The South Pacific @ Sunderland Empire

The South Pacific - A vast expanse of emptiness dotted with little island gems

The world was a very different place when Rodgers and Hammerstein created South Pacific.  It was larger, less travelled and as such, more mysterious.  Peoples' opinions and beliefs were more rooted in the culture of their home towns and prejudice sat silently behind every decision.  On one hand, the story is a fun loving musical about an American base on the farthest reaches of Uncle Sam's West Coast frontier - on the other hand it is a veiled attempt at painting a twee fairy tale of good overcoming evil and love conquering even the staunchest of bigotries.

The set up is typical R and H - introduce strong, powerful, confident bachelor with a long established routine and a honourable, if somewhat distant, reputation.  Add to that a young woman, pretty, simple yet determined who creates a maelstrom that rips through his ordered life.  Slip into the background some lovable 'rouges' and a presumably innocent side story and, hey presto !, you've got a musical.

The production values were excellent as you would expect from such a well supported tour.  Sunderland Empire again shows why it is the region's greatest at large stage productions.  The sets make clever use of the depth of the stage and the ever changing back view of the ocean and Bali Hi have an almost subliminal presence.  The orchestration too all add to the enveloping sense of the heat, the remoteness and the claustrophobia of this tiny area far from the mainland.

The show is a shade under 3 hours plus interval (thankfully the seats are very comfortable and the leg room close to being the most generous) and this is the nub of any disquiet  - it's an old style show, with old style themes, old style values and old style pacing and 3 hours is just too long for it to keep modern audiences on the edge of their comfortable seats.  Competing with the faster tempo of shows like Chicago and Thriller or the intensity of Titanic the Musical, South Pacific just doesn't have the 'wow' factor anymore.  Likewise, there are a few dubious threads which today just don't sit well.  Racism and what is almost bordering on child prostitution sit within the two main love themes.  There isn't enough of the story devoted to portraying how these actions were then accepted by society so instead of them being 'of the time' they are trivialised, making them even more abhorrent.

The much vaunted highlight songs - "Happy Talk", "Wash that Man Right Outta my Hair", "Some Enchanted Evening" "Nothing like a Dame" and "Bali Hi", whilst being hugely well known are from a bygone age - they are not sing-along classics, in fact they are not even foot-tappers so you a left feeling that you are watching a rendition, at the end of which there is polite applause and then silence.  Regardless of the cast - who were all excellent -  you just can't inject enough of today to stop South Pacific feeling like watching a black & white movie. 

South Pacific is on at Sunderland Empire until Saturday 12th May - if you are a fan, a real fan, then you will love it - if you enjoy more modern musicals then this may not be for you at all.