The PBS series Live from Lincoln Center broadcast South Pacific last evening — the same production I saw in New York in November of '08. What most struck me in watching it on TV is how emotionally diminished it was on TV. The material was the same. The staging was the same. The book and music were, of course, the same. And most of the cast was the same…
…so what happened?
I'm going to have to think about this for a few days before I expect to be satisfied with any explanation. Off the top of my skull, I'm chalking it up to the fact that TV just doesn't command the rigid attention of sitting there in a theater, almost in the midst of it (Carolyn and I had great seats) and with the characters breathing the same air you'e breathing.
It will certainly play well for someone who didn't see it on stage…so if that's you and it reruns on your local PBS affiliate, watch it. It's a wonderful production. It's just not as wonderful on TV as it was at Lincoln Center.