You have to be mentally prepared to see a show like South Pacific.  One of Rogers and Hammerstein’s most famous musicals, the show is based on James A. Michener’s 1947 “Tales of the South Pacific” and it smacks of that era’s racial and social tensions.  But however antiquated the musical may seem, it’s hard to ignore some parallels between its narrative and our own story today.

Set on a South Pacific island in the middle of World War II, the musical tells the tale of Nellie Forbush, a small-town American Navy nurse who has fallen in love with Emile de Becque, a Frenchman living in exile due to a shadowy past.  Their romance is interrupted when it is suddenly revealed that de Becque was previously married to a native woman and continues to care for their two mixed-race children.  Nellie attempts to deal with this revelation and her ingrained racial prejudices against the backdrop of the sailors’ Thanksgiving revue and the war’s escalating hostility.

Don’t be surprised to see “natives” dressed in stereotypical garb and speaking with offensive speech impediments - supposedly, it’s all necessary to the show’s exploration of racism.  The problem is, for today’s audiences, this exploration may not be deep enough to merit such outright political incorrectness.  Only one song really delves into the subject: “You’ve got to be carefully taught,” which movingly expresses that racism is not born in us, we learn it after we’re born.  However, we must keep in mind that when the show first opened, this single song almost spelled the production’s demise due to its controversial stance and the authors’ refusal to remove it from the work.  I can’t help but wonder, though, if director Sarna Lapine couldn’t have given the musical a more modern twist that might resonate more with contemporary theater-goers rather than basing her interpretation on Bartlett Sher’s 2008 Lincoln Center Theater production.  Not to mention the fact that another contentious issue - sexism, which is also rampant in the show - is not even touched.

Where the performance really does resonate is in its possible connections to today’s “war on terror.”  Many of these poignant moments could easily be glossed over if you‘re not keeping a keen eye out for them, but at times the piece might as well have been written in today’s political reality.  For example, one sailor’s proclamation that the world may not be better off if we win the war, but it would definitely be worse off if we lost, is met by uncertain silence from his fellow officers.  And by superimposing many Americans’ views on Muslims over the racism felt against the islanders and the “Japs” during World War II, we can almost look back at ourselves as if from the future and wonder what we were thinking.

Actress Jennie Sophia replaces Katie Reid as protagonist Nellie Forbush, and she seems tailor-made for the role.  Uruguayan opera singer Marcelo Guzzo’s Emile de Becque practically transports us to the stage of La Boheme - an opera in which he has, not surprisingly, appeared before as the character Marcello.  We meet the couple after they’ve already fallen in love, which makes it somewhat difficult for us to feel a connection with them until later in the show.  Cathy Foy-Mahi’s Bloody Mary, a mystical native who lures the sailors to a magical island and sells them shrunken heads for fifty dollars, is almost shamanic in her supernatural performance.  Christian Marriner’s Luther Billis, a sailor who dances the hula in only coconut shells and a grass skirt, provides a needed comic relief to the heavy, sometimes slow-moving show.

While South Pacific may appear old-fashioned with its traditional, almost innocent presentation and musical stylings, it is in fact surprisingly risqué, with lewd gestures, naked bottoms, and divisive subject matter.  First-time spectators would benefit from an advance familiarity with the issues handled and an openness of heart and mind.  Veteran enthusiasts, instead of treating this show as a trip down musical memory lane, might look for how its lessons could be freshly relevant to our present-day lives and wars.  Perhaps then we can begin to un-teach ourselves some of the narrow-mindedness we may have unwittingly learned. 

Performance schedule:

February 14 - 26, 2012

Tuesday-Friday at 7:30 PM

Saturdays at 2 PM and 8 PM

Sundays at 2 PM

Additional performances: Sunday, Feb. 19 at 7:30 PM and Wednesday, Feb. 22 at 2 PM

Tickets range from $18-$85, with a select number of premium seats also available.  Tickets are available at all Broadway in Chicago Box Offices, the Broadway in Chicago Ticket Kiosk, the Broadway in Chicago Ticket Line at (800) 775-2000, all Ticketmaster retail locations, and online at www.BroadwayInChicago.com.