[NEohioPAL] "South Pacific" at Porthouse Theatre

[Bob Abelman]

Porthouse Theatre delivers a pretty but passionless 'South Pacific' 

 

Bob Abelman

News-Herald, Chagrin Valley Times, Solon Times, Geauga Times Courier

Member, International Association of Theatre Critics 

 

This review will appear in the News-Herald on 6/21/13

 

 

"I wish I could tell you about the South Pacific..   I wish I could tell you about the sweating jungle, the full moon rising behind the volcanoes, and the waiting.  The waiting.  The timeless, repetitive waiting."

 

There's passion in the words of James A. Michener, whose Pulitzer Prize-winning novel "Tales of the South Pacific" revealed the dramatic story of young American sailors stationed in the Pacific Islands during World War II.  Passion flowed from the Tony Award-winning 1949 musical theater adaptation of Michener's work, as it did in 2008 during the musical's Tony Award-winning Broadway revival.  

 

Sadly, passion is the one thing missing from an otherwise delightful production of "South Pacific" at Porthouse Theatre.  Its absence keeps the audience firmly in their seats, watching and listening intently, rather than on the edge of their seats and lost in their emotions.

 

At the heart of this now iconic musical is the sweeping romance between Emile de Becque, a middle-aged French plantation owner, and Nellie Forbush, a young U.S. Navy nurse from Little Rock, Arkansas, as well as the magnetic attraction between Lt. Joe Cable and a native girl, Liat.  The happiness of all four characters is threatened by the realities of war and the deeply rooted racial prejudice that exists in Nellie and Joe.

 

The depth of these characters' love for each other is captured in the magnificent music of Richard Rodgers and the brilliant lyrics of Oscar Hammerstein.  "Some Enchanted Evening" and "Younger Than Springtime" are moving, monumental, and memorable songs.  Racial tension resonates in "You've Got to Be Carefully Taught," while the sexual tension experienced by the sailors on their isolated island, tempered by 1940's sensibilities, is reflected in "There is Nothin' Like A Dame."   Much of the show's dialogue simply moves the story along, from one wonderful song to the next.  

 

In fact, rarely has story, music and lyrics been so perfectly and extensively conjoined.  The Porthouse production is chockfull of vocally talented professionals and Kent State University students, so the songs sound terrific.  This makes it easy to pinpoint the production's lack of passion on the acting. 

 

No aching desire comes across when Jake Wood, as Joe, sings to Kaishawn Thomas, as Liat.  There's no rapport between Nellie - played with artificial exuberance by Kayce Cummings -- and the nurses during the lighthearted "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair."  There's a similar disconnect between the lovable opportunist Luther Billis - played with a disengaged hesitation by Tim Welsh - and the rest of the sailors.

 

Everyone goes through the motions of MaryAnn Black's delightful choreography and Terri Kent's efficient direction, but there is very little emotion coming through these performances.

 

The exceptions are Greg Violand and Colleen Longshaw.  As De Becque, Violand is absolutely charming, thoroughly believable, and emits all the emotion that is jam packed into each song.  His version of "This Nearly Was Mine," where De Becque laments all that he has lost, is heart-wrenching.  As Bloody Mary, Longshaw is spectacularly seductive during "Bali Ha'i" and adds incredible dimension to all that she does on stage.

 

In fairness to the performers, a significant contributor to the lethargy that permeates this production is the absence of an orchestra.  

 

This Porthouse production offers only two pianos, played by Jennifer Korecki and music director Jonathan Swoboda atop of Ben Needham's attractive, two-tier Polynesian set.  Nothing supports the singers.  Dead moments exist during songs that should be filled with instrumentation.  Sound should fill the 500-seat open-air pavilion theater and carry the audience to the sandy beaches of Bali Ha'i and the highs and lows of its occupants, and it does not.

 

The music of Rodgers and Hammerstein requires - no, deserves -- the richness of a well-staffed pit.  The national tour that came through Cleveland in 2011 realized this and utilized a perfectly synchronized 26 piece orchestra.

 

Porthouse Theatre has done a nice job branding itself as a viable, professional theater option rather than just a public training ground for KSU musical theater majors.  It needs to treat its audience, and its performers, to all the trimmings in order to maintain its hard-earned and well-deserved status. 

 

Hopefully the budget and artistic vision for the upcoming "Fiddler on the Roof" will justify an orchestra.  Or a klezmer band.  And a fiddle.

 

"South Pacific" continues through June 29 at Porthouse Theatre, Cuyahoga Falls.  For tickets, $17 to $38, call 330-672-3884 or visit www.porthousetheatre.com.
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