Last week I saw South Pacific at the Cadillac Palace downtown, and I have to say, I don’t think that musical has aged well. Or at least, the production I saw certainly hasn’t. Here’s an excerpt of my play review:

Aside from a few well choreographed numbers (“Dame,” “Honey Bun”), almost all the songs are sung hands at the side, staring straight ahead. Characters sit down randomly in the middle of songs, as if they’re too tired to make it through the whole number on their feet. The overall effect is of a tired and uninspired production.

You can read the rest here. I also wonder if it played as well as people remember when it first came out, because there are a lot of slow songs. The ratio of slow songs to fast is just way too high to stay entertaining for a full three hours of Broadway entertainment. Rodgers and Hammerstein definitely got the ratio better with Cinderella and The Sound of Music.

If you’re planning to see a touring Broadway production in Chicago this year, I’d say wait for another one. This isn’t the one to drop your hard-earned cash on.