Chicago Tribune
- Recommended
"...Overall, Rudy Hogenmiller directs a very solid, warm and enjoyable "South Pacific" that doesn't radically reimagine anything but pays smart attention to the storytelling and the tuneful singing. And, indeed, eyes (if not lips) were moist at the finale, when Nellie and M. de Becque finally get past that being-taught-to-hate thing."
Chicago Sun Times
- Recommended
"...Director-choreographer Rudy Hogenmiller has not broken any new ground with this revival, but he has cast it soundly and given it a homespun, naturalistic feel that works well. And this is a musical with a rock-solid book based on James Michener's Tales of the South Pacific -- a show unusually rich in its passionate indictment of prejudice, whether rooted in race, class or ethnicity."
Pioneer Press
- Highly Recommended
"...Ensign Nellie Forbush may call herself "as corny as Kansas in August," but there's nothing home-grown about Light Opera Work's sparkling new production of "South Pacific." The 1949 Broadway musical by Rodgers and Hammerstein, which opened June 4 at Cahn Auditorium, has been lovingly, but not reverently, presented, with many laughs, more than a few tears, and -- need we be told? -- marvelous songs, which in my opinion surpass all of the team's other works."
ChicagoCritic
- Highly Recommended
"...Angela Ingersoll, as Nellie Forbush, delivers a fresh, youthful innocence and vitality to her role. She demonstrates her fine vocal range and she sells her songs wonderfully. Her “I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Out-A My Hair” and “A Wonderful Guy” were heartwarming. Larry Adams, as De Becque, has the command and the vocal range to land “Some Enchanted Evening” and “This Nearly Was Mine” with emotional power."
Chicago Stage and Screen
- Highly Recommended
"...Feel the crescendo of the overture, as played by a virtuoso 30-piece orchestra, washing over the audience like a spring shower after a drought. Experience the tingle of electricity as Naval nurse Nellie Forbush meets, falls in love with and nearly loses her "wonderful guy" Emile de Becque. And rejoice in the breathtaking beauty, splendor and melodic magnificence of a Rodgers and Hammerstein show the way it was meant to be seen. As adapted from James A. Michener's novel, "Tales of the South Pacific," Rodgers and Hammerstein and co-librettist Joshua Logan took a no-holds barred look at wartime romance and the pettiness of narrow-minded racism."
