A touring production of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical South Pacific will bring a touch of the tropical to Wimbledon this October. The tale of two love stories plays at the New Wimbledon theatre from 15-20 October and stars How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria? runner-up Helena Blackman as nurse Nellie Forbush. Musical theatre regular Dave Willetts co-stars.
South Pacific is a Pulitzer Prize-winning tale of wartime love. Naval nurse Nellie Forbush is posted to a Pacific island where she falls for middle-aged French plantation owner Emile de Becque (Willetts). Meanwhile, Lieutenant Joe Cable grows attached to the daughter of Asian peddler Bloody Mary. Both blossoming relationships are threatened by secrets that become exposed.
The much-loved musical classic features songs such as Some Enchanted Evening, There Is Nothing Like A Dame and I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair.
Since finishing second to Connie Fisher in How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?, Blackman has taken the roles of Gypsy Rose Lee in Gypsy at the Wales Millennium Centre and Dorothy in The Wizard Of Oz at the Leicester Haymarket. She also recently made a guest appearance at the Jermyn Street theatre in Sister Mary McArthur Comin’ at-Cha!
Dave Willetts is a performer who seems to have appeared in almost every major musical ever written. He can count shows including Les Misérables, The Phantom Of The Opera, Jesus Christ Superstar, Follies, Sweeney Todd, Cats, Seven Brides For Seven Brothers, 42nd Street and Ragtime among his credits.
Before its stop in Wimbledon, South Pacific begins its tour in Blackpool in August, visiting Hull, Stoke, Manchester, Edinburgh, Oxford, Swansea, Birmingham, Sunderland, Nottingham and Londonderry by the end of November.
MA