RODGERS & HAMMERSTEINS'S SOUTH PACIFIC: IN CONCERT FROM CARNEGIE HALL (PBS 2006) Reba McEntire, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Alec Baldwin, John Schuck, Lillias White
Rodgers and Hammerstein's glorious score for South Pacific gets a surge of welcome new energy in this 2005 Carnegie Hall concert.
Reba McEntire took on the one-night-only concert role of Nellie Forbush on June 9, 2005 the role Mary Martin immortalized in the 1949 Rodgers & Hammerstein classic South Pacific and the rialto's toughest critics, led by The New York Times' Ben Brantley, instantly surrendered. "Open-voiced and open-faced, she was born to play Nellie," Brantley wrote of the Carnegie Hall benefit performance, adding that the entire production was performed "in a state of nearly unconditional rapture. It was one of those nights when cynicism didn't stand a chance."
Completing the luxury casting are Broadway and Hollywood icons Brian Stokes Mitchell and Alec Baldwin, as, respectively, French planter Emile de Becque and wise guy sailor Luther Billis. Also features the talents of John Schuck as Capt. George Brackett and Lillias White as Bloody Mary.
Happily this enchanted evening can be shared with fans everywhere thanks to the performance being captured by New York's Thirteen/WNET for PBS's New York's Great Performances.