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Some enchanted evening…
You may be in New Hope
You may have a ticket
To see a Rodgers and Hammerstein musical
OK. Sorry. Writing a lead in the rhythm of a hit song from the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic “South Pacific,” didn’t quite work out. But, if you are looking to get out of town for some enchanted summer evening, or perhaps an enchanted matinee, it wouldn’t be a bad choice to head to the Bucks County Playhouse in New Hope.
Or to other theater offerings a short drive away from City Hall. There’s “Ain’t Misbehavin’” at People’s Light in Malvern, “Grease” at Ritz Theatre Co. in Haddon Township, “Sleeping Beauty,” at Storybook Musical Theatre in Melrose Park, “Funny Girls,” at the East Lynne Theater Co. in Cape May, and “Kalamazoo” at Cape May Stage.
This July, the Bucks County Playhouse and three other Hammerstein-related Bucks County cultural nonprofits are offering the Oscar, James & Pearl passport – a trip outside the city limits and into the interconnected Bucks County worlds of Oscar Hammerstein II, Pearl S. Buck and James A. Michener.
For $114, the Oscar Hammerstein Passport provides a ticket to the musical at the Bucks County Playhouse in New Hope and admission to the Michener Art Museum, the Pearl S. Buck House, and the Oscar Hammerstein Music and Theatre Education Center at Highland Farm, all in Doylestown. As long as you visit everything in July, you don’t have to check off all the boxes on the same day.
Collaborating with composer Richard Rodgers, Hammerstein penned the lyrics to many of his most famous songs, including those in “South Pacific,” at Highland Farm in Doylestown.
Hammerstein based “South Pacific” on Michener’s Pulitzer-Prize winning novel, “Tales of the South Pacific.” Michener grew up in Doylestown.
Michener’s typewriter holds a place of honor at the Michener museum. Michener and his wife, Mari Sabasuwa, donated $8.5 million to the museum over the years.
Hammerstein and Buck were friends, and his piano is in her former home, Green Hill Farm, in Perkasie. Both Hammerstein and Michener were on the board of directors of The Welcome Home next door. Founded by Buck, it was the first permanent foster home for U.S.-born multiracial children of Asian descent.
“It’s a thrilling thing that it all came together,” said Nicole Hackmann, executive director of the Bucks County Playhouse, “to actually create four different events and all of them have crossover between the four organizations.”
Hackmann said theatergoers can expect a classic and very enjoyable performance of “South Pacific,” with its favorite show tunes sung wherever there’s a piano and a group of aficionados – “Some Enchanted Evening,” “I’m Going to Wash that Man Right Out of My Hair,” and “Happy Talk.”
The play, which won a Pulitzer Prize in 1950, was controversial when it premiered on Broadway in 1949. The plot involves an American nurse stationed in the South Pacific during World War II who falls in love with a middle-aged expatriate French plantation owner. But she finds it difficult to accept his multiracial children.
It was, Hackmann said, a musical protest against systemic racism, still a challenge today.
“Hammerstein was writing his activism and putting his activism on stage,” she said.
Oscar Hammerstein Passport for tickets, usable throughout July, with special free events on specific dates. Pre-registration required:
- “South Pacific,” through July 26, Bucks County Playhouse. Hammerstein expert Julie Flack presents an overview of Hammerstein’s life and legacy in Bucks County at 4:45 p.m. July 1 at the Playhouse, 70 S. Main St., New Hope, 215-862-2121.
- Michener Art Museum. David Leopold of the Al Hirschfeld Foundation discusses his iconic drawings of Rodgers’ and Hammerstein’s work, especially for “South Pacific” at noon July 8, 138 S. Pine St., Doylestown, 215-340-9800.
- Oscar Hammerstein Music and Theatre Education Center at Highland Farm. Vocalist Nathaniel Hackmann celebrates Hammerstein’s work through songs where they were composed at Highland Farm, 7 p.m., July 15. For a tour, call to make a reservation. 70 East Rd., Doylestown, 215-346-7320.
- Pearl S. Buck House.. The activism of Hammerstein and Pearl Buck, plus selections from the work of Rodgers and Hammerstein sung by Jose Melendez and Emily Margevich, 5 p.m., July 29. 520 Dublin Rd., Perkasie, 215-249-0100.
Also playing in the suburbs:
- “Grease,” through July 19, Ritz Theatre Co., 915 White Horse Pike, Haddon Township, 856-288-3500.
- “Sleeping Beauty,” through July 25, Storybook Musical Theatre, Mandell Campus Theater, 7605 Old York Rd., Melrose Park, 215-659-8550.
- “Ain’t Misbehavin,’” July 8-Aug. 16, People’s Light, 39 Conestoga Rd., Malvern, 610-644-3500.
- “Kalamazoo,” July 15 through Aug. 23, Cape May Stage, Robert Shackleton Playhouse, 405 Lafayette St., Cape May, 609-770-8311.
- “Funny Girls,” July 24-Aug. 4, a one-woman show celebrating Fanny Brice, Mae West, Gilda Radner, Joan Rivers, and Phyllis Diller about “the women who stood up and changed stand up,” by 1812 Productions co-founder Jennifer Childs, in residence at the East Lynne Theater Co., performing at Club Clemans at the Clemans Theater for the Arts, 717 Franklin St., Cape May, 609-602-8703.
