Becque

The opera singers who play Emile de Becque in the current revival of "South Pacific" also speak of their Broadway stints as a huge learning experience.

Sure, they can sing (opera), but can they act? 2011

Theatergoers of a certain age mine grew up with the original cast recording, and find it hard to forget Mary Martin as Nellie Forbush—the nurse who's got to overcome the racial prejudice "you have to be carefully taught"—and Ezio Pinza, a celebrated operatic bass, as Emile de Becque, father of two mixed-race children, who meets Nellie, "a stranger, across a crowded room."

Falling in Love With the Barbican's Wonderful 'South Pacific' Paul Levy 2011

The song “This Nearly Was Mine,” which de Becque, played by Paulo Szot, sings when he thinks he has lost the love of his life, was so affecting she could not stop talking about it.

Thoughts on ‘South Pacific’ - ArtsBeat Blog - NYTimes.com 2008

Over the weekend, I took my mother to the show; she did see the original with Mary Martin as Ensign Nellie Forbush and Ezio Pinza as Emile de Becque.

Thoughts on ‘South Pacific’ - ArtsBeat Blog - NYTimes.com 2008

The song “This Nearly Was Mine,” which de Becque, played by Paulo Szot, sings when he thinks he has lost the love of his life, was so affecting she could not stop talking about it.

Thoughts on ‘South Pacific’ - ArtsBeat Blog - NYTimes.com 2008

Over the weekend, I took my mother to the show; she did see the original with Mary Martin as Ensign Nellie Forbush and Ezio Pinza as Emile de Becque.

Thoughts on ‘South Pacific’ - ArtsBeat Blog - NYTimes.com 2008

When, however, Szot eased into "Some Enchanted Evening," he exhibited the mastery of that Oscar Hammerstein-Richard Rodgers classic he's reached after a year and a half in the de Becque role.

David Finkle: If This is Monday and Opera in Central Park, Why the Microphones? 2009

As a Navy nurse, Nellie gets her wish, and then some, when she falls in love with the elegant expat Frenchman Emile de Becque (Paulo Szot).

Theater of War 2008

When nurse Nellie Forbush (Kelli O'Hara) falls for Emile de Becque (Paulo Szot), a French planter who has fathered two children by a native woman, she's forced to confront her own prejudices.

Fern Siegel: Stage Door Theater Reviews: In Praise Of Patti LuPone, Gypsy, And South Pacific 2008

But above all, it's that Szot - or I should say de Becque-as-rendered-by-Szot - made me realize how atypical it is to love the way he does: blatantly, profusely, putting devotion ahead of all else.

Abigail Pogrebin: Confessions of a South Pacific groupie? 2008