Dear Vocalisters:
Did it bother any of you that the story line emphasis was greatly changed for this TV production of "South Pacific"? In the original score and libretto the racial issue is incorporated within the body of the work rather than becoming the primary focus of the musical. The effect of allowing the racial issue to simply exist without needing to be the core of the play made its effect much stronger. In the TV production the racial issue became a "preaching" issue and the matter of "war" and soldiers away from home was minimized. Yet it was those latter two issues which drove the original story and made the racial issue more poignant because it existed as a "matter of fact" and when it finally came to the forefront it was both a surprise and a real crucial shock.
-- Lloyd W. Hanson, DMA Professor of Voice, Pedagogy School of Performing Arts Northern Arizona University Flagstaff, AZ 86011
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