Editor’s note: The Saturday performance of “South Pacific” was canceled due to inclement weather, but Sunday’s show is still scheduled for 2 p.m. as originally planned.
Manhattan Arts Center’s production of “South Pacific” tells a story of love, prejudice and acceptance.
The Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, which opened April 19 at the MAC, is set on a Polynesian island during World War II and follows the love story of Nellie Forbush, an American nurse stationed on the island, and Emile de Becque, a French planter.
“Nellie’s from Arkansas, and there are certain ideologies of that time period that she has brought with her,” Blakely Bunning, who plays Nellie and is marketing director at the MAC, said. “She falls in love with Emile, and it turns out he was once married to a Polynesian woman, and they had children, and she has to come to terms with her own prejudices.”
Nellie realizes there is much about Emile that she does not yet know, such as the reason he fled France or that he has mixed-race children, Ngana and Jerome, from a previous marriage with a Polynesian woman. After meeting the children, Nellie decides to break things off with Emile and request a transfer to another island.
In a similar way, young American Lt. Joseph Cable, played by Reece Bunning, falls in love with Liat, a Polynesian girl. However, he refuses to marry Liat for fear of what his family back home will think. He speaks to a confused Emile about how he and Nellie are in love but can’t help feeling a repulsion toward welcoming someone foreign into their families.
In the musical number “You’ve Got to Be Carefully Taught,” Joseph tells Emile how prejudice isn’t innate but taught socially.
When Capt. George Brackett asks Emile to go on a mission behind enemy lines, he refuses at first because he wishes to marry Nellie and does not want to compromise his life and future with her. After being rejected by Nellie, Emile and Joseph decide they have nothing to lose now and agree to embark on the dangerous mission.
While he is gone, Nellie fears that Emile will not make it out alive. This is when Nellie realizes she truly loves Emile and no longer cares about his past marriage or that his children are different. In the end, she comes around to accept Ngana and Jerome.
“‘South Pacific’ is a show with beautiful music that has a theme to it that in the long run is also quite poignant and beautiful,” director Penny Cullers said. “A passion of mine is to point out to people that love has to win over everything, and that’s what the theme of this show is.”
The MAC’s stage is painted to look like a tropical island, with sound effects of ocean waves and birds. On the set are images of fighter planes as a reminder of the WWII era.
Blakely Bunning said a few cast members are active members of the military or veterans and were able to offer input for the accuracy of the military costume, salutes and onstage mannerisms of the military characters.
Cullers said while entertaining and fun, the show’s message is still relevant today.
“Even though it was 80 years ago when the war was, we still have the same issues,” she said. “We’re confronted with that love story and almost immediately confronted with Nellie’s prejudices, which is not only about racism but is also about her doubts about the relationship too.”
Though there are serious themes like prejudice and war, the musical has its share of comedic moments. The audience may get a laugh out of characters like Bloody Mary (played by Sophia Leandro Alves), a Tonkinese merchant who outsmarts the sailors and Luther Billis (played by Kim Riley), a loyal seabee who gets into trouble trying to reach Bali Ha’i, an off-limits island.
“South Pacific,” the final show of the MAC’s 2023-24 season, continues Saturday and Sunday, as well as May 3-5.
Performances are set for 7:30 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and at 2 p.m. on Sundays.
