Love conquers racism

Having booked my tickets for Australia, I organised with Mum to book some tickets to go to the Lyric Theatre and see South Pacific. Well, we both were very excited at the prospect. And then, today, finally, the day arrived for us to go.

Our ticket included coach transport into Brisbane so we were ready outside ten minutes before the coach arrived. We boarded, joining the few other oldies already seated and then took off to pick up the rest of the passengers. And what a long, roundabout, route we had to take.

We dodged in and out of scary, maze-like estates, stopping outside doors, picking up increasingly immobile pensioners. One old lady was particularly fierce, telling the driver off for being ten minutes late. She’d already called the office to complain about him.

It took a while but we reached the theatre with 40 minutes to spare. This was more than enough time to eat our sandwiches and have one of the most delicious cups of tea I’ve had since Julie’s back on Mitchell’s Island. We were sat in our seats a full ten minutes before lift off.

I saw the movie of South Pacific a long time ago and, apart from all the songs, had forgotten the whole thing. For a start I’d forgotten that it dealt with racism in such a big way. I thought the hypocrisy it depicted on the part of the American servicemen in the Pacific was very brave for the time.

As for the cast, I thought Lisa McCune was great as Nellie, though mum wasn’t that keen on her accent, thinking it was a bit forced. Perhaps that’s true but I thought she played the part very well. I’ve never seen or heard her and thought her vocal range was perfect for the part. Her rendition of I’m gonna wash that man right outa my hair was excellent.

Teddy Tahu Rhodes played Emile De Beque, the male lead. He has an amazing voice and a great presence on stage however, he didn’t really connect with the audience. He kept his head down for most of the play, not making eye contact with anyone. It made him look sheepish and untrustworthy.

I wondered why Nellie loved him so much. It was a shame because he could have been very strong. When they fall out because of Nellie’s opinions of black people, we should feel very sorry for him because we should understand how she feels about him. Sadly this was lost and I for one, didn’t really care if he survived or not. Actually I was quite upset that the other bloke didn’t make it!

My favorite was Christine Anu as Bloody Mary. I’ve always been a big fan of her voice and now I know she can act as well. She was very, very good. Totally brilliant.

Mum, on the hand, was rather taken by Gyton Grantley who played Luther Billis. It’s true that he was very funny and had the audience in the palm of his hand with a very cheeky grin and glint in his eye.

The rest of the cast were excellent. They all had a lot of energy (particularly for a matinee performance) and made the entire production a joy from start to finish.

Part of the Lyric Theatre auditorium

What wasn’t a joy was the cost of the programmes. For some reason, they think it’s a good idea to sell all the programmes for $20. These are the big, glossy programmes that a few people are prepared to pay a lot for – we have them in London as well. The thing is, in London, they also sell a normal programme for a lot less without all the glossy images. I can only think the Lyric Theatre would rather keep their audiences in the dark than sell them something affordable with a cast list in it. Obviously they’ve had a few complaints because, in the foyer, was a big sign that had the cast list on it – I took a photo of it, otherwise I’d never have remembered anyone except Christine Anu.

I’m glad to say, the trip home was a lot quicker and the grumpy woman left the coach early and was transferred onto another one.