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Overview

Synopsis

Set against the dramatic background of an idyllic South Pacific island during WWII, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific intertwines the themes of romance, duty, and prejudice to create a story that is all at once hilarious, heartbreaking, and thought-provoking. Based on the anecdotes of a real-life U.S. Navy commander who was stationed on an island, the musical follows two intercultural love stories: Nellie, a spunky nurse from Arkansas, falls in love with Emile, a French plantation owner on the island who has two children from his late Polynesian wife; at the same time, U.S. Lieutenant Cable falls for a beautiful island native named Liat. Both Americans find themselves struggling to reconcile their own cultural prejudices with their amorous feelings, all the while under the dark cloud of a war that is coming ever closer to their island paradise.

Show Information

Based on the Play/Book/Film
James A. Michener's 1947 book, Tales of the South Pacific
Category
Musical
Age Guidance
Youth (Y)/General Audiences (G)
Number of Acts
2
First Produced
1949
Genres
Drama, Comedy, Romance, Historical/Biographical
Settings
Multiple Settings
Time & Place
a south pacific island during wwii, 1940s
Cast Size
large
Orchestra Size
Large
Dancing
Some Dance
Ideal For
College/University, Community Theatre, High School, Large Cast, Professional Theatre, Regional Theatre, Mostly Male Cast, Includes Young Adult, Adult, Mature Adult, Late Teen, Child Characters

Context

Plot

Characters

Name Part Size Gender Vocal Part

Nellie Forbush

Lead

Female

Mezzo-Soprano

Emile de Becque

Lead

Male

Baritone

Seabee Luther Billis

Supporting

Male

Baritone

Bloody Mary

Supporting

Female

Mezzo-Soprano

Lieutenant Joseph Cable

Supporting

Male

Tenor

Liat

Featured

Female

Spoken

Bloody Mary’s Assistant

Featured

Either Gender

Silent

Jerome

Featured

Male

Mezzo-Soprano

Henri

Featured

Male

Spoken

Professor

Featured

Male

Baritone

Captain Brackett

Featured

Male

Spoken

Lieutenant Genevieve Marshall

Featured

Male

Spoken

Commander William Harbison

Featured

Male

Spoken

Radio Operator Bob McCaffrey

Featured

Male

Spoken

Marine Corporal Hamilton Steeves, Hassinger and Johnson

Featured

Male

Baritone

Stewpot

Featured

Male

Baritone

Yeoman Herbert Quale

Featured

Male

Baritone

Ngana

Featured

Female

Mezzo-Soprano

Ensign Janet MacGregor

Ensemble

Female

Mezzo-Soprano

Ensign Bessie Noonan

Ensemble

Female

Mezzo-Soprano

Ensign Connie Walewska

Ensemble

Female

Mezzo-Soprano

Ensign Cora MacRae

Ensemble

Female

Mezzo-Soprano

Ensign Lisa Minelli

Ensemble

Female

Mezzo-Soprano

Ensign Pamela Whitmore

Ensemble

Female

Mezzo-Soprano

Ensign Sue Yaeger

Ensemble

Female

Mezzo-Soprano

Lieutenant Buzz Adams

Ensemble

Male

Baritone

Seabee Wise and Richard West

Ensemble

Male

Baritone

Seaman James Hayes and Tom O’brien

Ensemble

Male

Baritone

Ensemble

Ensemble

Either Gender

Soprano, Mezzo-Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Baritone, Bass

Songs

Act One

Act Two

  • Entr'acte – Orchestra
  • Soft shoe dance – Nurses and Seabees
  • Happy Talk – Bloody Mary
  • Honey Bun – Nellie and Girls
  • You've Got to Be Carefully Taught – Cable
  • Honey Bun (reprise) – Billis
  • This Nearly Was Mine – Emile
  • Some Enchanted Evening (reprise) – Nellie
  • Finale (Dites-Moi) – Nellie, Ngana, Jerome and Emile

A song with an asterisk (*) before the title indicates a dance number; a character listed in a song with an asterisk (*) by the character's name indicates that the character exclusively serves as a dancer in this song, which is sung by other characters.

Monologues

All monologues are the property and copyright of their owners.. Monologues are presented on StageAgent for educational purposes only. If you would like to give a public performance of this monologue, please obtain authorization from the appropriate licensor.

Scenes

All scenes are the property and copyright of their owners. Scenes are presented on StageAgent for educational purposes only. If you would like to give a public performance of this scene, please obtain authorization from the appropriate licensor.

Key Terms

    References an era of book musicals written roughly between the 1940s and the 1960s.

    A Broadway musical written and produced between 1943 and 1965.

    The war between the Axis and the Allies, beginning on September 1, 1939, with the German invasion of Poland and ending with the surrender of Germany on May 8, 1945, and of Japan on August 14, 1945.

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