Nellie, a spunky nurse from Arkansas, falls in love with a mature French planter, Emile. Nellie learns that the mother of his children was an island native and, unable to turn her back on the prejudices with which she was raised, refuses Emile’s proposal of marriage. Meanwhile, the strapping Lt. Joe Cable denies himself the fulfillment of a future with an innocent Tonkinese girl with whom he’s fallen in love out of the same fears that haunt Nellie. When Emile is recruited to accompany Joe on a dangerous mission that claims Joe’s life, Nellie realizes that life is too short not to seize her own chance for happiness, thus confronting and conquering her prejudices.

Based on Tales of the South Pacific, James Michener’s collection of short stories, South Pacific opened on Broadway at the the Majestic Theatre on April 7, 1949, starring Mary Martin, Ezio Pinza and Juanita Hall. South Pacific received the 1950 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and for the first time the committee included a composer in the drama prize. The show received ten Tony Awards (including Best Musical), a Grammy Award and countless other accolades. For years the second-longest running show in Broadway history (right behind Oklahoma!), South Pacific returned to Broadway in a celebrated 2008 revival starring Kelli O'Hara and Paolo Szot. The show has proven itself a classic in countless productions around the world and was adapted onscreen in the 1958 film starring Rossano Brazzi and Mitzi Gaynor and in a 2001 made-for-television film starring Glenn Close and Harry Connick, Jr.