Saturday, I went to see South Pacific. I could have taken an earlier train and had time for a more leisurely walk around the city, but there was enough shredding to do that I just left myself enough time for the walk from Penn Station to Lincoln Center and a quick lunch. (The Whole Foods at Time-Warner Center is quite handy and has a good variety, including some surprisingly decent vegetarian curries.)
The show was very enjoyable. South Pacific has always been my favorite Rodgers and Hammerstein score, so I am willing to forgive a certain clunkiness to the book. (My major objection is that Nellie's turn-arounds regarding Emile are too abrupt. I also think the story of Liat and Lt. Cable is not really given justice, though Cable does get to sing the wonderful "You've Got to Be Carefully Taught.") Having been to the Solomon Islands recently probably increased the overall impact, though it does raise questions about exactly what island the action is supposed to be set on (with French planters and Polynesians in a region that is Melanesian and was colonized by the British and Dutch).
As for the performances, Laura Osnes was an appealing Nellie and William Michals (the understudy) an effective Emile. But the real scene stealers were Loretta Ables Sayre as Bloody Mary and Danny Burstein as Luther Billis. All in all, it was worth seeing.
Sunday's excursion was to CitiField, the new home of the Mets. It's a vast improvement over Shea Stadium. (In general, those multi-sports stadiums of the 1950's and 1960's have not aged well at all.) But I wish the fans had not been so subdued. There were only a handful of people really cheering much one way or another. And, worst of all, nobody else around me sang along to either "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" or to the 8th inning "Meet the Mets" song. I am, however, really glad they still try to get people to sing it.
