News

The London transfer of South Pacific has opened at the Barbican. The Lincoln Centre Theatre revival won seven Tony Awards on Broadway, with The Washington Post describing the show as “The best Rogers and Hammerstein in a generation”. The London cast includes Paulo Szot, who reprises the role of French plantation owner “Emile de Becque”, Samantha Womack (who took to the stage after injuring her foot during a preview performance on Monday evening) as “Nellie Forbush”, and Daniel Koek as “Lieutenant Joe Cable”.

They Say: South Pacific Reviews

“Samantha Womack, once best known as Ronnie Mitchell in EastEnders, proves a delightfully engaging Nellie, who movingly learns the error of her racial prejudice, while Alex Ferns (another EastEnders veteran) offers terrific comic value as Seabee Luther Billis, particularly in his grass-skirted drag number, Honey Bun. This is a production of almost continuous pleasure, a classic of American musical theatre revived with the love and respect it richly deserves.”

**** 4 Stars - Charles Spencer for The Telegraph (Read the full review here)

“The best reason for seeing this revival is to catch the Brazilian-born baritone Paulo Szot as Emile (though he'll be replaced by Jason Howard from 29 August to 21 September). He brings to the role a commanding presence, a sense of solitude and a burnished tone that almost stops the show in This Nearly Was Mine. But while Samantha Womack sings well as Nellie, she is quintessentially English to be wholly convincing as a naive nurse from Little Rock...”

*** 3 Stars - Michael Billington for The Guardian (Read the full review here)

“Former EastEnders star Samantha Womack makes an engagingly spirited and touching fist of this cock-eyed optimist's emotional journey from unexamined Little Rock bigotry to rueful self-awareness... Unfortunately, there's next to no sexual chemistry between the two leading performers. That's symptomatic of a production that seems to have lost something in crossing the Atlantic and is deficient in that spark that turns respect into rapture.”

*** 3 Stars – Paul Taylor for The Independent (Read the full review here)

We Say: UK Tickets Staff Reviews:

Daniella and Sandra attended a South Pacific preview on Monday evening.

The cast were all superb, especially Samantha Womack whose performance was outstanding.  She was cheeky, funny and ditsy, just as the character should be.  Her voice is perfect for the role and her acting ability second to none.  Paulo Szot has a really strong accent, and at first I struggled a bit with his singing, but his endearing way and passionate performance won me over.  Daniel Koek’s voice was beautiful and his performance convincing.  Great dancing, great music and awesome cast!

5 * performances all round - Daniella

Superbly cast, sung, choreographed and acted, and I even shed a tear at the end as the love between them was so believable. Comic elements in the show were actually funny. Trevor from EastEnders (Alex Ferns) plays a fabulous roll as Luther Biliss the cheeky sailor. The Rogers and Hammerstein songs are so beautifully orchestrated and memorable.

A fantastic show 10/10 - Sandra