South Pacific



"Some enchanted evening, when you will find your true love

When you feel her call you across a crowded room,

Then fly to her side,and make her your own

Or all through your life you may dream all alone!"

- "Some Enchanted Evening"

South Pacific is a musical by Rodgers and Hammerstein, originally produced in 1949. It was nominated for ten Tony awards, and won all of them, including the second ever Tony for Best Musical. South Pacific is also the only musical to win Best Production, Best Direction, and all four acting awards at one time.

Nellie Forbush is a navy nurse from Arkansas serving in the South Pacific during World War II. She has met a local French plantation owner named Emile de Becque. Lieutenant Joe Cable arrives on the island to take part in a spy mission.

Cable tries to get Emile to agree to be his guide for the mission, but Emile will have none of it. Bloody Mary introduces Cable to a beautiful Tonkinese girl named Liat. Cable is enamored, but is shocked to discover that she is Bloody Mary's daughter. Nellie also makes a discovery about Emile that forces her to face her deep-seated racial prejudices.

The show has many well-known numbers, including "Some Enchanted Evening", "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair", "Younger Than Springtime", "Nothing Like a Dame", "Honey Bun" and "Wonderful Guy".

The musical received a film adaptation in 1958. It made more money than any other movie of the year, and eventually became Rodgers' and Hammerstein's first movie available on Blu-Ray Disc.


 * All Musicals Are Adaptations: weaves together two separate stories from James A. Michener's Tales of the South Pacific.
 * All-Star Cast: The Carnegie Hall concert version in 2006 brought together famous opera singer Brian Stokes Mitchell as de Becque, country legend Reba McEntire as Nellie, and Alec Baldwin as Billis.
 * An Aesop
 * Anguished Declaration of Love: Emile, when Nellie is leaving him.
 * Beta Couple: Cable and Liat.
 * Bittersweet Ending:
 * Book Ends: "Dites-Moi" starts and ends the show.
 * ~Chekhov's Gun~:.
 * Crowd Song: "Bloody Mary", "Nothing Like a Dame", and "Wash That Man Right Out Of My Hair".
 * Cut Song: Many, some of which, like "My Girl Back Home", are now commonly used in revivals.
 * Another, "Suddenly Lovely", eventually received new lyrics, which turned it into "Getting to Know You" from The King and I.
 * Yet another, "Loneliness of Evening", received a spot in Rodgers' and Hammerstein's 1965 television version of Cinderella.
 * Dark Reprise: For "Some Enchanted Evening" and "Younger Than Springtime"
 * Fourth Date Marriage: Nellie and Emile, who have only known each other for "few short weeks" but are then engaged.
 * Funny Foreigner: Bloody Mary.
 * Have a Gay Old Time: Joe sings to Liat that he's "gayer than laughter" when he's with her.
 * Everyone Looks Sexier If French / Everything Sounds Sexier in French: Emile, depending on the actor in question.
 * "I Am" Song: "A Cockeyed Optimist".
 * Irrelevant Act Opener
 * Ivy League for Everyone
 * Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Billis.
 * Love At First Sight: Nellie and Emile (see "Some Enchanted Evening").
 * May-December Romance: Nellie and Emile. Averted in some modern productions which age up Nellie to make her the same age (or almost) as Emile.
 * Mildly Military
 * Mood Whiplash: At the beginning of Act II, Bloody Mary and Liat entertain Joe Cable with "Happy Talk" in attempt to get him to fall for Liat. However, he turns down the opportunity to marry her afterward, causing Bloody Mary to aggressively end their romance.
 * My Girl Back Home: Trope Namer and subversion. In this case he sings this song before cheating on his "girl back home".
 * Sexy Discretion Shot: It's not all that discreet, considering that they're both half-undressed, but the stage still fades to black as Joe and Liat embrace and fall to the floor.
 * Shallow Love Interest: Liat, for Joe.
 * Sympathetic Murder Backstory: De Becque had to flee his homeland because he killed a man in a Bar Brawl. But it's okay because the victim was a bully!
 * That Reminds Me of a Song: "Honey Bun".

The film adaptation provides examples of:

 * Adaptation Expansion: The Collector's Edition DVD boasts that it might be Rodgers and Hammerstein's only movie to run longer than the play that inspired it.
 * Bowdlerise: In the play, Bloody Mary calls men "stingy bastards" after they turn down her offers. The movie changes this phrase to "stingy stinker."
 * Epic Movie: Filmed on location in Hawaii, the movie beat Vertigo and Gigi to become the #1 film of 1958. However, several Rodgers and Hammerstein fans regard it as the weakest film adaptation due to garish Mood Lighting (achieved through color filters) and poor pacing.
 * Feet First Introduction: Liat has one in the General Release/Home Video version.
 * Movie Bonus Song: "My Girl Back Home". The movie also incorporates the Cut Song "Loneliness of Evening," as a spoken poem Emile writes to Nellie.
 * Re Cut: Two versions are known to exist: a roadshow version that runs 172 minutes and a 157-minute general release version. The roadshow version was considered lost until 2005; the 2006 DVD and 2009 Blu-Ray include both the general release and roadshow versions. The version that played in Europe more closely follows the play by showing Nellie's and Emile's first scene together before the song "Bloody Mary".