Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts

Rodgers & Hammerstein's SOUTH PACIFIC Makes its Philadelphia Debut November 23 – 28 For Holiday Engagement at the Academy of Music

OCTOBER 4, 2010

Tickets On Sale Now!

“A Flawless Production!”– The New York Times

 

“The Best Revival Of Rodgers & Hammerstein In A Generation!”– The Washington Post

 

“One Of The Theatrical Highlights Of The Year!”– Los Angeles Times

 

Lincoln Center Theater, in association with Bob Boyett and NETworks Presentations, presents a new production of Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein’s Pulitzer Prize-winning musical SOUTH PACIFIC, directed by Bartlett Sher.  Rodgers & Hammerstein’s SOUTH PACIFIC makes its Philadelphia debut at the Academy of Music, playing Nov. 23 – 28  as part of the Broadway Season, presented by the Kimmel Center and the Shubert Organization.

 

Tickets starting at $20 are on sale now and can be purchased by calling 215-731-3333, online at kimmelcenter.org/broadway, at the Kimmel Center box office, Braod & Spruce Sts. (open daily 10 am to 6 pm) or at the Academy of Music box office (open during performances only). Groups of 15 or more will receive discounts for select performances by calling 215-790-5883 or 866-276-2947.  Performances include:  Tuesday & Wednesday evening at 7:30 pm; Friday & Saturday evening at 8:00 pm; Sunday evening at 6:30 pm; matinees Friday & Saturday at 2:00 pm, and Sunday at 1:00 pm.

 

Rodgers & Hammerstein’s SOUTH PACIFIC swept the 2008 Tony Awards®, winning seven honors including Best Musical Revival and Best Director for Bartlett Sher. This breathtaking new production has created a sold-out sensation on Broadway, lauded by the critics as “Simply Wonderful! Beguiling Theatrical Magic!” (New York Post), “Ravishing and Overwhelming” (Variety) and “Rapturous and Revelatory!” (The New York Times). www.SouthPacificOnTour.com.

           

Based on James Michener’s Pulitzer Prize winning book Tales of the South Pacific, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s SOUTH PACIFIC has music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and a book by Oscar Hammerstein II and Joshua Logan.

 

Set on a tropical island during World War II, the musical tells the sweeping romantic story of two couples -- US Navy nurse Nellie Forbush and French plantation owner Emile de Becque and Navy Airman Joe Cable and a young local native girl Liat -- and how their happiness is threatened by the realities of war and by their own prejudices. Considered by many the finest musical ever written, the score’s songs include such classics as “Some Enchanted Evening,” “I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair,” “Younger Than Springtime,” “Bali Ha’i,” “There is Nothin’ Like A Dame,” “This Nearly Was Mine” and “A Wonderful Guy.”

 

The lavish new production features a cast of 34, musical staging by Christopher Gattelli, sets by Michael Yeargan (winner of the 2008 Tony Award®), costumes by Catherine Zuber (winner of the 2008 Tony Award®), lighting by Donald Holder (winner of the 2008 Tony Award®), sound by Scott Lehrer (winner of the 2008 Tony Award®) and music direction by Ted Sperling.  A full orchestra of 26 members – the largest orchestra of any touring Broadway production – will perform the original orchestrations by Robert Russell Bennett (winner of a Special 2008 Tony Award®) and dance and incidental music arranged by Trude Rittmann.

 

The Broadway Season is presented by the Kimmel Center and the Shubert Organization. In addition to South Pacific, the 2010 - 2011 Broadway Season includes productions at the Academy of Music, Forrest Theatre and Merriam Theater will include: Jersey Boys (Sept. 30 – Dec. 12) at the Forrest Theatre; Burn The Floor (Nov. 12 – 14); Les Miserables (Jan. 4 – 16); In The Heights ( Jan. 18 – 23); Mary Poppins (Mar. 26 – Apr. 17); Next To Normal (June 21 – 26) all at the Academy of Music. Additional shows will include:  Blue Man Group (Dec. 22 – Jan. 2) and Stomp (Feb. 15 – 20), both at the Merriam Theater.

Kimmel Center, Inc., a charitable, not-for-profit organization, owns, manages, supports and maintains The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, which includes Verizon Hall, Perelman Theater, Innovation Studio and the Merck Arts Education Center.  Kimmel Center, Inc. also manages the Academy of Music, owned by the Philadelphia Orchestra Association, and the University of the Arts’ Merriam Theater. Our mission is to operate a world-class performing arts center that engages and serves a broad audience from throughout the Greater Philadelphia region. The 2010/2011 season is sponsored by Citi, and the Broadway 2010/2011 season is sponsored by Verizon, and American Airlines.  For additional information, visit kimmelcenter.org. 

 For more information on Rodger’s & Hammerstein’s SOUTH PACIFIC, please visit www.SouthPacificOnTour.com.  Become a fan on Facebook (South Pacific on Tour).

           

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Bartlett Sher (Director) Lincoln Center Theater: Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, South Pacific (Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards), Awake and Sing (Tony nomination), The Light in the Piazza (Tony nomination). Artistic Director of Seattle’s Intiman Theatre; credits there include: the world premieres of Prayer for My Enemy and Singing Forest by Craig Lucas (both also Long Wharf Theatre) and Nickel and Dimed; plays by Chekhov, Wilder, Shakespeare, Goldoni and Tony Kushner. Opera: Roméo et Juliette (Salzburg Festival), The Barber of Seville (Metropolitan Opera), Mourning Becomes Electra (Seattle Opera and New York City Opera). New York: Cymbeline (2001 Callaway Award for Best Director; first American Shakespeare at the Royal Shakespeare Company), Waste (2000 Best Play Obie), Don Juan (all TFANA). He is a member of the TCG Board.

 

Broadway Season press contact:

Carole J. Morganti/CJM Public Relations

CJMpr01@aol.com  609-953-0570

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