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Show South Pacific: Well Staged By MARGARET LARSON Valley Music Hall's "South Pacific" got off the ground of the slow-moving first few minutes with a thrust of brilliance which characterized the remainder of the show in Monday's opening night performance. Patrice Munsel as Ensign Nellie Forbush and Bob Wright as Emile de Becque turned in convincing performances as the main set of romantics. Both leads endeared themselves to the audience with their renditions of Richard Rodgers and Oscar. Hammerstein IPs famed South Pacific music. The only problems with music came when the sound system became fouled up and made Miss Munsel's singing of "Honey Bun" sound like a 45 record playing on 78 speed. For those seasoned "South Pacific" fans, the casting of Miss Munsel as the young bubbly Nellie, was perhaps a little disturbing. disturb-ing. However, Miss Munsel overcame the handicap and created a part of her own, pulling the audience over to her side. No one could have played the part any better. Actor Benny Baker stole the show with his portrayal of the harsh and bumbling Luther Billis. He's an excellent character actor and we'd like to see more of him in future productions. Young Mark Vance played Lt. Joseph Cable USMC with convincing sensitivity that warmed the hearts of the audience. His strong tenor voice came out beautifully on such songs as "Younger Than Springtime" and "You've Got to Be Taught." Mr. Vance was the epitomy of the clean-cut American boy. Virginia Jaeger's voice and spark added a lot to the musical. She played Bloody Mary exceptionally well. Before we can move on we must mention little Barbara and David Arciaga who portrayed de Becque's half-Polynesian children. chil-dren. The audience loved them. Barbara made an amazing recovery re-covery in the first scene when the table on which she was standing tipped over. It didn't phase her in the least. The rest of the cast was in top form as was the orchestra. Costuming and set design were both fantastic. The South Sea island scenes were amazingly well done for a theater-in-the-round. What more can we say? Whatever the price, "South Pacfiic" is worth seeing. |