BWW Reviews: SOUTH PACIFIC, The Barbican, Aug 22 2011

Kate Finburg

"I'm going to wash that man right out of my hair": a mantra for gals everywhere who have discovered that actually, her fella ain't all that. And the lovely Samantha Womack sings it with relish as she channels Marilyn Monroe in South Pacific, currently showing at the Barbican.

Familiar song after familiar song follows - now I know where Dizzee Rascal got his sample for 'Dream' from – the ditty 'Happy Talk' sung by the panto dame of the production, Bloody Mary, played with cunning by the brilliant Loretta Ables Sayre who has just completed a two-year run as the character in the Lincoln Centre revival of South Pacific.

Universally considered one of Broadway's most popular musicals with lyrics and music by Rodgers and Hammerstein, and based on James A. Michener's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1947 book 'Tales of the South Pacific,' the story centres on Emile De Becque, a Frenchmen with a murky past and his relationship with a nurse working at a US naval base during WW2 (Womack).

De Becque is played by Paulo Szot, one of the most acclaimed and versatile baritones in the world (he has already won a Tony for his portrayal of the character) and plays the role with equal measures of enigma and sensitivity.

Light relief comes from the American 'seabees' the troop of restless rooky sailors who spend most of their time making grass skirts and pondering how to get to the island of exotic dreams Bali Ha'i. Led by Alex Ferns (the one who got hit over the head with an iron by little Mo in Eastenders) they sing 'There is Nothin' Like a Dame' with evident yearning.

With the British Summer having been on characteristic miserable form, transport yourself to sunnier climes with a trip to see South Pacific and whatever might occur on the magical island of Bali Ha'i...

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