Conductor, pianist and songwriter Lawrence Goldberg says the current production of the musical South Pacific, now playing at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, is truer to the original theatrical production than the 1958 movie. (video)
Lawrence Goldberg
“This is a beautiful production of a classic show that is often not done very well,” Goldberg, the musical conductor of the current tour of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, says.
“They have gone back to really treating it with the truth and reality of the time, when we were in a war that we didn’t know if we were going to win, and the stakes were really high and the issue of racism was really ready to boil over in America
“Unfortunately, the movie with Mitzi Gaynor didn’t really treat those issues with a sense of reality,” Goldberg says. “It is a very stylized performance, and I think that’s where the show gets its corny reputation. [The show’s director] has stripped that away and brought us back to the reality of the situation… the danger and the tension between the races and the mores of people who are brought up to be fearful of other people.”
South Pacific, based on James Michener’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book Tales of the South Pacific, is set in an island paradise during World War II, where two parallel love stories bloom amid the trappings of war, but then are threatened by the dangers of prejudice.
The show is directed by Bartlett Sher, and features a cast of 34, including Welsh-born, Toronto-based, Jason Howard in the starring role of Emile de Becque. Carmen Cusack plays Nellie Forbush and Anderson Davis is Lt. Cable.
This production revives the original 1949 orchestrations by Robert Russell Bennett. Goldberg says that instead of a keyboard, there are a harp and strings making the sound more orchestral than a pit band would. South Pacific’s score includes the classic songs Some Enchanted Evening, There Is Nothin’ Like a Dame and I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair.
Rodgers and Hammerstein, who were Jewish, never wrote overtly on Jewish themes, Goldberg says. “But theatre music in general was hugely influenced by the Jewish milieu. Broadway show tunes were practically invented by Jews. Music has always been a large part of Jewish life and that all came together in vaudeville, and that lead to the more legitimate Broadway stage.”
Goldberg was raised in a traditional Conservative home and was attracted to the musical aspects of the religion from a young age, although later in life he drifted away from religious practices. He says he has a strong cultural identification and the musical aspects of the religion influence him strongly.
Goldberg oversees the entire musical department of South Pacific when it’s on the road. “I train and conduct the local orchestra in each city,” says Goldberg.
“It is one of the biggest challenges of the job. We travel with three musicians, and we pick up 22 locals everywhere we go. I’ve got 4-1/2 hours of rehearsal with the orchestra the morning that we open and that is the first time they meet me.
“The other part of my job entails overseeing the music of the entire show. I take notes on the actors’ performances musically, I teach new actors coming into the show the musical parts of their performance. When I am conducting I am leading the singers through their performance as well as the orchestra.”
Goldberg tours with South Pacific until February 2011, then opens a new musical called Minsky’s, written by Toronto’s Bob Martin. The two worked together on The Drowsy Chaperone on Broadway. Goldberg was the associate conductor.
Goldberg’s other Broadway credits include Thoroughly Modern Millie, The Phantom of the Opera and Carousel. His national tours include The Producers, Les Misérables, Sunset Boulevard and Cats (he met his wife, the actress Alice Lynn, on a tour of Cats in 1990). His tours also include Boston Pops concert versions of Carousel, A Little Night Music and A Richard Rodgers Celebration. As a composer/lyricist, he wrote several musicals, including Big Bad Wolf and The Endangered Forest. His song Seize the Day was recorded by Petula Clark. He also worked on the children’s television show Let’s Read a Story.
South Pacific runs until Sept. 5, as part of Dancap Productions’ Broadway Summer Series. For tickets, call 416-644-3665 or 1-866-950-7469 (toll free) or visit www.DancapTickets.com.
