Thursday, August 12, 2010

Television Premiere of Lincoln Center Theater’s Production of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific


Live From Lincoln Center will present the television premiere of Lincoln Center Theater's Tony Award-winning production of Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific on Wednesday, August 18 at 8:00 p.m. on WGVU-TV, live from the Vivian Beaumont Theater.

Lincoln Center Theater's new production of the musical classic won seven Tony Awards including Best Musical Revival as well as the Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Drama League Award for Best Musical Revival. South Pacific, directed by Bartlett Sher, began performances Saturday, March 1, 2008 and opened Thursday, April 3, 2008 at the Vivian Beaumont Theater, and will end its record breaking run on Sunday, August 22, 2010, making it the longest running Broadway revival of a Rodgers & Hammerstein musical.


The Lincoln Center Theater Production of Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific will kick off the 2010-2011 Fifth Third Bank Broadway Grand Rapids Series at DeVos Performance Hall for performances September 7-12, 2010. The performance schedule is Tuesday-Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday at 8:00 p.m., Saturday at 2:00 p.m. & 8:00 p.m., and Sunday at 1:00 p.m. & 6:30 p.m. Tickets are available at the Van Andel Arena box office, all Ticketmaster locations, http://www.ticketmaster.com/ or via phone at 1.800.745.3000. Group discounts for 15 or more are available by calling 616.235.6285.

Based on James Michener’s Pulitzer Prize winning book Tales of the South Pacific, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific has music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and a book by Oscar Hammerstein II and Joshua Logan. Set on a tropical island during World War II, the musical tells the sweeping romantic story of two couples―US Navy nurse Nellie Forbush (Kelli O'Hara) and French plantation owner Emile de Becque (Tony Award winner Paulo Szot), and Navy Airman Joe Cable and a young local native girl, Liat―and how their happiness is threatened by the realities of the war and by their own prejudices.

Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific premiered at the Majestic Theatre on April 7, 1949 and went on to enjoy a five year Broadway run, winning countless awards including nine Tony Awards (including Best Musical) and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Considered by many the finest musical ever written, the score’s songs include such musical theater classics as Some Enchanted Evening, Younger Than Springtime, Bali Ha’i, There is Nothin’ Like A Dame, and A Wonderful Guy.

Live From Lincoln Center is in its 34th broadcast season. The series has received 13 Emmy Awards, most recently for the broadcast of New York City Opera's Madama Butterfly. Produced by Lincoln Center's John Goberman, this series has made the world's greatest artists on Lincoln Center's renowned stages accessible to home viewers in virtually every corner of the United States. It is the only series of live performing arts telecasts on American television today.

For more information on the Fifth Third Bank Broadway Grand Rapids series visit http://www.broadwaygrandrapids.com/