreme unity for me.)

And speaking of the stars of SOUTH PACIFIC.

Should I, at any time, encounter any of these people in public (including my friend, the extraordinary Matthew Morrison), I may get down on my knees and salam them. They are the living end. When Paolo Szot finishes his Act Two anthem, which directly follows Matthew Morrison's anthem, the audience cannot help but burst into screams of applause, having the emotion from those two songs and two performances build to what can only be described as theatrically orgasmic. Danny Burstein is one of the great treasures of this era of Broadway. Gasp! Did I mention that there is an Asian Bloody Mary?! Loretta Ables Sayre, as an Asian American I am so grateful to you - not to take anything away from the (I have been told - please correct me if I am wrong) African American Juanita Hall but THIS is MY Bloody Mary! And I am completely undone by how in love I am with Kelli O'Hara. I heard that (at one time) Scarlett Johanssen was a choice for this part and all I can say is Thank God that didn't happen. Nothing against Miss Johanssen -- I just think Kelli O'Hara and the universe had this musical theater wedding band on their fingers long before she was born.

When Kelli O'Hara stands onstage (and this is the one and only spoiler and plot point I will discuss here), doing the monologue about wanting Emile to come home, it is just she on that big stage, filled with colour and light from the designers' palates. Just one little blonde girl and some ethereal qualities that fill the air. It fills the theater. SHE fills the theater. It felt like I was back in time, watching the first, and only, Nellie Forbush on opening night.

Paradise.

Did I mention that I have been to Paradise this week? I have been. My body is back.

But my heart and mind are still there.

Applauding.