Thursday, July 24, 2008

"Some enchanted eveniiiiiiing...."

Last night we went to see "South Pacific", presented by the Gaslight Theater (Enid's community theater) and it was wonderful! We had a special guest, Jeffrey Ambrosini, playing the part of Emile DeBeque, the French planter that Nelly Forbush falls in love with. According to his bio, Mr. Ambrosini has performed in 2 national tours, sung leading operatic roles with the New World Symphony, performed with the New York Philharmonic, and had several international engagements in Italy and France. He was quite good - in Richard's opinion a better singer than actor. *L*

The lady who played Nellie, Kristi Kirkpatrick Browne, was also quite good. A little breathy on some of the long notes perhaps but a very solid Nellie.


And then we have the young man who played Lt. Cable, the young marine sent to talk Emile into helping provide the Allies with valuable reconnaissance about Japanese troop and fleet movements. He is the man who falls in love with Bloody Mary's daughter, Liat, but because of the overwhelming prejudice against Pacific Islanders at the time, gives up his love for the appearance of propriety. The young man in this role, Joe Redman, is a sophomore theater major at Ball State University and, in my opinion, should never EVER listen if anyone tells him to stop studying theater! Joe stepped onto the stage looking like a tall, thin, but handsome, geek of a boy dressed in his older brother's 'marine suit'....and then he opened his mouth. The audience was awestruck through every one of his scenes and at the end, as bows were taken, the thunderous applause made him blush clear to his shoes. It was absolutely deserved though. Everyone cheered for Nellie/Kristi and for Emile/Mr. Ambrosini, but they roared for Joe. He was, in this role, perfection.


The other true highlights of the show were Pamelyne Guillory and Chuck Lipps (yes, that's his real name). Pamelyne played Bloody Mary - her screeches of "STINGY BASTID" and her rendition of "Bali Ha'i" were wonderful! Chuck played Luther Billis - the sailor who is the all-around con man and, along with Mary, the comic relief of the show. I give him credit for: 1. allowing someone to draw a very bad picture of a ship on his chest and stomach, 2. wearing a grass skirt and coconut bra to perform "Honey Bun", and 3. rolling the little tummy pouch that he has so the drawn ship looked like it was floating. It was hilarious! Chuck has a very nice voice as well. In fact, when singing in ensembles, the sailor boys trounced the nurse girls completely! All in all it was a wonderful show and I'm very glad we got to see it.

'Bali Ha'i
May call you,

Any night,

Any day,

In your heart

You'll hear it call you:
"Come away,

Come away.


Bali Ha'i

Will whisper

On the wind

Of the sea:

"Here I am
Your special island!

Come to me,
Come to me!


Bali Ha'i,

Bali Ha'i,

Bali Ha'i!"

5 comments:

Harbor Hon said...

I loved this! One of my favorites. Would have loved to see the Honey Bun dance, bet I would have laughed my socks off. xxoo

wvpaperwings said...

Believe it or not...Ok, I know you will believe it; I never saw South Pacific. Now I wish I could have been at the theatre with you to see this rendition. And I also would like to have seen the Honey Bun dance -- but sister C, you know you wouldn't have laughed your socks off -- you would have squirted soda out your nose!!!
And our Matty can do the belly roll! Maybe I can get him to let me video him doing it. He and his girlfriend, Miss Jordan, can both do this. I am going to look for the song Bali Hai so I can listen to it. Coincidentally, C and I used to drink Bali Hai when we were young and dumb. Remember C?
Toto, great review. You don't blog nearly enough.

Harbor Hon said...

Sorry sister S, Bali Hai is beer and I totally do not drink that stuff. I remember Boones Farm. How drunk were you? :) *running and ducking* xxoo

No1sRed said...

Now Ladies... *LOL* Actually I can;t believe you've never seen South Pacific sister S - I did not know that! Bali Ha'i is the most beautiful song of the entire show. And I would LOVE to see Matty do his belly roll! YOu never know, he might grow up to play Billis some day!! *G*

wvpaperwings said...

Toto I have Matt doing the belly roll on video but the photo place doesn't support my Flip Video downloads! Arrrrrgghhhhh!!