Broadway has always had an important impact on popular culture as it reflects and fuels important social movements. Amidst the turbulence that followed World War II, most musicals addressed different subjects or time periods, avoiding stories based on the war. When plays, novels, and movies of the time acknowledged the war, it was most often to explore suffering and other negative consequences.[1] Rodgers, Hammerstein, and Logan’s musical play South Pacific, based on the Michener’s novel Tales of the South Pacific, broke ground by combining World War II with romance and lively song and dance. Though the subject had the potential to be highly controversial, the show ran at the Majestic Theater for 1,925 performances. The show’s pretense of traditional romanticism pulled crowds across America to one of the most celebrated and popular Broadway musicals of the twentieth century, but the plot’s attention to race and gender relations exposed and fueled very early cracks in the consensus beginning to form when South Pacific opened in 1949, and defined America in terms that not all Americans could be proud of. Despite the more conventional aspects of the production which lured audiences, it aided early signs of social movements that would become more effective in the next few decades and paved the way for other shows to address current social issues.
The writers of South Pacific used the show as a plea for racial tolerance, but the lack of public concern for race relations led few to fully absorb the well-intended message, their portrayals of Pacific Islanders perpetuated derogatory stereotypes, and the anti-discrimination sentiments provoked regional opposition. As the nation’s attention had been fully focused on World War II and accompanying domestic issues in recent years, the Civil Rights movement was weak and racial equality was not at the forefront of many American minds. South Pacific was one of few landmarks of popular culture in the late 1940s which openly addressed America’s troubling racial attitudes and encouraged a step towards the peaceful equality which Hammerstein sought. Due to the lack of civil rights activism, the show’s satire was interpreted in a variety of manners different from the response Hammerstein and Logan intended. The moral went over some heads, mutilating satire into gross racism. The cover art for the original libretto provides an accurate representation of Bloody Mary’s stereotypical portrayal: a dark-skinned, ape-like woman with leis, a grass skirt, and bare feet.[2] Though this bluntly said “racism” to some, other audiences quickly perceived and criticized the call for racial tolerance. When South Pacific played in Atlanta during the 1953 national tour, the Georgia state legislature criticized both the show and the city for allowing tolerance and equality to be suggested to the Southern people, particularly the idea of interracial marriage.[3] The song that received the most attention for its statement about race relations was “You’ve Got to Be Carefully Taught,” in which the young American Lieutenant Joe Cable sings, “You’ve got to be taught before it’s too late, before you are six or seven or eight, to hate all the people your relatives hate, you’ve got to be carefully taught!”[4] This open comment on the irrational prejudices that govern society provoked various businessmen to request that the song be removed from the show, but Rodgers and Hammerstein agreed with Michener’s statement, “If you cut that song, you cut the whole musical,” demonstrating that criticism of current race relations was the very core of the production.[5] The mixed reactions towards the issue of race in South Pacific suggests that the musical was ahead of its time; though the writers’ message was wise, and would be taken to heart a few decades later, deep-seated racism and absorption with other political topics signaled the impossibility for an anti-racist theme to influence America greatly immediately after World War II, beyond aiding hints of discontent.
Both the band of singing, sex-starved Seabees and Lieutenant Cable’s relationship with Liat demonstrate women’s inferiority in society and developments toward more open recognition of sex in musical theater. One of the early songs in the show, “There Is Nothing Like a Dame,” sets the tone for gender relations in the production. Men sing that what they miss most while at war is “the soft and wavy frame like the silhouette of a dame” and display their desire for women as purely sexual objects.[6] The differing roles of the two genders are emphasized in the cover art for the libretto, where a very masculine man in uniform, chest exposed, eyes a woman wearing a revealing bathing suit and a seductive expression.[7] Women’s status is further defined by Nellie and Liat’s innocence as they are surrounded by men and venture into the realm of love. Liat’s mother essentially gives her to Joe Cable for sex, recognizing that it will lead to better opportunities for her if they consequently marry and begin a life together in America. The Seabees’ song and Liat’s relationship acknowledge sex for pleasure in a more open manner than was typical in the late 1940s, which provoked criticism from audiences who had come to know Rodgers and Hammerstein shows as “family shows.” The departure from more conservative content guidelines reflected a movement towards greater public acknowledgment of sex, and marked a shift in Broadway’s coverage of the topic as one of the most famous family-oriented duos took a giant liberal stride. South Pacific exploited the inferior social status of women, thereby displaying the gender inequality prevalent in post-World War II society, and was a pivotal point in the history of musical theater when it deemed sex an acceptable topic for exploration.
Despite the accuracy of the novel that South Pacific was based on, the show romanticized war in a manner that appealed to a nation so familiar with the subject, yet so exhausted by its negative consequences. Michener had extensive experience with the subject when he wrote Tales of the South Pacific in 1946. He had spent time in the South Pacific with the Navy during World War II and as a naval historian, and delighted in studying the people and cultures of the world.[8] In the musical adaptation of the novel, those people and cultures became dream-like to match their mystical island home and the romantic highlights of the plot. Also, gruesome aspects of the war were overlooked in favor of light-hearted song and dance. Being a part of the U.S. Navy during World War II, as portrayed to American audiences, was a journey to a beautiful tropical island where your dreams were realized, you fell in love, and you spent your days gallivanting on a beach and singing with your comrades. For the majority of viewers, this demonstration was welcome comfort. As many reflected on their friends or family off fighting, South Pacific offered the opportunity to think perhaps too optimistically about their lives while away from home. Los Angeles Times music critic Albert Goldberg wrote in a 1950 article,
It strikes nostalgic roots into a sensitive bit of our national past…. The stirring events of the late affair in the South Pacific have already become hallowed in a haze of legend and unreality. “South Pacific” revives them for us, perhaps not as they were, but as those of us who were not there would like to believe them to have been, and as those who were there are now willing to accept them in memory.[9]
A softened version of reality is what many Americans needed to be happy and move forward with their lives. A musical centered on the war was also popular because so many viewers could feel a personal connection to the show. Unlike other musicals, South Pacific was familiar ground for those who had served in World War II, or in any war, and for the friends and family who were forced to bid loved ones farewell. On the other hand, some Americans reflected on their own experiences and found the musical too romantic and untruthful. The show gave audiences the wrong impressions about what really happened in the South Pacific. Though painful, some recognized that the harsher events had to be acknowledged in order for the country to move forward in an educated manner. The opposite reactions to the production’s treatment of war reveals national division over the extent to which the realities of war should be addressed, but the overwhelming majority in favor of South Pacific reveals the inclination to fantasize rather than accept the truth, and proved that controversial current events were viable source material for popular musicals.
The setting and characters of South Pacific clearly differentiate Americans, and portray America as a land full of opportunity, wholesomeness, racism, and concern for appearances; while all traditional American values, this multi-faceted and often contradictory illustration of America reflects the social upheaval and uncertainty in American institutions that followed World War II. Lieutenant Joe Cable represents the unparalleled opportunities available in the USA, coming from a well-off family and an Ivy League education. Bloody Mary recognizes this, and relentlessly pushes her daughter and Joe together because she knows that Liat’s life would improve dramatically in America. In the show’s other romantic relationship, Nellie is the classic American girl from Little Rock. Mary Martin, from nearby Texas, was the perfect actress to play the role. Theater critic Brooks Atkinson wrote in the New York Times shortly after the musical opened,
An actress of enormous vitality and good-will, Miss Martin plays the Arkansas nurse with bounce, sparkle and youthful spirit. Once the character is set she also discloses a very decent respect for the innate modesty of a good-hearted American girl whose taste are simple.[10]
Nellie symbolizes the wholesome characteristics that, proven by Mary Martin, are present in America, especially approaching the age of 1950s consensus to traditional American values. Hammerstein, optimistic and life-loving himself, promoted his own philosophy in the show through Nellie and especially with her song, “A Cockeyed Optimist.” Although very positive definitions of “American” are displayed in South Pacific, a few negative qualities are also emphasized. First, the American characters’ racism stands in the way of love; Nellie struggles to accept Emile’s mixed-race children and Joe finds himself unable to marry Tonkinese Liat, despite his love for her. Joe’s choice also highlights another debilitating quality: the worry for others’ perceptions of him that consumes his decision-making abilities. He renounces personal desires in submission to expectations based on his social class.[11] Joe’s concern for appearances matches the consensus mindset beginning to take root in 1949; Americans valued uniformity above all else. Though not always flattering, the plot of South Pacific offers a realistic look at the qualities Americans displayed to other nations and how they were perceived; the musical itself represents the American qualities that Broadway embodied.
Rodgers, Hammerstein, and Logan were justified in their concern for the musical’s success after such high expectations.[12] However, through all the controversial topics that South Pacific addressed, it was popular enough for Mary Martin to write in a New York Times article about “the joy of doing the show before the most responsive audiences [she’s] ever played to,” and that “the atmosphere in the theatre is that of a festival.”[13] It was easy for the audience to respond to a subject that had recently touched all of their lives. As Laurence Malson, author of Broadway: The American Musical, wrote, “Audiences didn’t beat down the doors… to be hectored about bigotry; they thrilled to the romance and the extraordinary score.”[14] The American values and traditional Broadway qualities that South Pacific radiated were the fuel for audiences to enjoy 1,925 performances; the more concealed statements about American society were seeds planted in the minds of the viewers once they arrived. Though too early to be fully appreciated by social activists, South Pacific was a landmark musical that exposed discontinuity in the post-war American dream and made Americans question their values, while breaking barriers for acceptable content in Broadway shows.
[1] Laurence Maslon, “’You’ve got to be carefully taught’: The Moral Vision of Rodgers and Hammerstein,” Broadway: The American Musical, (New York, New York: Bulfinch, 2004), 234.
[2] South Pacific, South Pacific, By Oscar Hammerstein, II and Joshua Logan, (N.p.: Ranom, n.d.), N. pag., flickr, N.p., n.d., 25 May 2011, <http://www.flickr.com>.
[3] Laurence Maslon, “’You’ve got to be carefully taught’: The Moral Vision of Rodgers and Hammerstein,” Broadway: The American Musical, (New York, New York: Bulfinch, 2004), 236.
[4] Oscar Hammerstein, II, and Richard Rodgers, “You’ve Got to Be Carefully Taught,” South Pacific – Original Broadway Cast Recording, Sony Classical, 1949.
[5] James Michener, Interview, Broadway: The American Musical, Michael Kantor, 2004.
[6] Oscar Hammerstein, II, and Richard Rodgers, “There is Nothin’ Like a Dame,” South Pacific – Original Broadway Cast Recording, Sony Classical, 1949.
[7] South Pacific, South Pacific, By Oscar Hammerstein, II and Joshua Logan, (N.p.: Ranom, n.d.), N. pag., flickr, N.p., n.d., 25 May 2011, <http://www.flickr.com>.
[8] Kimberley M. Holloway, “Michener, James,” The Fifties in America, ed. John C. Super, Vol. 2, (Pasadena, California: Salem, 2005), 624, The Fifties in America.
[9] Albert Goldberg, “’South Pacific’ Has Brilliant ‘Opening’: Musical Good Entertainment; Revives Legends of Late War,” Los Angeles Times [Los Angeles, California] 23 May 1950: A1, ProQuest Historical Newspapers, 23 May 2011, <http://search.proquest.com>.
[10] Brooks Atkinson, “’SOUTH PACIFIC’: The Rodgers-Hammerstein-Logan Musical Lives Up to Its Advance Reports,” New York Times [New York, New York] 17 Apr. 1949: n. pag. ProQuest Historical Newspapers, 23 May 2011, <http://search.proquest.com>.
[11] Ethan Mordden, Beautiful Mornin’: The Broadway Musical in the 1940s, (New York, New York: Oxford UP, 1999), 264-265.
[12] Brooks Atkinson, “’SOUTH PACIFIC’: The Rodgers-Hammerstein-Logan Musical Lives Up to Its Advance Reports,” New York Times [New York, New York] 17 Apr. 1949: n. pag. ProQuest Historical Newspapers, 23 May 2011, <http://search.proquest.com>.
[13] Mary Martin, “MY ONE YEAR OF ‘SOUTH PACIFIC’: Still Singing Festival Air MY ONE YEAR OF PLAYING ‘SOUTH PACIFIC’ Big Project Other Visitors,” New York Times [New York, New York] 2 Apr. 1950: n. pag. ProQuest Historical Newspapers, 23 May 2011, <http://search.proquest.com>.
[14] Laurence Maslon, “’You’ve got to be carefully taught’: The Moral Vision of Rodgers and Hammerstein,” Broadway: The American Musical, (New York, New York: Bulfinch, 2004), 236-237.
