Tag Archives: South Pacific

Ah, Ravels in Review

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My fingers are relieved to take a bit of a break this week (perhaps you’re relieved not to be presented with a long, involved post ; ) . I’ve gotten into some topics I find super interesting.

We kicked off the week with a proposal against taking photographs of artwork in museums, which got some agreement, certainly some disagreement, and a lot of mixed feelings. It stuck in my mind, and I revised my opinion to allow that instead of being evil and stupid is was perhaps a sign of engagement with an artwork.

We played a game matching the artwork to its auction house estimate. Nobody won, so I’m keeping the $1M prize. In fact, even the auction houses didn’t win; they still have their two biggest works by Picasso and Giacometti.

I had the pleasure of seeing the musical South Pacific at Lincoln Center, and then having the song Honey Bun in my head for the whole week.

In fact, that annoying song is probably why I got a little contentious in my post on the Affordable Art Fair, contributing to my backhanded praise of the store Urban Outfitters for so cleverly following the pluralistic trends evident at the fair.

And my personal pick of the week was on the use of writing in painting, especially as it evolved during Modernism. Anyways, thanks for a fun week guys, and have a good weekend!

South Pacific at Lincoln Center

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Nellie Forbush singing HoneyBun

I know you’ll be happy to hear that the parents’ trip to New York was capped yesterday afternoon by South Pacific, the musical revival on at Lincoln Center. I had seen parts of the movie before, and was looking forward to it. My dad, on the other hand, apparently has been idolizing the musical ever since his parents went up to New York to see the original production and left him behind. The music, the actors, the stage; he was in heaven.

Granted, South Pacific is a Rogers and Hammerstein classic from 1949 and generally considered one of the greatest musicals. The story is set in the South Pacific around a naval base during WWII, and the stories of nurse Nelly and Lieutenant Joe falling in love with people from the island inspire some classic Broadway songs, like Some Enchanted Evening and Happy Talk.

Lincoln Center’s production is the first time it has been back to Broadway and yet, judging from the audience, it might have been the second time many of them have seen it. It hasn’t changed much (from the movie version at least) and the production is flawless.

The musical itself has aged well: rather than being dated, it is charmingly vintage. The cast has been well-chosen for their parts, and the music of Rogers and Hammerstein is still a joy to hear. If you want to revisit some classic Broadway, this traditional and well-executed revival is a pleasant way to do it.