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Light Opera Oklahoma |
Tulsa Symphony Orchestra
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Tulsa World
Article
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'South Pacific' opens
By JAMES D. WATTS JR. Tulsa World
Scene Writer
6/19/2006
Light Opera deviates little from
script
When it comes to great American
musicals, Light Opera Oklahoma likes
to play things straight.
The company is known for taking a
few artful liberties with some of
the shows it presents, such as its
traditional Gilbert & Sullivan
offering. Such fiddling is
understandable, even welcome in
operettas like "The Sorcerer" or "Iolanthe,"
where the humor and plot hinge on
events and attitudes long forgotten.
But when LOOK stages something like
Rodgers and Hammerstein's "South
Pacific," which opened Friday at the
Tulsa Performing Arts Center, there
is nary a hint of revising or
updating or re-imagining or "making
relevant" or any of those terms some
directors like to use to justify
bending someone else's creation to
their will.
A show such as "South Pacific"
doesn't need to be re-thought -- it
simply needs to be presented with
all skill and talent and passion and
understanding that its cast and crew
can muster.
As it was Friday in the PAC's
Williams Theatre, the first of some
13 performances the company will
give of this prize-winning classic
tale of love beset by the violence
of World War II and the poison of
bigotry.
Two love stories, actually. One
involves a middle-aged
Frenchman Emile de Becque (Ron Loyd)
falling for an American nurse Nellie
Forbush (Michelle Jennings) who is
stationed on the island where de
Becque has established a successful
plantation.
The other concerns another newcomer
to the island, Lt. Joe Cable
(Alexander Ross), a Marine assigned
to discover a weakness in the
Japanese defenses on nearby islands.
He becomes smitten with Liat (Ayumi
Manabe), the daughter of the local
madam/entrepreneur Bloody Mary
(April Golliver).
In spite of the depth of their
feelings, Nellie and Cable can't
bring themselves to put aside the
prejudices that have become
ingrained in them. De Becque's
previous relationship with a
Polynesian woman is something Nellie
can't deal with, while Cable's sense
of Yankee propriety won't allow him
to marry the woman he loves.
Around these seemingly doomed
romances swirls the rest of life on
this Navy outpost -- supposedly
overseen by Capt. Brackett (Bob
Ball) and Cmdr. Harbison (Joseph
Hager), but in reality run by the
enterprising and conniving SeaBee
Luther Billis (Patrick Jacobs).
"South Pacific" is a show where
voice is character -- how the
performer sounds is just as
revealing as the words spoken or
sung. One needs literally to hear
the clash of cultures that fuel the
musical's story.
It's not a matter of accents, which
have a tendency to slip a bit here
and there. It's the contrast of a
European sound with an American
sound, of opera set against
Broadway.
And in Ron Loyd, this "South
Pacific" has an Emile de Becque who
delivers above and beyond the call.
His voice is warm, resonant and
powerful, and it gives the songs de
Becque sings ("Some Enchanted
Evening," "This Nearly was Mine"
even the spoof of "I'm Gonna Wash
That Man Right Out of My Hair") an
even greater emotional weight and
gravitas.
You believe he is a man who has seen
too much, who has gone through
terrible things and yet still holds
out hope for a new chance at love
and happiness. And Loyd accomplishes
all this with the greatest economy
-- it's a remarkable performance.
Jennings as Nellie is an excellent
contrast. She moves about the stage
with a kind of gawky grace, as if
literally feeling her way through
the world. Jennings also reins in
her voice, downplaying the operatic
chops she has demonstrated in
previous LOOK shows. Her singing
here is more conversational in songs
such as "Cockeyed Optimist" and "I'm
Gonna Wash That Man Right Out of My
Hair." (Andrea Leap will take on
this role at some performances.)
As Lt. Cable, Ross is a little
stiff, a little bland, but it works
in this context. His Marine is no
hero -- like so many soldiers and
sailors, he's a kid doing his best
in extraordinary circumstances. So
when he discovers something other
than war with Liat, his whole being
seems to soften. And it allows Ross
to sing "Younger Than Springtime" in
a suitable, rapturous way. One just
wishes he brought a little more
bitterness to the show's
anti-bigotry song, "Carefully
Taught."
Bloody Mary is an unfortunate
collection of Asian stereotypes, but
Golliver doesn't overplay them,
whether wheeling and dealing with
the troops or urging them to "Bali
Ha'i" or to keep on talking "Happy
Talk."
Jacobs tears happily into the role
of Billis -- an actor willing to do
just about anything for a laugh
playing a character willing to do
just about anything for a buck.
Manabe's Liat is a graceful, if
silent, presence, while Ball is all
desk-bound bluster as Braddock, and
Steven Fontenot as Stewpot and Kyle
A. Dougan as Professor were very
good as Billis' even more comic
foils.
LOOK artistic director Eric Gibson
has staged the action in a natural,
unobtrusively cinematic way, aided
by Thom Weaver's evocative lighting
design and Ryan Palmer's simple but
functional sets. Chorus master
Ernest Neal did a superb job with
the ensemble, especially with the
men on "There is Nothing Like a
Dame," which was show-stoppingly
good.
James Bagwell conducted the Tulsa
Symphony Orchestra, which is almost
a character in itself in this show,
given the way Rodgers underscored so
many scenes. The orchestra's playing
was at once rich and full, and
intimate and subtle -- and just one
more proof that this ensemble needs
to find an identity (and a series of
performances) outside of the
orchestra pit. It's too good a group
to be kept -- literally or
figuratively -- out of sight.
"South Pacific" continues with
performances through July 15,
including two run-out shows in
Miami, Okla., (July 6) and Lawton
(July 12). For tickets, visit
www.MyTicketOffice.com, or call the
PAC ticket office, 596-7111.
James D. Watts Jr. 581-8478
james.watts @tulsaworld.com
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