Maltby Amateur Operatic Society

THE curtain rises on an island in the Pacific during the Second World War. At the home of the wealthy, middle-aged French planter, Emile de Becque, two Eurasian children are performing an impromptu minuet and chanting a French ditty ("Dites-moi"). Emile, who had settled on this island some years before the outbreak of the war, is host at dinner to the charming American nurse, Ensign Nellie Forbush. She reveals to him some facets of her personality ("Cockeyed Optimist"). The two are strongly attracted to each other, and it does not take them long to realize that they are in love ("Some Enchanted Evening"). Before Nellie leaves, Emile asks her to consider becoming his wife.

With South Pacific, Rodgers and Hammerstein rose to new towering heights of success, both commercially and artistically, following their triumph with Oklahoma! and Carousel. There was hardly any question in anybody's mind at the première performance of South Pacific that this was a classic of the musical theatre of the stature of Oklahoma! and Carousel. The veteran producer Arthur Hammerstein called it the greatest musical show Broadway had ever seen, perfect in every respect. The critic Richard Watts, Jr., described it as "a thrilling and exultant musical play, an utterly captivating work of theatrical art".

The response at the box-office was as exultant as that of critics and veteran theatre-goers. South Pacific ran five years on Broadway (1,925 performances), earning nine million dollars. The tour of the national company over a period of several years earned several more millions. The motion picture adaptation grossed domestically more than sixteen million dollars, the sixth highest (at that time) in the history of talking pictures in America. South Pacific played two and a half years in London, after which the company went on a tour that lasted another year and a half. It was also given in foreign translations in many other leading European capitals. The sheet music and the long-playing score also sold in record numbers. The name "South Pacific" was licensed for cosmetics, dresses and lingerie. In addition to all this, South Pacific received most of the coveted awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the New York Drama Critics Award as the season's best musical, seven Antoinette Perry and nine Donaldson Awards.