Continuing with the We Didn’t Start the Fire lyrics, we come to South Pacific. A Rogers and Hammerstein musical that released in 1949, South Pacific was a hit. The musical was based on the book by James A. Michener titled Tales from the South Pacific.. The book, MIchener’s first, won the Pulitzer Prize in 1948.
Rogers and Hammerstien believed they could turn the popular book into a musical and address the issues of race. Much of the plot line involves mixed race couples who struggle with the implications of their mixed relationships in the 1940s.
The musical was an immediate hit and became the 2nd longest running musical on Broadway behind Oklahoma! at the time. It won the Pulitzer Prize for musicals in 1950 and ten Tony Awards including best musical. It also stands as the only musical to win a Tony Award in all four acting categories.
2008 Revival
The original cast album recording was the top selling record of the 1940s. It spawned a 1958 movie and several television adaptations. In 2008 the revival on Broadway ran for nearly 1,000 shows, won seven Tony’s, including Best Revival.
Michener served in the Pacific during World War II, but the book is fiction. As he served in the war, Michener wrote down stories he heard. He was sent to the Pacific in 1944 and tasked with writing a history of the Navy in the Pacific. He toured the area extensively, even surviving a plan crash in New Caledonia. This crash inspired him to write fiction and soon he began listing to the stories told by other soldiers.
South Pacific still stands as one of the greatest musicals of all-time.
Stay tuned for the next installment of a little history from Billy Joel’s We Didn’t Start the Fire.https://historyhavoc.com/category/we-didnt-start-the-fire/
And if you are not familiar with Michener’s work, you should check it out. A few of his works are high on my list of must reads. At least whenever I finally finish this degree and have time to read for pleasure. A few that I am excited to read include Texas, Poland, Alaska, and Legacy. You will find them wherever books are sold.