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South Pacific, Grand Theatre, Wolverhampton
Apr 2 2008 By John Slim
THE first half of this Rodgers and Hammerstein classic has acquired some unnecessary and silly sexual overtones - but this apart, it is a happy celebration of a show that will be 60 years old next year.
Intriguingly, bemusingly, Nellie Forbush and her nurses still find it necessasry to wear tights with their jogging shorts and Nellie washes that man right out of her hair with a far from convincing shower.
But the big chorus numbers emerge as powerfully as ever, with the sailors combining There is Nothing Like a Dame with some impressive acrobatics.
Sheila Francisco is an artful delight as a Bloody Mary who would have stolen the show but for Dave Willetts, who is in fine voice as Emile de Becque.
I was not convinced by Helena Blackman's Nellie. She is sometimes over the top with her expressions and gestures.
It's a high-energy show with a good story and it runs until Saturday.
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