The South Pacific Companion

If, like me, you think "South Pacific" is the greatest musical of all time, or even if you're only interested in musicals in general, then you'll find this a wonderful book. The other reviewers here have already told you why. I'll add one caveat, though: the brief introduction by a character named Adam Guettel (whom I'd never heard of) is so over-the-top in its florid pomposity and baroque overkill that I seriously wonder if he even knows how to speak English. If you're a connoisseur of gibberish, however, you'll enjoy it. Fortunately, the author of the book itself, Laurence Maslon, has a firm command of both his subject and the English language. As well as a sly sense of humor....

My favorite musical is South Pacific. The 1958 movie version introduced me to the beautiful scenery of warm Pacific islands, a compelling story, and above of all, to some of the most memorable songs I have ever heard. How this magnificent motion picture came to be is told in this book. But the movie is only part of the fascinating story that unfolds on the richly illustrated pages. First there was the Second World War and a naval officer named James Michener. The South Pacific Companion tells the story of how this former book editor's observations of the men and women stationed in the South Pacific led to his Pulitzer Prize winning novel, a sweeping novel full of characters and places. How Hammerstein and company pulled the plot and storyline from that novel provides another interesting part of this book. Rogers composed the music, seemingly without effort. Then the cast had to be chosen. Soon the reader is a witness to how it was done on Broadway, and also gets to see how that hit production was translated into the celebrated film. A person can learn a lot about how Rogers and Hammerstein worked their magic in this wonderful book.

In this beautiful coffee-table book, Laurence Maslon gives us the complete history of the musical theatre masterpiece "South Pacific." As in his previous book "The Sound Of Music Companion", Maslon is well-researched and always entertaining. The photographs, both color and black and white-- printed on glossy stock; many of them taking up a full page-- illustrate the emotional power of the original 1949 Broadway production starring Mary Martin and Ezio Pinza; as well as subsequent, though infrequent, productions. Maslon puts particular emphasis on the historical importance of this musical, beginning with the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. He gives a thorough, detailed history of World War II, and describes the various fates and events that brought author James Michener, Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II, and director Joshua Logan together to create "South Pacific" in 1949. Just as Michener's original book "Tales Of The South Pacific" won a Putlitzer Prize for literature, so to did "South Pacific" win the Putlizer Prize for drama; one of the few times that honor was bestowed upon a musical; "Of Thee I Sing" from 193l being the only other. Rodgers and Hammerstein made no concessions to conventions. "South Pacific," which confronts racism and prejudice head on, was ground-breaking and still is controversial. The song "Carefully Taught," the point of the ENTIRE show, makes plenty of people nervous and uncomfortable to this day. Rodgers & Hammerstein were pressured, at various times during various productions, to remove the song from the show. They steadfastly refused to do so. The disasterous 1958 movie version, with those wretched color filters that nearly ruin every song, nearly ruined "South Pacific's" reputation. Maslon is much too kind to the movie version. Rodgers, Hammerstein, and Logan all HATED the movie version. Yes, Logan directed the Broadway, National Tour, and London Productions AND the movie version-- and he HATED the movie version. Ironically, London critics hated the stage production, but went MAD over the movie version, which played uninterrupted there for several years. Equally appalling, both the 1958 movie version and the 2001 TV adaptation (with Glenn Close and Harry Connick, Jr.) violate the carefully crafted structure of Logan's and Hammerstein's original stage libretto. The 2001 TV adaptation is not as painful to watch as the 1958 film version, but it is equally misguided. Thankfully, the 2005 "South Pacific In Concert At Carnegie Hall" (starring Brian Stokes Mitchell and Reba McEntire) returned to the original structure and libretto. The success of the Carnegie Hall "Concert Version" undoubtedly led to the 2008 Broadway revival. Directed by Bartlett Sher and starring Kelli O'Hara and Paulo Szot, the revial (which swept the 2008 Tony Awards; exactly like the Original Broadway Production had done in 1949) reaffirms that "South Pacific" is an important, historical and musical theatre, masterpie

This book delivers on its promise to guide you through the development and success of Rogers and Hammerstein's musical SOUTH PACIFIC. Filled with anecdotes and insights into the major productions, it adds to the enjoyment of this musical theater masterpiece. A more thorough and detailed look at the current Broadway revival at Lincoln Center (a PERFECT show, go see it!) is all that is lacking. (You will find a couple of pages on the revival all the same.)

Laurence Maslon has given us an indispensable treasure of a book in this South Pacific companion. One might have thought there might not be much to be said about this wonderful Rodgers & Hammerstein Musical, but Prof Maslon has created a wonderful book worthy of the show. Like his earlier Sound of Music book, Maslon begins by relating the background of the show, and recounts how the Second World War inspired James Michener's creative juices to flow in writing his book. Prof Maslon did a really wonderful job in telling of how the war influenced everyone involved in the creative team so that they could bring their unique talents to the making of the musical. After reading it I felt sure that R & H were able to write the show with the background of the war that influenced the creative team, and so they didn't write the show off their own bat. Prof Maslon's narrative is compelling and readable, just like his earlier Sound of Music book, and it was wonderful of him to tell us how the theme of racism was there from the moment when Michener penned his book. Though I would have liked there to be more coverage of the impact of this R & H musical, it was still an enjoyable book, with the photos and the song commentaries an added bonus. A minor quibble is that I wish there was more coverage on what influenced the writing of each song, such as the mention of Hammerstein's desire to write a "verb lyric" when he wrote Some Enchanted Evening. Also a new feature in this book is Prof Maslon's analysis of how language plays a part in the musical, and it does make me wish that this commentary on the show had been included in the Sound of Music book too. In short, this book is such a wonderful follow-up to the Sound of Music book, and it's an indispensable part of any R & H fan's collection. I really think these books deserve to be in print forever. Meanwhile, I'm looking forward to similar companions for The King and I and Cats, and I wish Prof Maslon every success in his future books on R & H musicals.