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Insights A Study Guide to the Utah Shakespeare Festival

South Pacific The articles in this study guide are not meant to mirror or interpret any productions at the Utah Shakespeare Festival. They are meant, instead, to bean educational jumping-off point to understanding and enjoying the plays (in any production at any theatre) a bit more thoroughly. Therefore the stories of the plays and the interpretative articles (and even characters, at times) may differ dramatically from what is ultimately produced on the Festival’s stages. The Study Guide is published by the Utah Shakespeare Festival, 351 West Center Street; Cedar City, UT 84720. Bruce C. Lee, communications director and editor; Phil Hermansen, art director. Copyright © 2015, Utah Shakespeare Festival. Please feel free to download and print The Study Guide, as long as you do not remove any identifying mark of the Utah Shakespeare Festival.

For more information about Festival education programs: Utah Shakespeare Festival 351 West Center Street Cedar City, Utah 84720 435-586-7880 www.bard.org.

Cover photo: a scene from , 2015. Contents Information on the Play Synopsis 4 Characters 5 About theSouth Playwrights: Richard Pacific Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II 6

Scholarly Articles on the Play South Pacific: Tales of Paradise 9

Utah Shakespeare Festival 3 351 West Center Street • Cedar City, Utah 84720 • 435-586-7880 The Story of the Play Ensign Nellie Forbush, a young American nurse stationed on a South Pacific island dur- ing World War II, has met and fallen in love with Emile de Becque, a middle-aged French plantation owner. Nellie, promising to think about the future of their relationship, rushes back to the hospital for her shift. Meanwhile on the beach, Luther Billis and the American sailors lament about the short- age of available women (since Navy nurses are commissioned officers and off-limits to enlisted men). A feisty native nicknamed Bloody Mary flirts with the sailors and joins in their fun. When U.S. Marine Lieutenant Joseph Cable arrives on the island, Bloody Mary tries to persuade him to visit Bali Ha’i which only officers can go to, and Billis offers to help him get a boat. Cable declines and reports to the island’s commanding officers, Capt. George Brackett and Commander William Harbison. Cable has been assigned to a dangerous spy mission to another nearby island, now held by the Japanese. The military plans to ask Emile to accompany him because he used to live there. They ask for Nellie’s help in learning more about him, and she realizes she doesn’t know him well and decides to end the relationship with him. However, before she has the chance to break things off, Emile reveals why he had to leave : a story about a bully he stood up to and accidently killed in France long ago. He also expresses his love for her and asks her to marry him, and she realizes how much she loves him in return. Emile declines to accompany Cable on the spy mission because of his hopes for a new life with Nellie. Thus, Commander Harbison tells Cable to go on leave until the mission can take place; and Cable, Billis, and Bloody Mary go to Bali Ha’i where Bloody Mary intro- duces Cable to her daughter, Liat. She and Cable are instantly attracted. Meanwhile, Emile introduces Ngana and Jerome to her, and she is shocked when she real- izes they are his children by his first wife, a dark-skinned Polynesian women. Nellie cannot overcome her racial prejudice and leaves. On Thanksgiving Day, the GIs and nurses perform in a called “Thanksgiving ” that Nellie has helped put together. During the show, Cable leaves to see Liat. Now Bloody Mary pushes Cable to marry Liat and live a carefree life on the island. He is tempt- ed but ultimately refuses, and Bloody Mary angrily drags Liat away. After the show, Emile approaches Nellie and asks her to reconsider marrying him, but she still cannot let her prejudices go about his children’s Polynesian mother. Upset and con- fused, Emile asks Cable why she feels this way, and he says it is something that is taught at a young age. Emile mourns for the relationship that was almost his and agrees now to go with Cable on the spy mission behind enemy lines because now neither has much to lose. The men get to the island undetected and are able to get communications back to head- quarters about the enemy’s position. This information makes it possible for a major offen- sive, Operation Alligator, to start. War rages, including in the hearts of Cable and Nellie as they struggle with their prejudices and the changing world around them.

4 Utah Shakespeare Festival 351 West Center Street • Cedar City, Utah 84720 • 435-586-7880 Characters: South Pacific Ensign Nellie Forbush (US Navy): A spirited, young nurse from Little Rock, Arkansas, Nellie is optimistic and tomboyish and falls in love with Emile, but she fights against her own prejudices as their relationship develops. Emile de Becque: A wealthy, sophisticated and older French gentleman, de Becque has built an impressive plantation on the island. He claims to have killed a man in France, forcing him to flee the country. He volunteers to serve as a spy for the American troops when Nellie calls things off between them. Ngana: Emile’s young daughter Jerome: Emile’s young son Henry: Emile’s native servant Bloody Mary: A sassy native merchant who makes her living selling souvenirs to the American sailors, Bloody Mary tries desperately to find a rich husband for her daughter Liat who she thinks can give her a better life. Liat: Bloody Mary’s beautiful Polynesian daughter, Liat falls in love with Lt. Cable Bloody Mary’s Assistant Luther Billis: A loveable and crafty man who helps provide much-needed comic relief for his fellow sailors, Billis has little to no respect for authority and is always scheming, but he is a good friend to Nellie. He runs a laundry enterprise with a homemade washing machine. “Stewpot” George Watts: A Sailor and Luther’s cohort, Watts run the laundry machine. “Professor”: A sailor and Luther’s cohort Lt. Joseph Cable (USMC): A handsome and intelligent officer, Cable is newly stationed on the island. Capt. George Brackett (US Navy): The commanding officer and highest-ranking officer on the island, Brackett is slightly self-important, but he hides a heart of gold. Cmdr. William Harbison (US Navy): Second-in-command on the island, Harbison is officious and hotheaded. He is Brackett’s right hand man. Radio Operator Bob McCaffrey: A sailor, McCaffrey sends and receives messages from an undercover mission. Lt. Buzz Adams: A pilot who flies the undercover mission Ensign Dinah Murphy: A nurse and Nellie’s closest friend Ensign Janet MacGregor: A nurse Sailors, Marines, Seabeas, Patrolman, Ensigns, Islanders, Nuns, Officers, Soldiers, Pilots

Utah Shakespeare Festival 5 351 West Center Street • Cedar City, Utah 84720 • 435-586-7880 and Oscar Hammerstein II: Creators of South Pacific By Marlo Ihler Considered one of the most successful writing teams in history, Richard Rodgers (music) and Oscar Hammerstein II (lyrics and book) changed the face of the American musical. They also had a significant influence on the business side of show business. Together they made an indelible impact on as we know it today. Richard Charles Rodgers was born on June 28, 1902, in Queens, New York. He was the second son born to physician Dr. William Rodgers and his wife Mamie. Not long after he was born, his family moved to upper and he grew up in a home with music and theatre. By age , he played the piano by ear, and by fifteen was writing music and decided to pursue musical theatre as a career (biography.com). Rodgers attended , where he wrote music for the school’s well-known annual . It was during one of these shows, his older brother introduced him to , a journalism student, and Hammerstein, a law student. Ironically, Rodgers, Hart, and Hammerstein had grown up only blocks away from one another but did not meet until they were classmates at Columbia. The Varsity Show of 1920, Fly with Me, with music by Rodgers and lyrics by Hart and Hammerstein, was a success that led to a partnership between Rodgers and Hart that lasted over twenty years. Rodgers and Hart composed music and lyrics for twenty-six Broadway musicals. They had scores of songs that have since become classics, such as “I’ll Take Manhattan,” “Blue Moon,” “My Funny Valentine,” and “” (c250columbia.edu). Oscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II was born July 12, 1895 in to a renowned theatre family. His father, William, managed a Vaudeville theatre, the Victoria; his grand- father, Oscar I, was an acclaimed impresario; and his uncle, Arthur, was a Broadway producer (biography.com). His happy childhood included music and theatre, but was marred by the death of his mother when he was fifteen, and the death of his father when he was nineteen (notablebiogra- phies.com). While attending Columbia, he studied law and started acting in and later writing for the Varsity Show . In 1919, his uncle gave him his first theatre job as an assistant stage manager. His uncle also produced his first play, entitled The Light, which lasted for only four performances (rnh.com). Though he did earn an undergraduate law degree, his love of theatre overtook his inter- est in law, and so in his second year of law school he dropped out to pursue a theatre career. He began working with composers of the day, rewriting scripts and stories, and “breathing new life into the moribund artform of ” (rnh.com). Such shows included Rose Marie (1924, music by Rudolf Friml), Song of the the Flame (1925, music by ), and The Desert Song (1926, music by Sigmund Romberg). While writing Rose Marie, he met composer with whom he established a nearly twenty-year partnership and a lifelong friendship. Their first major project was the award-winning musical, (1927), which was hugely successful and had no precedent for a show of its size and scope. They wrote seven more musicals together, including (1929) and (1939), though most of these have dwindled in popularity (songwritershalloffame.com).

6 Utah Shakespeare Festival 351 West Center Street • Cedar City, Utah 84720 • 435-586-7880 Hammerstein left Broadway to write for Hollywood, and though he did some excellent work on both stage and screen musicals, his career slowed down so much that he was considered a “has-been” by the end of the ’30s (biography.com). Plus he found he didn’t enjoy the rigorous time demands of the movie industry (notablebiographies.com). When Hammerstein’s partnership with Kern dissolved, and Hart’s deteriorating health led to the end of his partnership with Rodgers in 1940, began collaborating in 1942. They start- ed with the idea of turning Lynn Riggs’s play Green Grow the Lilacs into a musical. Opposite of how he had worked in the past, Hammerstein requested he write the lyrics before Rodgers wrote the music. It proved to be successful: they created the smash hit, ! (biography.com). It was true musical play, a new genre in theatre. It also won the in 1944. Hart attended the opening of Oklahoma! on March 31, 1943, in New York, graciously telling Rodgers after the show, “This show of yours will run forever.” Eight months later, Hart died of pneumonia (c250. columbia.edu). Rodgers and Hammerstein’s incredible success in musical theatre continued: (1945), (1947), South Pacific (1949, which also won a Pulitzer Prize), (1951), (1955), (1958), and (1959) (.org). They also wrote one movie musical together, (1945), which won an Academy Award. Their television musical, Cinderella (1957), featured . Together this powerhouse pair earned thirty-four Tonys, fifteen Oscars, two Grammys, two Emmys, and two Pulitzer Prizes, winning every major award in their field. Other awards included Drama Desk, Drama Critics’ Circle, Outer Critics’ Circle, Laurence Olivier, Evening Standard, honorary degrees, and Kennedy Center Honors (rnh.com). Rodgers and Hammerstein also created their own that allowed them, as well as other writ- ers, to own and control their own work. Still in existence today, R&H is a theatrical publishing, rental, and licensing company. This freedom allowed Rodgers and Hammerstein to produce plays, concerts, national tours, revivals, and musicals besides their own (biography.com). In addition to their immense success as musical theatre pioneers, both men were married with families. Rodgers married his wife Dorothy in 1930, and they had two daughters, Mary (who composed Upon a Mattress) and Linda. His grandsons, (who wrote Light in the Piazza) and Peter Melnick (who created Adrift in Macao) are also composers. Hammerstein married his first wife Myra Finn while in college in 1917. They had two children, William and Alice. After twelve years of marriage, they divorced and he married Dorothy Blanchard Jacobson. They had one son, James, who was also a and director until his death in 1999. Interestingly, it was James who first invited a neighbor friend, , into their home. Hammerstein became his mentor and close friend (.com). When he was only sixty-five and still very active professionally, Hammerstein lost his battle to stomach cancer. He died on August 23, 1960, at his home in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. After Hammerstein died, Rodgers continued writing for stage and screen. He collaborated with Stephen Sondheim (Do I Hear a Waltz, 1965), (, 1970, and , 1979), and (Rex, 1976). His first solo work, (1962), won two Tonys on Broadway (pbs.org). Other solo works included the movie remake of State Fair (1962), the movie version of The Sound of Music (1965), and television documentary scores (for The Victory at Sea, 1952, and The Valiant Years, 1960).

Utah Shakespeare Festival 7 351 West Center Street • Cedar City, Utah 84720 • 435-586-7880 Rodgers also created numerous awards and scholarships for artists at Julliard, the American Theatre Wing, and the American Academy of Dramatic Art, among others (biography.com). As a survivor of jaw cancer in 1955, Rodgers also overcame a laryngectomy in 1974. He died at age seventy-seven at his home in New York City on December 30, 1979. In 1995, Hammerstein’s centennial was celebrated all over the world with events and pro- ductions. As a tribute to “the man who owned Broadway,” three of his musicals ran simultane- ously on Broadway: (which won a 1995 Tony), The King and I (which won a 1996 Tony), and State Fair (which won a 1996 Tony) (biography.com). Rodgers’s centennial was celebrated in 2002 around the world with television specials, new recordings and books, countless stage productions, and three revivals on Broadway, among other things. In 1990 he posthumously received Broadway’s highest honor: the 46th Street Theatre was renamed The . Today, he is credited for writing between 900 and 1500 songs, and nineteen film versions of his works have been made (biography.com). Rodgers and Hammerstein contributed more than any other writing duo in Broadway his- tory to the evolution of American musical theatre, transforming it from simple entertainment to sophisticated, endearing storytelling. Cited as among the twenty most influential artists of the twentieth century, the popularity and impact of these gentlemen’s work continues to be cel- ebrated the world over (time.com).

8 Utah Shakespeare Festival 351 West Center Street • Cedar City, Utah 84720 • 435-586-7880 South Pacific: Tales of Paradise By Lawrence Henley To honor the Greatest Generation, the legendary team of composers Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein, Director , and Producer Leland Hayward created the Pulitzer Prize- winning musical, South Pacific. It’s the story of mid-twentieth-century Americans sent to an earthly paradise amid the hellish fighting of World War II, and their discovery of a new world and its tradi- tions. More than just one of Broadway’s most popular titles, it’s an equally fascinating study in soci- ology, an observation of what can happen when diverse cultures collide. The play, first produced in 1949, chronicles the wartime experiences of an undiscovered writer searching for his muse. Its genesis was James Michener’s 1947 novel Tales of the South Pacific, a bestseller that launched his distinguished career. After numerous career starts, Michener was still indecisive about what he wanted to be. Drafted at age thirty-five into the Navy and assigned duty as a military historian, he defeated the boredom of off-duty hours by documenting his time in the Polynesian Islands. He left with a manuscript that became his Pulitzer-winning first book. Tales of the South Pacific is infused with the enchantment, adventure, and remarkable people Michener experienced during World War II. Most fascinating to Michener was the lively, hybrid culture created by the cross-pollination of Europeans, Americans, Tonkinese (Vietnamese), and the native islanders. His chapters “Fo’ Dolla’,” “Our Heroine,” “Coral Sea,” and “A Boar’s Tooth” contain the unforgettable characters in South Pacific: Bloody Mary, Lieutenant Joe Cable, Emile DeBecque, Ensign Nellie Forbush, and Luther Billis. Richard Rodgers (music) and Oscar Hammerstein II () are universally considered to be the most successful composing team of Broadway’s golden age. Each garnered considerable success with their previous partners, Lorenz Hart (Rodgers) and Jerome Kern (Hammerstein). Ironically, Hart’s illness and Kern’s sudden death led them to form Broadway’s foremost alliance. Already cel- ebrated for the groundbreaking hits Oklahoma (1943) and Carousel (1945), by late 1948 Rodgers and Hammerstein were searching for a new vehicle to follow those successes. At a party Logan, hav- ing purchased the theatrical rights from Michener, asked Rodgers to read Tales of the South Pacific. Rodgers agreed that it had smash hit potential, but could recall only that “some S.O.B. he met at a cocktail party” already owned the property. When Hammerstein reminded him that the owner was their colleague, Josh Logan, Rodgers replied, “Logan! That’s the S.O.B.!” The American military and their Allies fought World War II in two battle zones: the European (against Italy and Nazi Germany) and Pacific theatres (against Imperial Japan). Some of the fiercest fighting of this conflict took place in the Melanesian Island region, which serves as the backdrop for Michener’s stories. Espiritu Santo, an island in the New Hebrides (Vanuatu), was a major sup- ply base and staging area for the Allies. Like the American servicemen and women of that era, the characters in South Pacific find themselves on this alluring island in service of country, unaware of the cultural awakening that’s in store for them. They’re soon intoxicated by the island-sphere. Much like Michener, youthful nurse Nellie Forbush has yet to pinpoint exactly what she wants from life, although she’s certain it’s got to be more than Little Rock A-R-K can provide. At an offi- cer’s club fete, she meets a handsome Frenchman who will change her life. Trying to resist tempta- tion, she just can’t seem to “wash him out of her ,” even after discovering his past. French expatriate and wealthy plantation owner Emile DeBecque has no stake in this war and, while friendly with the Americans, he protects his neutrality. He does, however, share a belief in the

Utah Shakespeare Festival 9 351 West Center Street • Cedar City, Utah 84720 • 435-586-7880 same principles the Allies are sacrificing their lives to defend. Initially refusing to become involved, his attitude changes course with the fear that Espiritu will fall to the Japanese. Many years Nellie’s elder, Emile is equally taken with her, yet cautious to reveal the troubling details of his youth. Forced to flee after killing a crime boss in self-defense, he signed on with a merchant ship headed for the French island territories, stumbling unsuspectingly into a new way of life. Reinventing himself, DeBecque married a Tonkinese woman. Prior to her premature death their union produced two beautiful mixed-race children, and despite Nellie’s blossoming love for him, the frightened nurse runs when he finally discloses this to her. To offset the danger and stress of military life, the creative team added comic relief. Logan knew from his own military experience that the craftiest sailors were quick to seize opportunities for quick profit and misadventure. Enter Luther Billis, conniving Seabee, haggling over island trinkets with his feisty Tonkinese trading partner, Bloody Mary. Luther has a talent for maneuvering around regulations to get what he wants. The scrappy Mary is Luther’s biggest rival and the gatekeeper to Bali H’ai, a mysterious island where the plantation owners have sequestered their women. Princeton educated Joe Cable knows a potentially fatal mission awaits him in the New Hebrides. He must recruit a local guide and stealthily transport communications gear to an enemy controlled island. Facing the prospect of torture or death, he succumbs to the lure of Bali H’ai. Coerced by Billis, Cable charters a boat to experience the ceremonial extraction of a boar’s tooth, coconut liquor, barely clad women, and the Dionysian rituals that follow. While Billis follows his own pursuits, Bloody Mary leads Cable to a shaded hut for a liaison with Liat, her stunningly beau- tiful daughter. Their meeting instantly sparks a torrid, exhilarating love. Evening enchantments have nurtured two powerful romances, with perfect strangers, but for Nellie and Joe wartime infatuations create internal conflict. In the , interracial relationships were almost entirely frowned upon. Once sobriety sets in, Nellie and Joe realize these relationships won’t be accepted in American society. The gut-wrenching “You’ve Got to Be Carefully Taught” laments the realization of how far from home Joe and Nellie really are, dreading the thought that their lovers won’t fit into their highly prejudicial families back home. Keep in mind that, in 1949, the subject of was unpopular and lay well ahead of any social advances of the time. To exemplify this, some of South Pacific’s powerful inves- tors threatened to withdraw funding if the storylines involving Cable’s affair with Liat, and Emile’s bi-racial children weren’t eliminated. Michener gave full credit to Oscar Hammerstein, who stood firm on his demand that those controversial scenes remain. Moving beyond the intertwined themes of war and interracial relationships, South Pacific’s superior music score stands as one of Broadway’s best. “,” “I’m in Love with a Wonderful Guy,” “Bali H’ai,” “I’m Gonna Wash that Man Right out of My Hair,” and “” are all classics. Contributing to the original production were landmark performances by Italian and , perhaps Broadway’s greatest leading lady. A dynamic singer/dancer, Mary Martin escaped to Hollywood from Weatherford, Texas in the mid-. Fearless in auditions, she landed in front of Hammerstein singing his “.” Oscar’s word was enough to get her a job in New York with another legend, . Her rendition of Porter’s “My Heart Belongs to Daddy” was a sensation, and she never again looked for work. Rodgers and Hammerstein agreed that Martin, fresh from touring as Oakley in Irving Berliln’s Annie Get Your Gun, personified Nellie Forbush. Her legendary shadow grew taller with Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The Sound of Music (1959), I Do! I Do! (1966),

10 Utah Shakespeare Festival 351 West Center Street • Cedar City, Utah 84720 • 435-586-7880 and her signature role as Peter Pan (1954) the first live television broadcast of a Broadway musical (1955). Difficult choices must be made in the final scenes. Cable, Emile, and Nellie all come to a painful tipping point where destiny can’t be delayed, facing the future with clear minds and brave hearts. Modern audiences are still uplifted by this play more than six decades later. We’re reminded of how far we’ve advanced, comparatively, as a society. South Pacific helps illustrate how we got here from there. Hammerstein married his first wife Myra Finn while in college in 1917. They had two children, William and Alice. After twelve years of marriage, they divorced and he married Dorothy Blanchard Jacobson. They had one son, James, who was also a writer and director until his death in 1999. Interestingly, it was James who first invited a neighbor friend, Stephen Sondheim, into their home. Hammerstein became his mentor and close friend (playbill.com). When he was only sixty-five and still very active professionally, Hammerstein lost his battle to stomach cancer. He died on August 23, 1960, at his home in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. After Hammerstein died, Rodgers continued writing for stage and screen. He collaborated with Stephen Sondheim (Do I Hear a Waltz, 1965), Martin Charnin (Two by Two, 1970, and I Remember Mama, 1979), and Sheldon Harnick (Rex, 1976). His first solo work, No Strings (1962), won two Tonys on Broadway (pbs.org). Other solo works included the movie remake of State Fair (1962), the movie version of The Sound of Music (1965), and television documentary scores (for The Victory at Sea, 1952, and The Valiant Years, 1960). Rodgers also created numerous awards and scholarships for artists at Julliard, the American Theatre Wing, and the American Academy of Dramatic Art, among others (biography.com). As a survivor of jaw cancer in 1955, Rodgers also overcame a laryngectomy in 1974. He died at age seventy-seven at his home in New York City on December 30, 1979. In 1995, Hammerstein’s centennial was celebrated all over the world with events and produc- tions. As a tribute to “the man who owned Broadway,” three of his musicals ran simultaneously on Broadway: Showboat (which won a 1995 Tony), The King and I (which won a 1996 Tony), and State Fair (which won a 1996 Tony) (biography.com). Rodgers’s centennial was celebrated in 2002 around the world with television specials, new recordings and books, countless stage productions, and three revivals on Broadway, among other things. In 1990 he posthumously received Broadway’s highest honor: the 46th Street Theatre was renamed The Richard Rodgers Theatre. Today, he is credited for writing between 900 and 1500 songs, and nineteen film versions of his works have been made (biography.com). Rodgers and Hammerstein contributed more than any other writing duo in Broadway history to the evolution of American musical theatre, transforming it from simple entertainment to sophis- ticated, endearing storytelling. Cited as among the twenty most influential artists of the twentieth century, the popularity and impact of these gentlemen’s work continues to be celebrated the world over (time.com).