Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific: In Concert From Carnegie Hall

What superlatives are left to describe this concert? This is a truly exhilirating, incandescent performance filled with an all too rare quality, passion. The New York Times review described it best as "near complete rapture." For those who belittle the idea of Reba McEntire in a Broadway musical, take a look at this first before passing unjustified comments. It doesn't matter if she's a country singer, an opera singer or a rap singer, or if she is older than what Nellie Forbush should be. Anyone who can perform with this level of passion and conviction deserves unstinting praise. What a pity it was a one-night only performance. At least we have this DVD as a permanent keepsake. Brian Stokes Mitchell is in equally fine form as Emile de Becque, the French plantation owner, who deservedly brings the house down (and the concert itself to an almost minute-long standstill) with his moving rendition of "This Nearly Was Mine." It may only be a concert performance, without costumes or sets, but it puts many fully staged musicals to shame. All the supporting cast are equally commendable. My one tiny criticism is that the voice coach should have taught the children to sing "Dites Moi" with a more "neutral" accent. The children are supposed to be French Polynesian, children of "a cultured Frenchman." However, they sound more American than Nellie Forbush.The picture quality on this DVD is absolutely gorgeous. When you consider that it was practically a last minute decision to film the concert at all, the camera crew, sound crew and all the technicians involved did a truly remarkable job. One of the finest live performance recordings I've had the pleasure to watch. The picture is presented in its original 1.78:1 widescreen (enhanced for widescreen TV) with razor sharp images, vibrant, natural colors & perfect black levels. Two soundtracks are provided, one in 2.0 Dolby Stereo and the other in 5.1 Dolby Surround. Rich, sumptuous sound throughout. This is a performace to treasure for years to come. Already I've watched it through thrice, two occasions back-to-back. It always has me singing and whistling along from start to finish. Guaranteed to raise a smile on even the dreariest day. A deliriously joyful DVD. There are no extras but I don't begrudge the lack one bit. This will be my favorite DVD for many months to come.

Not sure how I came across this to begin with, but once I saw it, I knew I wanted to own it. Was familiar with the soundtrack growing up and have seen the movie a few times. I believe there was one song in here that isn't in the movie at all (likely from the Broadway version), and the lyrics to "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Out of My Hair" were different than what I recalled as I was singing along in my head.Reba McEntire nailed the naiveté and optimism of Nellie and her voice was great. Brian Stokes Mitchell...what is there to say about his amazing vocals?! I was impressed by the fact that he could get a lengthy round of applause and not break character, even more so for a different song than the one I expected would get the most applause. The audience response was a well-deserved reaction to the emotion he conveyed with the lyrics.Do not care for Alec Baldwin and thought it was bad casting for Luther Billis. But the leads!! Also, "Mitchell's ethnic background is German, Scottish, African, and Native American," which is fine, but his two children in this were Black. They were the result of his relationship with a Polynesian mother on the island where it takes place, and Nellie couldn't deal with the thought of mixed-race kids. Not sure why they didn't have young actors who looked at least somewhat Polynesian, so that was a bit odd.All in all, a very enjoyable experience. For those unfamiliar (which I was), the "in concert" aspect contains a large amount of the dialogue from the musical and all of the music, primarily sung standing at mics and in outfits that rarely change. The men's and women's choruses did a great job of singing the sailors' and nurses' parts while again, they were not fully staged numbers.

Just caught this performance on PBS and it is superb:-the "in concert" format with just a minimal amount of acting and costumes, and without the distraction of stage scenery or props, helps you focus on not only the quality of the performances but the historically set, yet timeless, nature of the music and lyrics of Rodgers & Hammerstein.-You coudn't pick a better Nelly Forbush. Since Reba is restricted by the "in concert" format, she is not allowed to engage in a broadway stage performance like Mary Martin did. But the clear delivery and emotional strength of her singing gave me a deep, deep sense she eclipsed that historic performance in a single outing. Such marvelous broadway musical singing coming from a country singer...who woulda thunk it. I was also touched by what were real tears being shed by Reba at the end. Wow.-Ditto for Brian Stokes Mitchell's deep, rich baritone as Emile. Like Reba, his voice outdoes the recorded performance of Enzo Pinza, something I didn't think was possible. As someone on IMDB said, his rendition of "This Nearly Was Mine" was so true you thought his heart was really broken by Nellie's rejection.Don't believe me?As Mage said on the old Palmolive TV commerical "Try it. You'll like it."