Going to ‘South Pacific,’ Again : Right Now You Can See the Stage Musical in Tustin and Brea; It Just Closed in Yorba Linda

In the classic Rodgers and Hammerstein musical “South Pacific,” the lovely and mysterious island of Bali H’ai beckons from across the misty ocean. “If you try, you’ll find her,” croons Bloody Mary, “where the sky meets the sea.”

You never have to try too hard to find Bali H’ai in Orange County, though. This season alone, from where the 55 freeway meets the 5 to right off Imperial Highway, productions of “South Pacific” are running in Tustin and Brea, practically next to each other. A third, in nearby Yorba Linda, closed just weeks ago.

Virginia DeLand, producer for the Yorba Linda Civic Light Opera where the show opened in July, remarked that “people who have theaters in such close proximity should pay a little more attention” to what each other is doing. Yet she confessed that her troupe had known nothing of the other productions. “South Pacific,” she said, was “high on the ballot from our audience.”

At the Brea Civic Light Opera, where it debuted last weekend, president Harold Ivy said the musical “topped the list” of possible shows drawn in January by the 12-member executive board. Was the board surprised to learn that other companies would be offering the same thing so close by? “‘Upset’ is a better word,” Ivy allowed.

Over in Tustin at the Elizabeth Howard Curtain Call Dinner Theatre, “South Pacific” had been playing for more than two months before the lights ever came up on Brea’s tropical paradise.

The Curtain Call’s executive staff--led by producer Howard and her brother, John Ferola, who is the artistic director--choose from a stable of 20 to 30 musicals and run them as long as they seem to draw an audience (“South Pacific” is scheduled to close Oct. 23). “South Pacific” has been a recurring stalwart, having occupied their stage four times in the last 15 years.

“You don’t do (shows) for a few years and then they come around again,” said Doug Shaffer, the Curtain Call’s musical director. Like DeLand and Ivy, Shaffer said he, Howard and Ferola had been unaware of the other productions, but he insisted that the dinner theater offers a unique product that doesn’t necessarily compete with community organizations.

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In any case, this isn’t the only season that has seen the show “come around again” with amazing regularity. Not even counting the Howard productions, it has been mounted six times in Orange County since 1987.

Part of its appeal certainly is in its beautiful ballads (“Some Enchanted Evening,” “Younger Than Springtime”) and rousing showstoppers (“There is Nothin’ Like a Dame,” “I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair”) and in its counterpointed love stories, one between career-woman Ensign Nellie Forbush and sophisticated, wealthy Frenchman Emile de Becque, and the other between young hotshot hero Joe Cable and angelic native-girl Liat.

Still, it’s the sailors who can really sell the show. An irresistible hodgepodge of Americans who pant after dames, and who exercise their Yankee ingenuity to get around regulations and make a half-honest buck on the side, they seemingly never fail to charm. Indeed, in spite of the competition, all three of this season’s “South Pacifics” have pulled audiences in.

“Our pre-sale has been very good,” Ivy said of Brea’s production, which continues through Oct. 9. “We expect this to be our best show to date.” Elizabeth Howard’s production is apparently having a healthy run, doing its part to keep the county’s last surviving dinner theater in business.

But perhaps even “South Pacific” can play out its appeal. Yorba Linda’s production, which sold out several times, was scheduled for six more performances at the 2,000 seat amphitheater in Anaheim’s Pearson Park. But those shows were canceled. Out of a possible 12,000 tickets, only 10 had been pre-sold.

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Sue Richmond of the Anaheim Recreation Department, which books the park, said she really doesn’t know why the sales were so dismal, whether it was “the show, the circumstances, the timing or what. Normally, we do concerts and children’s shows. We had 1,600 people for a magic show this summer.” With such a large house, she noted, “it looks pretty scary when only 30 people show up.”

The deal between the YLCLO and the city of Anaheim was the first of its kind and Richmond speculated that the city would “probably try a similar arrangement again. Basically, we did it to get some people in because we have experienced a drop in grant funding. We did it so that people would notice that the amphitheater is here and that there are other things going on.”

The good news on the cancellation? Some of the Yorba Linda cast members hopped right over to Brea’s production. For some people, Bali H’ai is always calling.

* The Brea Civic Light Opera production of “South Pacific” by Rodgers and Hammerstein continues through Oct. 9 at the Curtis Theater, 1 Civic Center Circle, Brea, Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays at 2 p.m. $7 to $15. (714) 990-7722. The Elizabeth Howard Curtain Call Dinner Theatre production continues through Oct. 23 at 690 El Camino Real, Tustin, Tuesdays through Saturdays at 6:15 p.m. and Sundays at 11:15 a.m. and 5:15 p.m. $20.95 to $31.95, includes meal. (714) 838-1540.