“South Pacific”

The songs that are truly well known are “Some Enchanted Evening”, “I’m In Love With A Wonderful Guy”, “I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Out Of My Hair”, “Bloody Mary”, “There Is Nothing Like A Dame” and many more including one that has always stood out for me, “”You’ve Got To Be Carefully Taught” ( this one strikes at racism, prejudice and hate). I must say that Skokie Theatre and its director Pat Henderson deserve a special merit badge for figuring out a way to put tis production on the very small stage at the Skokie Theatre. Brenda Good’s limited choreography shows that even a small stage can be used to produce some dance numbers. The musical direction by Jeremy Ramey was perfect, but to be honest, this musical deserves more than just two pianos ( Andrew Milliken is the other). While they are both brilliant and never missed a beat, Rodgers and Hammerstein deserve some percussion and strings.

Brian Wasserman has created a very sparse set , again, due to the stage area being tiny, and Henderson makes most of it effective. Brian Bedoya’s sound is crystal clear. The costumes (Patty Halajian) are workable, but if you are doing military uniforms, might I suggest that you do the right amount of stripes for the rank. There are people in the audience that will notice that as well as the pants and shirts not matching color-wise.

The ensemble is as big as the stage will allow so several performers do take on several characters ( and do so with dignity) The main characters in this production are Lt. Cable (Max Perkel was terrific), Nellie Forbush ( deftly handled by Willow Schneider), Bloody Mary (Mariel Saavedra is a powerhouse), Luther Billis (Andrew Buel) and of course the Frenchman who escaped to this Island many years ago ( and is the love interest for Nellie), Emile De Becque ( Tony Calzaretta is absolutely amazing).

The ensemble members are as follows:Molly Hamada, Connor Saavedra, Luis Del Valle, Erol Ibrahimovic, Liam K. Schlosser, Megan Mariko Boggs, Carolyn Sundlof Boudreau, Kristin Weed, Catheirne Athenson, Tyler Lord and Jacob Cohen. Nice work by a group of local actors who truly put their hearts and souls into bringing quality theater to the burbs.