Dylan Baker Joins Cast of Mitchell-McEntire South Pacific

By Andrew Gans
May 3, 2005

Dylan Baker has joined the all-star cast of the benefit concert of South Pacific set for June 9 at Carnegie Hall.

According to the Carnegie Hall website, Baker will play Commander William Harbison in the one-night-only presentation of the classic Rodgers and Hammerstein musical. Baker joins the previously announced Conrad John Schuck as Captain Brackett, Jason Danieley as Lt. Cable, Lillias White as Bloody Mary, Reba McEntire as Nellie Forbush and Brian Stokes Mitchell as Emile de Becque. Additional casting will be announced shortly.

The concert, under the direction of Walter Bobbie, will feature an adapted script by David Ives. Paul Gemignani will conduct the Orchestra of St. Luke's for the 8 PM performance. The remainder of the creative team includes John Lee Beatty (scenic consultant), Catherine Zuber (costume consultant), Alan Adelman (lighting designer) and Acme Sound Partners (sound design).

South Pacific features songs by composer Richard Rodgers and lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II and was drawn from James Michener's "Tales of the South Pacific." Mary Martin and Ezio Pinza co-starred in the original Broadway production, which boasted such classic songs as "Some Enchanted Evening," "Younger Than Springtime," "Bali H'ai" and "A Wonderful Guy."

Dylan Baker received Tony and Drama Desk nominations for his performance in La Bete. He also appeared on Broadway in Eastern Standard, and his Off-Broadway credits include Rough Crossing, Sea of Tranquility, Homebody/Kabul, What the Butler Saw, That Championship Season, Pride's Crossing, The Common Pursuit, Not About Heroes and Much Ado About Nothing Baker was also recently seen on screen in "The Road to Perdition."

A limited number of tickets — priced $34, $52 and $78 — are available by calling CarnegieCharge at (212) 247-7800. Benefit tickets, priced $850, $1,000, $1,500 and $2,500, are also available by calling (212) 903-9679. For more information, visit the Carnegie Hall website at www.carnegiehall.org.