Starring
Justino Diaz
Paige O'Hara
Pat Suzuki
Sean McDermott

National Symphony Orchestra
conducted by
John Owen Edwards

Orchestrations by
Robert Russell Bennett

After Oklahoma!, South Pacific was Rodgers and Hammerstein’s longest running Broadway production, and the show’s triumphant American tour, which started in 1950, lasted for almost 5 years. The wonderful music, an idyllic island setting and a story which resembled a latter day Madame Butterfly created an almost excessive public interest. The Academy Award winning movie enjoyed a staggering continuous run of four years and 22 weeks in London with some fanatics claiming to have seen every showing of the film.

This new JAY recording is the first ever complete recording of this sensational score. This classic score contains such perennial hits as Some Enchanted Evening, Younger Than Springtime, Bali Hai, Happy Talk, I’m Gonna Wash That Man Out Of My Hair, A Wonderful Guy, There’s Nothing Like A Dame, Bloody Mary, Honey Bun, This Nearly Was Mine. This wonderful score is now presented in the full glory of Dolby Surround Sound and is part of the JAY Original Masterworks Edition. In additional to the songs, the recording presents passages of previously unrecorded material.

It is almost an Original Cast recording because the four principals have sung their roles in various stage productions in the United States to great acclaim. Mention must be made of the special appearance of the legendary Pat Suzuki as Bloody Mary.

This complete 2CDs set release of South Pacific maintains the exceptional high standard set by previous JAY Original Masterworks Edition recordings in the series. It is also a forerunner to the forthcoming 2CDs set release of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The King and I. This recording is the only recording available on CD in the world of the full original orchestrations in Stereo, complete or otherwise. The only other recording is that of the 1949 Mono Original Broadway Cast recording.