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A NEW CHALLENGE FOR TWO NOT-SO-NEW TALENTS
(continued)
While Nellie and Cable are both Americans, each caught in a romance with a foreign and questionable love, they suffer from different kinds of prejudice. Nellie comes from the segregated South; a spunky Arkansas girl, she is not highly educated, but is not afraid to be thought of as different. One reason she left home and got involved in the war was her discontent with the narrow-minded view of the world that surrounded her. The other nurses tease her for her "cockeyed" optimism, and she seems game for 'most any adventure. Falling in love with the eloquent, sophisticated French planter Emile de Becque is an adventure, and her only doubts about the romance come from wondering what such an intelligent gent sees in a "little hick" like herself. But when she finds out about Emile's previous marriage and is confronted with the idea that she might be stepmother to two Polynesian children, the adventure becomes too rough and her Arkansas background kicks in. Her overriding love for Emile (especially when she fears that he has died on the dangerous mission she drove him to) helps her conquer her prejudices. Cable, on the other hand, is a college-educated Northerner from a wealthy family and has a pretty good sense about how the world operates. He should, one would think, be more prepared to deal with prejudice. After all, he is no hick; he is the enlightened American, dedicated to a cause, selfless in his outlook, and willing to die for something important. Yet he cannot see himself breaking with his Philadelphia Main Line fiancée and returning to America with a Polynesian wife. That takes too much courage, even for a war hero. Cable, in the musical's most potent and bitter song, argues that "You've Got to Be Carefully Taught" to carry on your ancestors' prejudice. He can describe, calculate, and even explain his prejudice; what he cannot do is overcome it until it's too late.
The theme of prejudice in "South Pacific" is not subtle and was not meant to be merely suggested or mildly alluded to. During final rehearsals, some acquaintances of the collaborators suggested to Rodgers and Hammerstein that "You've Got to Be Carefully Taught" be cut, fearing that it might turn off or even antagonize audiences. Hammerstein said they might as well cancel the whole production if safe complacency was the goal. The song remained in the show and yes, it did (and still does) turn off and even antagonize some spectators. During the first national tour, "South Pacific" ran into trouble from locals over the song and the show had to avoid cities where its deletion was required. Although the lack of racial tolerance in the musical is about Asians, its pertinence to all kinds of prejudice was not lost on anyone.
Today, some like to dismiss Rodgers and Hammerstein's handling of such difficult issues in "South Pacific" as simplistic. Nellie overcomes her doubts and ends up with Emile; Cable cannot conquer his and he dies. Is that begging the question or just finding a dramatic way of saying something potent within the framework of a musical entertainment? We like to pride ourselves on believing we are more tolerant and see the issues of race with a more complex understanding today. But how many of us would have had the courage to do in 1949 what Rodgers and Hammerstein did in "South Pacific"?
Top banner photos: Jason Danieley; Reba McEntire and Brian Stokes Mitchell (photo by Joe Sinnott); and singers in the Women's Chorus. |
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Jason Danieley, Lillias White, and Renita Croney (photo by Joe Sinnott). |
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Alec Baldwin as Luther Billis (photo by Joe Sinnott). |
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This program is available on DVD and CD. |
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