South Pacific Tickets

South Pacific is the 1949 classic musical created by the legendary songwriting team of Rodgers and Hammerstein. The play book for South Pacific was also created by Rodgers and Hammerstein and the great musical director Josh Logan, who also helmed productions of Annie Get Your Gun, Mr. Roberts, and Camelot, as well as the movies Picnic, Bus Stop, and the big screen version of South Pacific.

The Magic of South Pacific

The origin of South Pacific came from Josh Logan, who read James Michener’s Tales of the South Pacific, and he wanted to adapt it into a play. Logan wanted Rodgers and Hammerstein to compose the music, and who wouldn’t? The great music they provided for South Pacific includes the classic songs “Bali Ha’I,” “I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair,” “Some Enchanted Eventing,” “Happy Talk, “Younger Than Springtime,” and “I’m In Love With a Wonderful Guy.”

South Pacific was a major hit when it debuted in 1949, running for five years, earning rave reviews (including one that called the play “South Terrific”), playing over a hundred cities, selling over a million copies of the soundtrack, and winning ten Tony Awards, including the top prize Best Musical, as well as Best Score. South Pacific also made history for being the only musical to win all four Tony awards for acting. The film version was released in 1958, and it was the #1 hit that year.

Throughout his illustrious career, Josh Logan won Tonys for Best Author and Best Director of a Musical, a Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and a Golden Globe for Best Director. The team of Rodgers and Hammerstein, Rodgers creating the music, Hammerstein creating the lyrics, created the shows Oklahoma!, Carousel, The King and I, and the Sound of Music. Together their musicals earned thirty- four Tony awards, fifteen Academy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and two Grammys.

South Pacific is a perennial stage classic that continues to be successful in its many revivals, including two London revivals in 1988 and 2001, a 2005 Carnegie Hall revival starring Alec Baldwin and Reba McEntire, a 2007 UK revival, as well as a 2008 Broadway revival at Lincoln Center’s Vivian Beaumount Theater, and a 2009 U.S. revival. With musicals more popular than ever, a new big screen version of South Pacific has been talked about as well.

The revivals of South Pacific have also won Laurence Olivier Awards, Drama Desk Awards, Outer Critics Cirlce Awards, and six Tony awards including Best Revival of a Musical, and Best Direction of a musical. South Pacific has stood the test of time as a wonderful musical that has enchanted audiences for over five decades. Come see for yourself just how well it indeed has stood the test of time.