Singing their way through 'South Pacific'

With each new collaboration between the Alpine Theatre Project and Glacier Symphony and Chorale, things just become a bit simpler.

This year’s edition, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s multi-award-winning “South Pacific,” is no exception. Singers will sit on stage with the symphony musicians, music in hand, and head to the front when it’s their turn to sing. 

“This is a show that we felt like we couldn’t even remotely do realistically,” said Luke Walrath, Alpine Theatre Project executive director and director of the show. “There are a lot of things we have in the Flathead, but a large Polynesian population isn’t one of them.”

Walrath said that because they couldn’t be realistic enough with casting to be true to the themes of racism in the story, set on a naval base in the South Pacific during World War II. So they decided to strip down the staging and treat the event as more of a concert than the first three “Onstage” shows — “The Sound of Music,” “West Side Story” and “Music Man.”

The “Onstage” concept features a musical theater favorite with a symphony taking center stage while the singers highlight the music with no props or set.

For the show, which plays tonight and Saturday in Whitefish and Sunday at Flathead High School, the performers will be in formal concert dress. There won’t be any choreography and only enough dialogue to keep the story line clear.

“In Broadway pits, the orchestra’s usually only 24 people at most, and we’re being able to present the score with a 40-piece orchestra,” Walrath said. “It’s a much more kind of lush sound than what people would usually hear for a show like this. It’s a string-heavy sweeping score, and this will let people really hear that to the fullest.”

With outstanding singing being the key selling point of an “Onstage” performance, Alpine Theatre Project, Montana’s only professional Equity theater group, has brought in two exceptional Broadway performers to fill key roles.

John Wilkerson and Robert Creighton, both friends of Alpine Theatre artistic director Betsi Morrison, bring extensive stage resumes with them as they perform in the Flathead Valley for the first time.

The role of Emile de Becque will be played by Wilkerson, who performed the same role in a national tour starring Robert Goulet, in which Morrison was also a cast member.

“John had the unfortunate honor of being Robert Goulet’s understudy,” Walrath said. “Every time he was on stage it meant Robert was out and he had to win over a crowd who paid to see Robert Goulet. To his credit he got a standing ovation every night. He really won people over.”

Creighton, who will play Luther Billis, came up through the Broadway ranks in the 1990s and was in “The Lion King,” “The Little Mermaid” and “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.” Alpine Theatre Project was lucky enough to catch him between shows, Walrath said.

“We needed a strong, funny Luther,” he said. “It’s perfect timing for him; he wants to come out and ski anyway.”

Walrath will be in the role of Lt. Joseph Cable and Morrison is the female lead, Nellie Forbush. Local singers Russell Moes and Cody Benkelman are also in key roles, with around 30 singers from the Glacier Chorale filling out the remainder of the cast.

Five members of the Alpine Kids! Theatre Project, high school students from Whitefish, also are going to be on stage with speaking lines.

“It’s really fun to be able to bring them into the fold, and to let them work with some of these more-seasoned people,” Walrath said.

This “Onstage” version of “South Pacific” is based on a successful concert version of a one-night-only show done at Carnegie Hall in 2006 featuring Reba McEntire, Brian Stokes Mitchell and Alec Baldwin, Walrath said.

It does a great job of conveying the story and keeping focus on the music,” Walrath said. “It’s a nice ideal to shoot for.”

“South Pacific” will be performed tonight and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at the Whitefish Performing Arts Center and Sunday at 3 p.m. in the Flathead High School auditorium.

Reserved seats are available for all performances, with ticket prices ranging from $15 to $30. General admission seats are available for the Sunday performance. Tickets are available online at www.gscmusic.org or www.alpinetheatreproject.org as well as by calling the Glacier Symphony at 257-3241 or Alpine Theatre Project at 862-7469.

Reporter Heidi Gaiser may be reached at 758-4431 or by e-mail at hgaiser@dailyinterlake.com