Review: SOUTH PACIFIC at Broadway Palm

"South Pacific" at Broadway Palm.

"South Pacific" at Broadway Palm.

Give the guys, girls, Seabees, ensigns and officers of "South Pacific" credit. Broadway Palm tackles the show just three years after the spectacular Lincoln Center production toured Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall. Smaller in scale, but tight, taut - and maybe even more fun. Lord, some of those chorus boys need a tan though!

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Director Brian J. Enzman flits through Polynesia with skill and verve, navigating the islands like a native. "South Pacific" will never move like a modern musical.  They don't write them like that anymore for a reason, but listening to Paige Mattox sing "A Cockeyed Optimist," you almost wish they did.

Chief quibble? The music. Loren Strickland does wonders with a five-piece band. It just can't sound anything but thin in places, especially for a show written for a full Broadway orchestra. It can't be helped - but I'd love to give Strickland a larger band at least one night a week.

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"South Pacific" play Tuesday through Sunday with selected matinées through Feb. 15. Tickets are $35-$58. Call 239-278-4422 or broadwaypalm.com.

"South Pacific" at Broadway Palm.