Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific turns 50 in 1999, and TX's Dallas Theatre Center will celebrate the occasion by closing its 1998-99 season with the classic musical. Artistic director Richard Hamburger will direct the show, Apr. 7-May 2, 1999 (opening Apr. 13, 1999).
Based on James A. Michener's "Tales of the South Pacific," the musical features such songs as "Some Enchanted Evening," "Happy Talk" and "Honey Bun."
Five other shows are on the new season schedule, including one world premiere and this years Pulitzer Prize winner. Here's the Dallas Theatre Center line-up:
Sept. 16-Oct. 11 (opening Sept. 22), Moliere's Tartuffe, directed by artistic director Hamburger. DTC will use the Christopher Hampton translation of the farce, about a pious-talking conman who hoodwinks a naive husband and father.
Oct. 21-Nov. 15 (opening Oct. 27), Paula Vogel's How I Learned To Drive, staged by associate director Jonathan Moscone. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, as well as the NY Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play, Vogel's comedy/drama tells of the dysfunctional relationship between a young woman and her alcoholic uncle. Other Vogel works include The Baltimore Waltz and Desdemona.
Holiday time, Nov. 27-Dec. 27 (opening Dec. 2), brings Preston Lane's staging of A Christmas Carol, now in its 15th year. Gerald Freedman did the adaptation. Jan. 13-Feb. 7, 1999 (opening Jan. 19, 1999), Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun. The first play by a black woman to be produced on Broadway, Raisin tells of a family trying to get ahead despite pressures from without -- and within.
Feb. 24-Mar. 21, 1999 (opening Mar. 2, 1999), associate director Moscone will stage a world premiere adaptation of Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. This surreal musical will feature five local actors and play at the Kalita Humphreys Theatre (designed by Frank Lloyd Wright) in the DTC.
Apr. 7-May 2, 1999 (opening Apr. 13), South Pacific closes the season, as mentioned above.
For subscription information ($50-$215) on the new season at the Dallas Theatre Center, 3636 Turtle Creek Blvd., call (214) 522-TIXX.
-- By David Lefkowitz
