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The words “Some Enchanted Evening” will henceforth mean two things to me: the name of one of the most haunting love songs ever, and Darren Ottati’s fabulous rendering of the song at Southampton Cultural Center’s staging of “South Pacific: In Concert” last Saturday night. Unforgettable.
We’ve seen some good theater in Southampton, but nothing before prepared me for the utterly superb performance of Mr. Ottati. His rich, resonate baritone with all the passion of the words intact—yet not syrupy—in his voice blew us away. The song belongs to the lead of the World War II story, Emile de Becque, a middle-aged French expatriate plantation owner on a remote island as the fighting raged on nearby.
The renowned opera singer Ezio Pinza, taking a break from the Metropolitan Opera, originated the role in 1949 on Broadway. New York was so atwitter with enthusiastic response to the opening of “South Pacific” that The New York Times held the presses for Brooks Atkinson’s review so that it could be printed one edition earlier than usual. Today we can rush our glowing review—and that it is—though the medium of the internet via 27east.com.
Mr. Ottati makes his first appearance with our local theater here, and one hopes more are to come for this resident of Hampton Bays. If you didn’t have at least a lump in your throat by the time the song ended, you weren’t listening. My plus-one and I both had tears in our eyes.
But Mr. Ottati’s knockout performance is not the only reason to rush to Southampton, for the total package is a delight, not the least because of Shannon DuPuis, the object of Emile’s enchantment, nurse Nellie Forbush from Little Rock, Arkansas.
Ms. DuPuis’s verve and voice capture the stage, and together she and Mr. Ottati are formidable. Her dancing is terrific too. The role—a hesitant lass from the sticks who grows into someone ready to move to a remote island—suits Ms. DuPuis like a perfect shade of lipstick. If we appreciated her starring as Cassie in Southampton Cultural Center’s “A Chorus Line,” a year ago, she’s even better here.
The cultural clash their attraction must overcome is the focus of the long-running, award-winning Rodgers and Hammerstein musical that has a number of songs imprinted on the American consciousness: “I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair,” I’m In Love With a Wonderful Guy,” “There Is Nothing Like a Dame,” “Bali Ha’i,” and “Honey Bun.”
This nearly two-hour show is not the full production of the musical, but a collection of the most memorable songs with enough dialog in between to carry the plot. The cultural differences around which the story revolves certainly were poignant to an earlier audience whose memories of the war were fresh, yet the music and lyrics still move us. And in truth, we are not so far different from that post-war audience as we as a nation deal with the mass movement of people from other parts of the world into ours during these turbulent times.
I’m of a certain age, and grew up knowing the songs as part of the culture. Hearing them performed so brilliantly live—along with some wickedly good dance numbers—was a vivid reminder just how great they are.
Let not the praise of the two stars overshadow the rest of the cast, starting with the two little petunias, Dakota Quackenbush, and Scout Whiting, who start the show with a charming song in French, and reprise it throughout. Together their ages add up to 19, and both already have an armful of stage credits.
The men’s and women’s chorus routines are equally a bundle of fun—singing, dancing, with all the energy you want in a chorus belting out show tunes. That back flip by one of the sailors (Dennis Milone, also the sound designer) set the tone as they bounded on stage from the side aisles.
The men’s rendition of “There Is Nothing Like a Dame” with its bawdy overtone was rousing, and the women’s who-cares attitude of “I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Out of My Hair” was just as swell. Richard Gardini as the lovable moocher sailor who’s head of the laundry is nothing short of hilarious, both in a Navy uniform and in a costume less, er, modest when he appears in the play within the play.
Kimet Speed as the Tokinese Bloody Mary has the brash touch of near-grifter as she tries to sell off her beautiful daughter, played by Edna Winston, who in real life is beautiful. Ms. Winston also joins the animated chorus of nurses. Her love interest is Lieutenant Cable (Douglas Sabo), whose torment over not being able to bring home a Tokinese wife to his upper-class life will come to a fateful end.
The music is live on stage, the costuming is minimal. Becoming engrossed in the overall joie de vivre that exudes from what Michael Disher, the director, and Amanda Jones, the musical director, pulled out of their magic hat in Southampton one forgets that the cast and crew are unpaid, mostly amateurs, who do this purely for the love of doing it.
When one remembers that, one is amazed. Go. See. It.
Others in the cast are Daniel Becker, Jose Coropuna, Julie Crowley, Jonathan Fogarty, Joey Giovingo, David Hoffman, Aaron Kaufman, Brianna Kinnier, Jack Seabury, Christina Stankewicz, Josephine Wallace and Kristin Whiting. Musicians are: Ms. Jones on the piano; Kyle Sherlock, bass; David Elliot, percussion; Annette Perry, cello; Doug Mendocha, trumpet; Marni Harris, violin.
“South Pacific” at Southampton Cultural Center, 25 Pond Lane, Southampton, will be staged Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., and Sundays at 2:30 p.m., through March 20. Tickets are $25 for general admission and $12 for students under 21. Visit scc-arts.org, or call (631) 287-4377.
on Mar 7, 2016