Just to correct, the R&H executors did not shut down the Anne Bogart South Pacific. It was a college production and closed when its scheduled run was over.
The executors understood the thrust of the production before it opened. They saw the production as a test to where the catalog could go at a time when R&H was not taken seriously. When the production finally opened, the people controlling the estate were divided. Some were enthusiastic about the production. Others did not like it.
Also, the production did not change the setting of the play. Rather it framed it as a performance of the classic musical by vets in a hospital. The play within a play setting may have helped audiences to see the play's relevance, but the WW2 setting remained the same. |
