Robert Goulet was much better than I expected as Emile Debec in South Pacific. You
could tell he was stopping short on some notes in order to save his voice for the
big moments, but when he needed it, it was there. Quite impressively there, in
fact. Also, I realized that the main reason I was having trouble envisioning him
in the role is that the man is just goofy looking. I hadn't been to a show in so
long I'd forgotten you can't see their faces anyhow, so that didn't matter. Rudder
complained that his body language was stiff, but that's probably attributable to
his being 69 years old. (Way too old for Nurse Nellie!) Rudder never says anything
good about musicals anyway -- he finds it too annoying and unrealistic when people
spontaneously burst into song at odd moments. I can't imagine why; I do that
around the house all the time. The woman playing Nellie Forbush was really playing
Mary Martin playing Nellie Forbush, but was fairly good anyhow. Her accent and
body language were as innocent small-town-hick as she's supposed to be. And the
choral numbers were far more impressive live, especially all those powerful male
voices in 'Nothing Like a Dame'.
One complaint: that theater, the
Gammage Auditorium on ASU campus, was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and for all
his vision, the man had some problems with basic livability. There weren't nearly
enough ladies' rooms, and when you finally got in after waiting in a long line,
the stalls were dark and gloomy. Not quite sure what mood that's supposed
to create.
I meant to post piercing pics today, but will try to put
those plus some from the race, up tomorrow instead.