A couple of weeks ago, the 2008 Tony Award ceremony took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. This is the big awards night for Broadway, like the Academy Awards for movies, and unfortunately, I missed it! But, thanks to the internet, you can always catch up on things after the fact. And when I looked it up the next day, I was really happy that the revival of South Pacific had won 7 Tony awards:

- Best Revival of a Musical
- Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical
- Best Director of a Musical
- Best Scenic Design of a Musical
- Best Costume Design of a Musical
- Best Lighting Design of a Musical
- Best Sound Design of a Musical

Click here to see a full list of the 2008 Tony Award Winners.

South Pacific first opened in the spring of 1949, the third great Rodgers and Hammerstein musical produced. And, it was pretty controversial when it came out. Tackling issues like race, war, and love in a post-war era, it was denounced in the early 50’s by the Georgia Legislature. However, it’s themes of love, sacrifice, and even optimism make for an awesome drama. And, of course, there’s the Rogers and Hammerstein music, which I think is phenomenal, especially in this show.

So, on April 3rd of this year, the revival of South Pacific opened on Broadway. I’ve found some great links for those of you who are interested in this revival. Click on the links below to find out more about the show, and even see a clip of one of the TV performances promoting the show:

• 2008 Tony Awards South Pacific Performance
• Newsweek Article about the revival and history of South Pacific
• Playbill article about the South Pacific Revival

One of the many things I really like about South Pacific (especially being revived right now) is that it is a classic show doing really well (it’s sold out), and it has some great bass parts. There aren’t many good bass roles in current Broadway shows, but South Pacific has 2 leading parts - the Frenchman & Stewpot. And the the Frenchman, played by Paulo Szot in the revival, has a great bass voice in the older classical bass tradition of Howard Keel and Rossano Brazzi (who played Emile de Becque in the movie).

I’m actually heading to New Jersey and New York City this next week. We already have tickets for the Lion King, which I’m really excited to finally see, and I really want to see South Pacific. So, I’ll see if I can actually get in since it’s supposedly sold out. Hopefully I’ll be able to post some pictures and write about the trip while out there.

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