Overview
Synopsis
Set against the dramatic background of an idyllic South Pacific island during WWII, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific intertwines the themes of romance, duty, and prejudice to create a story that is all at once hilarious, heartbreaking, and thought-provoking. Based on the anecdotes of a real-life U.S. Navy commander who was stationed on an island, the musical follows two intercultural love stories: Nellie, a spunky nurse from Arkansas, falls in love with Emile, a French plantation owner on the island who has two children from his late Polynesian wife; at the same time, U.S. Lieutenant Cable falls for a beautiful island native named Liat. Both Americans find themselves struggling to reconcile their own cultural prejudices with their amorous feelings, all the while under the dark cloud of a war that is coming ever closer to their island paradise.
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Context
The inspiration for South Pacific was the Pulitzer Prize-winning book Tales of the South Pacific by James A. Michener, which was published in 1946. Michener was a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy and was stationed in the South Pacific during WWII. The book is a collection of short stories based on his own experiences and stories told to him by his comrades. Two of the stories in particular were intertwined to create the main plot lines for South Pacific: one, “Fo’ Dolla’,” created
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Act One
The scene opens on a beautiful, secluded island in the South Pacific, in the 1940s at the height of the Second World War. On the terrace of a splendid plantation home, two young children are singing and playing together ("Dites-Moi"). The children are half-Polynesian, half-European. The children’s nurse calls them inside, and Ensign Nellie Forbush and Emile de Becque come to sit on the terrace. Nellie is a U.S. Navy Nurse stationed on the island, a naive but feisty young lady
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Character Portrayals
See StageAgent members who have performed roles in South Pacific.
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Songs
Act One
- Overture – Orchestra
- Dites-Moi – Ngana and Jerome
- A Cockeyed Optimist – Nellie
- Twin Soliloquies – Nellie and Emile
- Some Enchanted Evening – Emile
- Bloody Mary – Sailors, Seabees and Marines
- There Is Nothing Like a Dame – Sailors, Seabees and Marines
- Bali Ha'i – Bloody Mary, Billis and Cable
- I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair – Nellie and Nurses
- I'm in Love with a Wonderful Guy – Nellie and Nurses
- Younger Than Springtime – Cable
- Finale: Act I (Some Enchanted Evening) – Emile
Act Two
- Entr'acte – Orchestra
- Soft shoe dance – Nurses and Seabees
- Happy Talk – Bloody Mary
- Honey Bun – Nellie and Girls
- You've Got to Be Carefully Taught – Cable
- Honey Bun (reprise) – Billis
- This Nearly Was Mine – Emile
- Some Enchanted Evening (reprise) – Nellie
- Finale (Dites-Moi) – Nellie, Ngana, Jerome and Emile
A song with an asterisk (*) before the title indicates a dance number; a character listed in a song with an asterisk (*) by the character's name indicates that the character exclusively serves as a dancer in this song, which is sung by other characters.
Key Terms
A period of artistic flourishing, often referring to 1940s-60s Broadway or English Renaissance theatre. This term plays a vital role in understanding theatrical structure and is commonly encountered in stagecraft or performance settings.
The “Golden Age Musical” refers to Broadway shows written roughly between the 1940s and 1960s, a period known for integrating songs, story, and character development. These musicals often balanced romance, comedy, and social themes with memorable melodies and large ensembles. Classics from this era continue to shape the foundation of modern musical theatre.
A global conflict often explored in theatre through themes of resistance, loss, trauma, and moral complexity.
