South Pacific

Another one of the old musicals which, as I watch, I keep saying to myself, “oh, this is where that song is from.” Unfortunately, most of the songs are not that good. I do like the exotica tinged “Bali Ha’i,” especially the instrumental version that closes the overture. But the story structure is odd. The center of the plot is the Frenchman and the nurse and they’re introduced almost as secondary characters. Apparently he killed a man, and that turns out to be a non-issue but the race of his children is? I dunno. I guess tastes have changed since the 50s.