Preview
Identifier
Revue Program_Page_20
Creation Date
4-23-2021
Disciplines
Arts and Humanities | Theatre and Performance Studies
Description
DRAMATURGY - “YOU’VE GOT TO BE CAREFULLY TAUGHT”
South Pacific is one of the few American musicals in history to be on the cutting edge of theatre. While not a technical achievement, it still tackled significant social issues at the time. The musical reflected the rise in working American women, anti-miscegenation, and racism being socially engineered. While it’s not the first socially conscious musical, it still achieved huge critical and commercial success, while staying true to its themes.The musical premiered on Broadway on April 7, 1949 at the Majestic Theatre. South Pacific was the fourth musical made by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, with Joshua Logan serving as co-writer. This was the duo’s third musical adaptation, based on two short stories in James A. Michener’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book, Tales of the South Pacific.
South Pacific was a nearly five-year smash, with an impressive 1,925 performances. At the time, it was the second longest-running production in Broadway history, right behind Oklahoma!. South Pacific was nominated for 10 Tony Awards, becoming the only musical to win all four acting categories. The success of the musical led to a 1958 film adaptation. South Pacific was truly the definition of a Broadway cultural phenomenon. It was one of the first shows to sell a variety of souvenirs. The original cast album of South Pacific became the best-selling album of the 1940s, reaching No. 1 for 69 weeks straight.
“You’ve Got to be Carefully Taught” is among the most well-known and controversial songs in South Pacific. The song received backlash from audiences, critics, and even two Georgia state lawmakers about the song’s message about interracial marriage. Rodgers and Hammerstein notoriously defended keeping the song in the musical, even threatening to cancel performances at Wilmington, Delaware, unless the venue allowed a racially integrated audience.
For context, U.S. Navy nurse Nellie Forbush discovers that French planter Emile de Becque was not only married to a Polynesian woman, but also had two children with her. After finding this out, Nellie expresses that she cannot love him. Not understanding this, Emile asks Lt. Joseph Cable why he and Nellie hold prejudice about people that are different from them. There, Cable replies back with “It’s not born in you! It happens after you’re born…” which leads him into his song, “You’ve Got to be Carefully Taught.” “You’ve Got to be Carefully Taught” is a Golden Age style of musical theatre piece, with orchestration and a mid-paced, yet driving tempo.
Publisher
Arkansas State University
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Theatre Program
Keywords
musical, compliation, retrospective, medley
