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 Pre-Show Article: South Pacific By Peter Rusland
War was hell for some. But not for shameless hustler Luther Billis, fictional chief petty officer over his band of boys with the U.S. Navy's Seabees. They spent much of the Second World War languishing on Polynesia's Bali Ha'i, romancing nurses and scrounging good times while other Americans fought the Japanese. That's the backdrop for Chemainus Theatre's Broadway musical-romance South Pacific opening Thursday. Actor Dan Costain in the thick of things as Billis. "He's a bit of a hustler in 1943, just before General Macarthur's big push up the Pacific islands." High jinks galore ensure while the boys hope the war stays away. "We're Seabees, the construction battalion, posted in an Indonesian backwater with nurses at a hospital, and most sailors have nothing to do until a boat or a plane lands." Costain seems perfect for his part. "I've been to Borneo and Singapore and South Pacific is a snapshot of history." That period is chronicled by author James Michener in his Pulitzer Price-winning novel Tales of the South Pacific. Rodgers and Hammerstein set the book to music. "The underlying plot is we're fighting the war against a regime with a different concept of what life's about," Costain told the News Leader Pictorial. Director Jeremy Tow's concept involves choreography by Holly Bright. "We're also using Balinese shadow puppets during the song Happy Talk," Costain said. Other familiar tunes span Some Enchanted Evening, and I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Out Of My Hair. The subplot sees RN Nellie (Sara-Jeanne Hosie) fall for a French planter Emile (baritone Steven Edward Moore) with a shady past. "Emile has two kids from a deceased wife who was Polynesian," said Costain. "Because of racial tension involving interracial marriage in the U.S., sleeping with a Polynesian woman made you untouchable." But war was a breeze to some Seabees. "Billis runs the bathhouse," said native Victorian Costain, 58. "I'm comic relief but I'm playing him straight, with an American accent." Song-and-dance duty sees Billis go native. "I do a wild number in a grass skirt and coconuts." Dancing was among Costain's first loves in some 40 years on stage. "I had an Equity card for 40 years and trained as a Highland dancer. "I was even U.S. Highland dance champ at age 16." Many parts later, Costain depicted Moonface Martin in Chemainus Theatre's Anything Goes, plus rat Rooster in Annie. He's stoked about acting in mural town again. "Our musical director is Lloyd Nicholson on piano and our other pianist, Steven Greenfield, is cast as a sailor." Other swabs are male actors from the theatre's play Saint Joan. Other familiar faces include Bill Groth as Capt. George Brackett, and Norma Bowen as canny Bloody Mary. Costain saluted Misha Koslovsky's tropical sets decked with "trucks, huts, and rope on various angles." "The main hut's the fuselage of a crashed B17; it's abstract," he said, plugging war sound effects by designer Robin Boxwell. "I want people to come away humming these tunes," Costain said. "There's some heavy stuff in this play but it's a love story."
Chemainus Theatre Festival keeps old musical fresh By Lynn Welburn
Those old musicals -- the kind where actors just seem to "feel a song coming on" -- sometimes feel rather dated. And having been traumatized by one or two too many of such musicals in my time reviewing theatre, I have to admit to a certain reluctance to see another South Pacific. But while South Pacific does fall into this dated genre, Chemainus Theatre Festival has managed to keep it as fresh and exciting as possible and, in an age where racism is almost as alive and well as it was in 1948 when the musical was first produced, South Pacific does at least address such topical issues as well as dealing with love, romance and the mystery of exotic lands. It is perhaps this -- sadly -- timeless angle to a love story set in the South Pacific during the Second World War, that keeps the show from being just another song and dance routine with sailors waxing lyrical about "dames" while they hoof around with a mop. The song "You've Got To Be Carefully Taught" says it all about racism. It's not innate. It's the result of fears carefully indoctrinated into the young so that they find it hard to recognize the common humanity that bypasses all race, creed or colour. Of course, South Pacific is not just some musical anti-racism polemic. It is a musical and this production offers some amazing voices such as Steven Edward Moor as the French planter Emile de Becque, Sara Jeanne Hosie as Nellie Forbush and particularly Jeffrey Stephen as the ill-fated Cable. The familiar songs are beautifully rendered: The haunting "Bali Hai," the nostalgic "Some Enchanted Evening," and that song that most women have hummed at some time in their lives, "Gonna Wash That Man Right Out-a My Hair." And with Chemainus's usual high calibre of performances, fabulous costumes (you gotta love the Tonkinese sense of style) and the creative staging that whisks you from armed forces base to Bali Hai in a moment, South Pacific wraps the audience in the spell of the moment. South Pacific runs until Aug. 31 with evening and matinee performances. The Playbill dining room with its endless buffet is open prior to all shows. For tickets call 1-800-565-7738.
Triumphant achievement - By Lexi Bainas
Right from the moment when Capt. Brackett (William Groth) orders the crowd, on pain of a stint in the brig, to turn off those cell phones, it was clear that a voyage the Chemainus Theatre Festival's South Pacific was going to be a night to remember. Even the announcement of the show caused a buzz, and by show time Thursday at the Gala Opening, anticipation was palpable among the large crowd. At the stage photo shoot the previous day, when these photos were taken, it was plain to see -- and hear -- that the cast, too, was excited. Sure, South Pacific is pure gold, but it needs a few jewels to set it off. They are there. In spades. When Sara-Jeanne Hosie bounces on stage and tells the world she's "A Cock-eyed Optimist," we are as enchanted as her French planter, Emile de Becque (Steven Edward Moore) and the whole production simply builds from there. Moore, also, looks and sounds his part and manages to seem much older than he is, and astonished to find love "climbing up his hill." The other pair of lovers in this show, Lieut. Cable (Jeffrey Stephen) and Liat (Jaclyn Nishi) are star-crossed but their romantic interlude rips the lid off some pretty stark truths while drowning the audience in charm. Stephen is superbly equipped vocally for a thrilling tenor showpiece such as "Younger Than Springtime" and Nishi, while not getting to say much, adds a note of vulnerability and authenticity to the piece. Norma Bowen as the redoubtable Bloody Mary adds just another diamond to the crown of a woman who surely defines the word "actress." Just when we think we've seen all she can possibly do in Noel Coward's brittle and sophisticated Hay Fever, Bowen emerges, covered in tattoos, and convinces us she's been playing the wily Island entrepreneur. We can't close this story without a mention of Dan Costain. Part of the charm of South Pacific is that, like Shakespeare's plays, it has something for everyone. He's remarkably human and very loveable in his role as Luther Billis AKA Honey Bun. The show continues all summer, but don't put off getting tickets. They are selling like hotcakes. Call the box office at 1-800-565-7738.
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