New Jersey Stage logo
New Jersey Stage Menu


?>

 

Some Enchanted Evening: "South Pacific" Heads to Morristown


By Bruce Chadwick

originally published: 05/06/2022

What is it about the musical South Pacific that makes it as enjoyable today as it was back in 1949 when it opened to one of the most critic-delirious receptions in theater history?

It is the music, of course, with memorable songs such as ‘Some Enchanted Evening,” “Bali H’ai.” Happy Talk,” I’m Gonna Wash that Man Right Outa My Hair,” “Younger Than Springtime” and “There Is Nothing Like a Dame.”

There is a lot more, too, and, with all the attention to the rights of Pacific Islanders in politic, the play resonates today with just as much power as it did in 1949. People can discover, and re-discover, South Pacific, based on the James Michener book Tales of the South Pacific when the musical arrives at the Mayo Performing Arts Center (MPAC) in Morristown, for performances on Friday, May 13 at 8:00pm and Saturday, May 14 at 2:00pm & 8:00pm.

“I think the success of the play over the years is that it is a ‘classic’ as a story and a ‘classic’ for its music, too. People will not just talk abut its songs, but its’ emotional story, and there is a lot of emotion in the story,” said Maris McCulley, who plays nurse Nellie Forbush in the show. “It’s never just the music.”

She landed the role of Nellie, one of musical theater’s best roles, because several years ago she was in a play run by many of these same people and they started talking about South Pacific. She got the role. 




Please support the advertisers at New Jersey Stage!
Want info on how to advertise? Click here



“Oh, then right when we were ready to go on tour, the Pandemic hit and the whole show was cancelled – no tour. Now, COVID pushed to the sidelines a bit, the tour is back,” said McCulley.

She always liked the idea of a play set in the Pacific during World War II. “What better setting for a love story?” she asked.

Me, I was always fascinated by the islands in the South Pacific because as a kid I saw the movie, set in Tahiti, on television. Then I fell in love with movies about World War II. South Pacific fulfilled all of my dreams, and then some. The South Pacific is a dreamland, full of gorgeous sand beaches, palm trees, huge rolling waves and coconuts. But, as we are reminded in the musical, it was also the setting for some of the fiercest fighting in World War II.

James Michener, stationed in the South Pacific during the war to write a book for the Navy, wrote Tales of the South Pacific as a collection of 19 short stories, some of them loosely based on true events and real people. The genius of the play is how lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II and composer Richard Rodgers  sewed all of those stories together, creating  memorable characters and tying the knots of the plot with that gorgeous music, and made it a very lovable story and a love story in the middle of combat at the same time..

The plot is simple yet complex. A bunch of exuberant young American sailors stationed on an island there come under the spell of an island woman named Bloody Mary on the beautiful island of Bali H’ai, with its tall mountains and deep jungles, and meet her young woman friends there. Meanwhile,  a young American nurse, Nellie Forbush, played by McCulley, falls love with an older man, a local French planter named Emile De Becque, who has two dark skinned children from his late Polynesian wife.  The musical follows the love story of Nellie and Emile and a young sailor who meets an island girl on Bali H’ai, plus the story of the fighting in the South Pacific against  the Japanese, with a heart-in-your-throat finale.

“One of the wonders of the musical, to me, is that you are aware of all this vicious fighting, and yet you never see any of it. That shows you how the people who wrote and produced the play years ago were so adept at telling you a war story without actually showing you a war,” said Maris.

The play was groundbreaking in 1949 with the mixed race romances and families and racist language, all done in a progressive effort by Rodgers and Hammerstein to bridge the racial gap in the South Pacific and here in America. The race questions in the play are as strong today as they were back  in 1949.




Please support the advertisers at New Jersey Stage!
Want info on how to advertise? Click here



“I think the play is honest in its discussion about race. It’s a love story about people from different countries and islands and colors and it works,” said the actress.

The musical was a roaring success in 1949, winning ten Tony Awards. It was revived on Broadway in 2008 and that time took seven Tony Awards. The music in the play was one of the top selling Broadway albums for years and, as everybody knows, several of the songs, such as “Some Enchanted Evening,” have become classics.

Maris had never seen the play itself, so she watched a taped version of is borrowed from the perform in arts at Lincoln Center.

Interestingly, “Some Enchanted Evening” is not her favorite song from the musical. Her favorite is a tie between “A Wonderful Guy” and “Honey Bun,” sung at a Thanksgiving gala on the war torn island.

It’s not just that she likes “Honey Bun.”

Long pause. “When I was a kid, 12 or so, I sang ‘Honey Bun’ at a school music recital. I always liked it and really love singing it in this show. It’s a nice throwback, a warm memory, for me,” Maris said.

Well, everybody I know loves “Some Enchanted Evening” and it will be one to listen to it again at South Pacific.

Tickets are available for purchase online. Mayo Performing Arts Center (MPAC) is located at 100 South Street in Morristown, New Jersey.

Photos by Felix Rodriguez



Bruce Chadwick worked for 23 years as an entertainment writer/critic for the New York Daily News. Later, he served as the arts and entertainment critic for the History News Network, a national online weekly magazine. Chadwick holds a Ph. D in History and Cultural Studies from Rutgers University. He has written 31 books on U.S. history and has lectured on history and culture around the world. He is a history professor at New Jersey City University.




Please support the advertisers at New Jersey Stage!
Want info on how to advertise? Click here



EVENT PREVIEWS

Count:

Count: Stories from America’s Death Row

(PRINCETON, NJ) -- During a single day on death row, six men unpack their personal inheritances of violence, racism, mental illness, poverty, and surprising love. Count: Stories from America's Death Row is a production brought to you through a partnership between the Center for Barth Studies at Princeton Theological Seminary and Chesney Snow of Princeton University. Performances are scheduled for Tuesday, June 17, 2025 at 3:00pm & 7:00pm in McCarter Theatre's Berlind Rehearsal Room.



Celebrate

Celebrate Courage and Authenticity with "She's NorMale – A Transgender Odyssey"

(ASBURY PARK, NJ) -- Geenetica (Geena Buono) brings her heartfelt vision to the stage with She's NorMale – A Transgender Odyssey, a groundbreaking live multimedia musical production premiering Thursday, June 19, 2025 at House of Independents. Showtime is 7:00pm. As part of The North 2 Shore Festival in Asbury Park, NJ, this will be the second year the show kicks off the festival line-up.



Stargazer

Stargazer Performing Arts presents Inaugural Jersey Shore Young Playwrights Festival

(HOLMDEL, NJ) -- Stargazer Performing Arts will present the inaugural Jersey Shore Young Playwrights Festival on Friday, June 20, 2025 at the Duncan Smith Theater in Holmdel. This is a brand-new celebration of emerging talent from teen writers across Monmouth, Ocean, Atlantic, and Cape May counties. The festival will showcase original plays written by students ages 13 to 18, brought to life in a staged reading by local actors and directed by Stargazer's co-director, Jim DeVivo.



Luna

Luna Stage presents a new solo adaptation of "The Ground on Which We Stand (abridged)"

(WEST ORANGE, NJ) -- Luna Stage presents a new solo adaptation of The Ground on Which We Stand (abridged) from June 5-21, 2025. The play was inspired by the history and legacy of The James Howe House, the first home owned by a formerly enslaved person in Montclair. The project was conceived and is directed by Ari Laura Keith.



Studio

Studio Players presents "The Brothers Grimm Spectaculathon"

(MONTCLAIR, NJ) -- Studio Players presents The Brothers Grimm Spectaculathon by Don Zolidis across three weekends from June 6-21, 2025. Over two hundred Fairytales in two hours... what could go wrong?



FEATURED EVENTS

ART | COMEDY | DANCE | FILM | MUSIC | THEATRE | COMMUNITY

To narrow results by date range, categories,
or region of New Jersey
click here for our advanced search.


Count:

Count: Stories from America’s Death Row

Tuesday, June 17, 2025 @ 7:00pm
McCarter Theatre Center (Berlind Rehearsal Room)
91 University Place, Princeton, NJ 08540
category: theatre


 

Count:

Count: Stories from America’s Death Row

Tuesday, June 17, 2025 @ 3:00pm
McCarter Theatre Center (Berlind Rehearsal Room)
91 University Place, Princeton, NJ 08540
category: theatre


 

Play

Play Festival Reading Series: "Angel's Share"

Thursday, June 19, 2025 @ 7:00pm
Premiere Stages - Bauer Boucher Theatre Center
1000 Morris Avenue, Union, NJ 07083
category: theatre


 

Hedwig

Hedwig and the Angry Inch

Thursday, June 19, 2025 @ 8:00pm
Bell Theater
101 Crawfords Corner Road, Holmdel, NJ 07733
category: theatre


 

Play

Play Festival Reading Series: "Lia Del Mar"

Friday, June 20, 2025 @ 7:00pm
Premiere Stages - Bauer Boucher Theatre Center
1000 Morris Avenue, Union, NJ 07083
category: theatre