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Younger than Springtime: William Tabbert and Betta St. John played Marine Lt. Joseph Cable and his islander sweetheart Liat in the 1949 production; below, Matthew Morrison and Li Jun Li take on those parts in the Lincoln Center revival. Courtesy the Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization
All Things Considered, April 3, 2008 · One of the most popular musicals of all time — Rodgers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific — gets its very first Broadway revival tonight. It’s been close to 60 years since the show opened, but the cast and creative team of the new production say they find South Pacific as resonant as ever.
And that’s a tall order: When South Pacific opened on April 7, 1949, its World War II story and setting had a torn-from-the- headlines feeling.
“Every single person that night in April knew someone who had been in World War II,” says musical-theater historian Larry Maslon. “Every second person must’ve known someone who was in the South Pacific in World War II — and I would imagine at least every fourth person knew someone who died in World War II. And that’s very potent, I think, for an audience.”
Of course South Pacific had more than topicality going for it. Inside a candy wrapper of romance, comedy and exoticism, the creators — composer Richard Rodgers, lyricist and co-author Oscar Hammerstein and director and co-author Joshua Logan — presented a story that questioned core American values, with an emphasis on issues of race and power.
“I was always moved by this group of American artists in the ’40s encountering this first major experience of American military power overseas and what it did to people,” says director Bartlett Sher, who’s in charge of the new Lincoln Center revival. “You know, what happens when somebody from Philadelphia and somebody from Arkansas get dropped into this new world, and they have to question everything about who they are and everything about who they think they were and what they believe.”

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May 25th is National Missing Children’s Day to remind us of the missing children, their families and to renew our efforts nationwide to reunite children and their loved ones. According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, during the last year an estimated 750,000 children were reported missing nationwide.
For prevention tips and more information, visit the Missing Child Center-Hawaii at http://www.missingchildcenterhawaii.com or call (808) 586-1449.
According to experts, the biggest myth parents teach their children is that dangers come from strangers. In the majority of cases, the perpetrators are actually known by the parents/guardians or children. Some times these people are in a position of trust or responsibility to a child and family.
The Missing Child Center -Hawaii helps families facing crisis by supporting them with education, reunification efforts, and assistance for recovery of a missing child. The Center is a program of the State Department of the Attorney General. Advocated by a group of parents whose own child had gone missing, the Friends of the Missing Child Center-Hawaii was founded to give additional financial support to the Center and assist the families of missing children.
Sharon Martinez faced a devastating crisis in 1991 when her former spouse abducted her three young children from their home in Honolulu. Working tirelessly to find her children and get the legal support she needed, it wasn’t until two and a half years later, on Mother’s Day, that her 12-year old son escaped the abusive father’s hideout and found his way to the U.S. embassy in Mexico. Today, both mother and son remain active in helping others find their way back to their families through their advocacy and support of the Friends of the Missing Child Center-Hawaii nonprofit organization.
On May 25, 1979, a mother sent her 6-year old son off to school in New York. Etan Patz kissed his mother goodbye and started walking to the bus stop, just two short blocks away. His mother watched as he made his way, then rushed home to care for another child who was sick. Etan never made it to the bus stop, nor did he ever return home again. In 1983, in honor of Etan Patz, former President Ronald Reagan proclaimed May 25th as National Missing Children’s Day to bring attention to the plight of missing children and their families and to renew our efforts nationwide to reunite children and their loved ones.

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