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It's been 50 years since London last saw a major production of South Pacific. With America at war, it all seems terribly tropical again, director Trevor Nunn tells Jasper Rees.
It was early 1949. South Pacific, the follow-up to Rodgers and Hammerstein's huge wartime hit Carousel, had entered the try-out phase before hitting New York. Late one night the production team were deep in one of those 11th-hour how-do-we-make-it-better meetings that always precede the launch of a new musical. Eventually the composer, Richard Rodgers, cut to the chase. "Fellas," he said, "this show is perfect. Let's go to bed."
© Associated Newspapers Ltd.
