RODGERS & HAMMERSTEIN’S SOUTH PACIFIC
Directed by BARTLETT SHER
Announces Casting for Benedum Center in Pittsburgh
Bob Boyett and NETworks Presentations announce casting for the National Tour of The Lincoln Center Theater Production of Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein’s prize-winning musical SOUTH PACIFIC, directed by Bartlett Sher playing the Benedum Center in Pittsburgh, November 2-7, 2010. SOUTH PACIFIC ispart of the PNC Broadway Across America – Pittsburgh Series, presented by The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, Pittsburgh Symphony and Broadway Across America. For more information on the production, please visit www.SouthPacificOnTour.com.
Tickets start at $20 and are available at the Box Office at Theater Square, 655 Penn Avenue, by phone at 412-456-6666 or online at pgharts.org. For group ticket sales (10 or more), please call 412-471-6930. SOUTH PACIFIC will play Tuesday-Thursday at 7:30 p.m.; Friday at 8 p.m.; Saturday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.; and Sunday at 1 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.
The National Touring Company of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s SOUTH PACIFIC will be led by David Pittsinger (Emile de Becque) and Carmen Cusack (Nellie Forbush), with Anderson Davis (Lt. Cable), Timothy Gulan (Luther Billis), Jodi Kimura (Bloody Mary), Gerry Becker (Capt. Brackett), Peter Rini (Cmdr. Harbison), Sumie Maeda (Liat), Rusty Ross (Professor), original 2008 Broadway cast member Genson Blimline (Stewpot), Christina Carrera (Ngana) and CJ Palma (Jerome).
The ensemble will include Christopher Carl, Christian Carter, Eric L. Christian, Jacqueline Colmer, Alexis G.B. Holt, Rashaan James II, Chad Jennings, Christopher Johnstone, Kristie Kerwin, Joe Langworth, Cathy Newman, Julia Osborne, Diane Phelan, John Pinto Jr., Bret Shuford, Kristen J. Smith, Matt Stokes, Gregory Williams, Victor J. Wisehart and Amos Wolff.
Critics laud high praise for the National Tour:
- “Electric! This is the South Pacific we’ve been waiting for.” (San Francisco Chronicle)
- “It is a tribute to the sublime beauty of this musical, filled with gorgeous voices and astonishing emotional depth.” (Chicago Sun-Times)
- “Bartlett Sher’s staging of South Pacific reveals, intensifies and clarifies the work of Rodgers & Hammerstein.” (Seattle Times)
- “Superbly sung and powerfully acted, the touring cast of the magnificent Lincoln Center Theater restoration of South Pacific is the equal of the New York team.” (Houston Chronicle)
- “One of the theatrical highlights of the year!” (Los Angeles Times)
-“I’m in love, I’m in love, I’m in love, I’m in love, I’m in love with a wonderful show!” (Toronto Star)
Carmen Cusack “is a sublime “knucklehead” Nellie” (Palm Beach Arts) as she “achieves a delicious balance of sweet and smart” (San Francisco Examiner); and “evokes the spirit and style of the original, Mary Martin” (Dallas Morning News).
As Emile de Becque, David Pittsinger (who performed the role on Broadway) is “sincere and vocally thrilling” (Chicago Tribune) with “an easygoing, even delicate charm that makes for an appealing leading man” (Denver Post).
Anderson Davis is “rich in exposed passion” (San Francisco Chronicle) as Lt. Joseph Cable and his “clear tenor has strength and innocence” (Charlotte Observer). Jodi Kimura is “equal parts fierce and haunting” (Cincinnati Enquirer) as Bloody Mary, giving a “hypnotic performance of ‘Bali Ha’i” (Grand Rapids Press).
Rodgers & Hammerstein’s SOUTH PACIFIC swept the 2008 Tony Awards®, winning seven honors including Best Musical Revival and Best Director for Bartlett Sher. This breathtaking new production completed a sold out 2 ½ year run at the Vivian Beaumont Theater on Broadway on August 22, 2010 (after playing 1,000 performances) and was recently featured on PBS’ ‘Live from Lincoln Center’ series.
Based on James Michener’s Pulitzer Prize winning book Tales of the South Pacific, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s SOUTH PACIFIChas music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and a book by Oscar Hammerstein II and Joshua Logan.
Set on a tropical island during World War II, the musical tells the sweeping romantic story of two couples -- US Navy nurse Nellie Forbush and French plantation owner Emile de Becque and Navy Airman Joe Cable and a young local native girl Liat -- and how their happiness is threatened by the realities of war and by their own prejudices. Considered by many the finest musical ever written, the score’s songs include such classics as “Some Enchanted Evening,” “I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair,” “Younger Than Springtime,” “Bali Ha’i,” “There is Nothin’ Like A Dame,” “This Nearly Was Mine” and “A Wonderful Guy.”
The lavish new production features a cast of 34, musical staging by Christopher Gattelli, sets by Michael Yeargan (winner of the 2008 Tony Award®), costumes by Catherine Zuber (winner of the 2008 Tony Award®), lighting by Donald Holder (winner of the 2008 Tony Award®), sound by Scott Lehrer (winner of the 2008 Tony Award®) and music direction by Ted Sperling. A full orchestra of 26 members – the largest orchestra of any touring Broadway production – will perform the original orchestrations by Robert Russell Bennett (winner of a Special 2008 Tony Award®) and dance and incidental music arranged by Trude Rittmann.
For more information on the production, please visit www.SouthPacificOnTour.com. Become a fan on Facebook (South Pacific on Tour).
BIOGRAPHIES
BARTLETT SHER (Director) Lincoln Center Theater: Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, South Pacific (Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards), Awake and Sing (Tony nomination), The Light in the Piazza (Tony nomination). Artistic Director of Seattle’s Intiman Theatre; credits there include: the world premieres of Prayer for My Enemy and Singing Forest by Craig Lucas (both also Long Wharf Theatre) and Nickel and Dimed; plays by Chekhov, Wilder, Shakespeare, Goldoni and Tony Kushner. Opera: Roméo et Juliette (Salzburg Festival), The Barber of Seville (Metropolitan Opera), Mourning Becomes Electra (Seattle Opera and New York City Opera). New York: Cymbeline (2001 Callaway Award for Best Director; first American Shakespeare at the Royal Shakespeare Company), Waste (2000 Best Play Obie), Don Juan (all TFANA). He is a member of the TCG Board.
DAVID PITTSINGER (Emile de Becque) Broadway: South Pacific (Lincoln Center). Metropolitan Opera: Tosca (also live HD cinemacast), Hamlet, Lulu, Die Zauberflöte, Don Carlo, Rake’s Progress, Giulio Cesare, La Bohème, The Magic Flute. NYCO: Don Giovanni (Don Giovanni), Nozze di Figaro (Figaro), Orlando (Zoroastro). U.S. & International credits include: Don Quichotte (Don Quichotte/Vienna, Teatro Colon Buenos Aires), Tosca (Scarpia/FGO), Nozze di Figaro (Count/La Opera) Faust (Mephistopheles/L’Arena Sferisterio, L’Opera de Montreal), Mefistofele (Mefistofele/I Solisti Veneti, Pittsburgh), Rake’s Progress (Nick Shadow/Paris, Brussels, Hamburg, Bordeaux,), Carmen (Escamillo/Montpellier, Santa Fe). Orchestral appearance include: Vienna Philharmonic,, Salzburg Festival, Dresden Festival, NY Philharmonic, LA Philharmonic, ENO, St. Luke’s Chamber Orchestra. Discography includes: Charles Ives Songs, La Calisto, Carlisle Floyd’s Susanna. Awards: “Artist of the Year” Awards from NYCO and Pittsburgh Opera. MM: Yale.
CARMEN CUSACK (Nellie Forbush) Carmen is from Houston, TX, has spent the last two years playing Elphaba in Wicked (US National tour, Chicago and Australia productions). Her career prior was based in England. Recent West End credits include: Les Misérables (Fantine; UK, US & Shanghai), The Secret Garden (Rose; Royal Shakespeare Company), Personals (Kim), Saucy Jack and the Space Vixens (Chesty Prospects), Over the Rainbow (Eva Cassidy; UK & Ireland) and The Phantom of the Opera (Christine; UK National Tour). http://www.carmencusack.net/
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For interviews and photos, please contact Zach Stevenson and Kent McIngvale, national press representatives, at the Broadway Booking Office NYC: zach@bbonyc.com, kent@bbonyc.com or 212-792-9550
High-resolution art available at http://pressroom.pgharts.org/?p=560
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