Chicago Tribune - Highly Recommended
"...So maybe Mary Martin missed it on Broadway. But in the right "South Pacific" (and director David H. Bell's carefully wrought and strikingly nuanced revival at the Marriott Lincolnshire has much that is right), the happy and romantic ending of this great 1949 American musical set among the Seabees and nurses of the Pacific theater, the ending wherein Nellie gets over her issues and reinvents herself as a tolerant soul after she almost loses her romantic French planter to Japanese guns, comes with some ambivalence, ideally a note of raw fear, as that chirpy nurse sings "Dites-Moi" with Emile de Becque's cute biracial kids."
Chicago Sun Times - Highly Recommended
"...Bell's ability to make a story unspool with the most natural fluidity and deftly punctuated wit is a given, and here he has even handed over his usual choreographic duties to Matt Raftery, very much the skilled protege. But this expertly cast production is particularly impressive for the way it brings a deep intimacy to the musical's epic tale of love and war, prejudice and acceptance, and the quests of both the fugitive and the seeker."
Chicago Reader - Highly Recommended
"...the great score renders all objections moot, and David Bell's staging represents it nicely. Elizabeth Lanza's Nellie is delightful, and though Stephen Buntrock isn't much of a Frenchman as Emile, he's got great pipes. Bethany Thomas, meanwhile, jeopardizes the nice time in her own way, giving a starkly powerful performance as the calculating Bloody Mary."
ShowBizChicago - Highly Recommended
"..."South Pacific" is a beautiful production that I strongly recommend. Even though, some revivals may be daunting. The classic "South Pacific" at Marriott Lincolnshire Theater is a winner that surpasses all of their shows."
ChicagoCritic - Highly Recommended
"...I was particularly impressed with Stephen Bumtrock's vulnerability and his rich tenor voice which was a welcome change from the usual baritones cast as DeBecque. He and Lanza had a plausible romantic spark that added depth to the romantic flavor of the story. Bethany Thomas nailed her songs as Bloody Mary while Stef Tovar was terrific as the rascal Seabee Luther Billis. South Pacific works well on the intimate space at Marriott Theatre making it a 'must see' show for springtime."
Around The Town Chicago - Highly Recommended
"...There is no mistaking that the old classics are the ones that their customer base loves dealy and they could not have selected a better "classic" than Rodgers and Hammerstein's "South Pacific". This is a musical that became an award winner over 60 years ago ( actual Broadway opening was in 1949) and what it talked about can be as important to our lives today as it was back then. Some things do not change. Based on the Pulitzer Prize novel "Tales of the South Pacific" by James A. Michner, this book by Joshua Logan and Oscar Hammerstein II ( who wrote the lyrics) is a story that deals with passion,love, war, survival and of great importance , hate and prejudice! At times you will smile, at others you will find a tear falling down your cheek- that is what this is all about, the passion that we feel as well as that of those on the stage."
Chicago Theatre Review - Highly Recommended
"...Bell must be praised, too, for how he's paced his production, allowing scenes to unfold and easily flow, without ever disconnecting the audience with blackouts while scenery's being changed. The tempo of this production, both music and book scenes, moves naturally but with an urgency, like the war itself. Much of the extraneous music is either eliminated or shortened in order to drive the plot. And the play's last moments are finally staged the way they should be instead of the usual boring, stock finale. There is so much to recommend in this gorgeous, theme-driven production that to miss it is to miss out on one of the year's very best."
Chicagoland Theater Reviews - Highly Recommended
"...The Marriott Theatre's splendid revival of "South Pacific" is a welcome reminder of how tall this show stands in the canon of American musical theater. "South Pacific" has everything-a flawless score, two credible love stories, comedy, drama, rollicking dance numbers, and even a musical attack on the irrational nature of ethnic and racial prejudice."
