'South Pacific' comes to IU

A new national tour of the award-winning musical "South Pacific" will launch at the IU Auditorium next month. The play will be in town for two nights only, at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Sept. 21 and 22. Tickets are on sale now at the IU Auditorium Box Office and at all Ticketmaster locations.\n"South Pacific" is not part of the Auditorium's regular fall schedule -- the tour is renting the Auditorium for the week of Sept.16. During the week, the Auditorium will be used for final rehearsals, leading up to the debut performance.\nIU Auditorium General Manager Bryan Rives credits the Auditorium's good relations with different producers and agents around the country for bringing the play to Bloomington. The arrangement gives Bloomington-area musical fans a unique opportunity.\n"This is such a great deal for Bloomington because this show is so large and spectacular -- normally, they would want to play a full week in any city," he said. "We don't have enough population to support that."\nRives said that tickets have been selling "fairly well" -- about 700 have already been sold.\nThe cast is anchored by Broadway veterans Michael Nouri and Erin Dilly. Nouri's most recent Broadway role was opposite Julie Andrews in "Victor/Victoria," and his screen credits include "Finding Forrester" and "Flashdance." Erin Dilly comes directly from her Broadway debut as Phyllis in "Follies." She was nominated for the Helen Hayes Award for Best Actress for her role as Bertrande in Cameron Mackintosh's "Martin Guerre."\nRichard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein adapted "South Pacific" from the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by James Michener. The play opened on Broadway in 1949 and received the 1950 Pulitzer Prize for Drama as well as nine Tony Awards, including Best Musical.\nTickets to "South Pacific" are on sale now, priced at $56 for center orchestra seats, $41 for side & rear orchestra and $31 for balcony ($36, $26 and $16 for IU students).Tickets can be purchased at the IU Auditorium Box Office and all Ticketmaster locations, by phone at 333-9955 or online at www.ticketmaster.com.