South Pacific Musical
South Pacific is music that was composed through the collaboration of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein. The song premiered in 1949 on Broadway hitting the waves, making the two artists received recognition through their 1,925 performances (Maslon 1). The musical was based on Michener's book "Tales of South Pacific," that won the Pulitzer Prize, expressing a strong message about racism (Maslon 3). The song's plot revolves about the story of an American nurse, Nellie Forbush, living in South Pacific and falls in love with a French emigrant, Emile de Becque, a plantation owner, but tries to accept his mixed-race children (Alleman). The concept of racial prejudice is rampant in the musical, most controversially, through the romance between the United States lieutenant and the Tonkinese woman (Maslon 2). The musical became popular in the Broadway contributing to the two artist's collaborating to do more works.
Development During World War II
The South Pacific musical was developed during World War II which proliferated the United States to become a global nation (Fanger). Consequently, the war unified different persons due to the social divide that the country experienced. Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein utilized the opportunity to develop several themes in the musical such as love and racial prejudice that could be relevant to a contemporary audience. First, the musical developed the idea of love, which was evident in the song through the American nurse, Nellie Forbush and the middle-aged French, Emile de Becque (Fanger). Despite the challenges that came between the two, they still loved each other unconditionally. Nellie went against their culture to be with Becque and forced herself to accept his mixed-race children (Fanger). Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein used the two characters to unfold the emotions, for instance, Emile describes love at first sight in "Some Enchanted Evening" (Fanger).
On the other hand, the musical also depicted the theme of love from the affection story that unfolded between Lieutenant Joseph Cable and the Tonkinese girl, Liat (Fanger). Joseph was from an upper-class status, while Liat was just an average girl; however, their love had no boundaries regarding their social status difference, since they loved each other unconditionally. The theme of love relates to the contemporary audience since almost everyone falls in love and it has no boundaries if the feeling is mutual between the two parties. Secondly, the musical developed the theme of racial prejudice. The song depicts the idea of racism through Nellie and Becque. According to the notions bred by the Americans, they discriminated other races to the extent of not intermarrying. However, Nellie goes against the norms of their culture and falls in love with Becque (Fanger). Despite being intimidated by her values, she forces herself to accept Becque's mixed-race children (Fanger). Moreover, the theme is evident through Joseph who loves Liat yet he cannot marry her since she is a Tonkinese. The issue relates to the contemporary audience where different cultures prohibit intermarriages with other communities based on their race.
Part 2
Over the years, Broadway has been popping up revivals. The fascinating bit revolves around seeing shows being revived to bring out a new aspect of production. Musicals are revived after receiving a second Broadway production. From my perspective, I tend to think that traditional revivals should be produced. The production involves a new creation that uses the existing content to bring out the fascinating bits. As a result, classical improvements tend to utilize the original material with minimal changing of the content. More so, they are authentic to the productions before them (Vogel). Nevertheless, the traditional revival has some problems during production. First, they exhibit nothing that is more different from the original material. Secondly, classical revivals use the same design and style of the previous productions. For instance, "The King and I," the current traditional resurgence, has used the same model and method of its last production, thus, nothing that seems different about it. Notably, presenting the material in the traditional revival tends to be the best choice since it retains the traditional elements, but conveys the message about the susceptibility of the material through modest changes.
On the other hand, it tends to be difficult to judge the reactions of the audience, since it depends on personal preference and the uniqueness that a particular production tends to create. Moreover, since revivals are based on previous materials, the majority of the audience will tend to have some biased notions on what they want to see, hence, discriminating specific productions. As a result, the audience determines the larger picture of the revival, if they are ready for something new, which might be difficult to predict.
Works Cited
Alleman, Annie. Themes of 'South Pacific' are more timely than ever. 28 3 2018. Web. 09 10 2018. .
Fanger, Iris. Theater: 70 years later, themes of 'South Pacific' are more timely than ever. 13 8 2018. Web. 9 10 2018. .
Maslon, Laurence. "South Pacific" (Original Cast Recording) (1949)." National Registry (2012): 1-4. Document.
Vogel, David. The many faces of Broadway revivals. 22 7 2015. Web. 09 10 2018. .
