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“Bali Ha’i may call you, any night, any day” are those haunting lyrics from the enduring musical, South Pacific, playing now at the Ahmanson Theatre, where parents, grandparents and kids should hurry on down for a fulfilling evening of high joy and high spirits. We're talking about a star-spangled American treasure, which, as LA Times’ Charles McNulty writes, made the tough British critic Kenneth Tynan cry.

How can anyone other than a bore not enjoy listening to the 26-piece orchestra playing the opening refrain from Bali Ha’i in the overture. The timeless score by Richard Rodgers and the lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein bewitch, as do the performances.

“The best revival,” declared The Washington Post about this Tony-winning production, staged by Bartlett Sher with bounce and verve, and USA Today’s Elysa Gardner raved that “it soars.” The musical’s been isolated for nigh on 60 years, this being the first major revival, since its 1949 premiere in Manhattan, after an agreement by the s estates.

Rod Gilfry, California's opera superstar, perfected a French accent for plantation owner Emile de Becque, who falls for Nellie Forbush, the ensign nurse serving with the U.S. Navy during World War II. Gilfry’s romantic baritonal nuances with the by-now-classic Some Enchanted Evening are elegant and lingering, and Carmen Cusack delivers as “the little hick from Little Rock,” singing I’m in Love with a Wonderful Guy (about de Becque). All too soon, Nellie’s determined to “wash that man right outa my hair, and send him on his way … you can’t light a fire when the woods are wet/you can’t make a butterfly strong/you can’t fix an egg when it ain’t quite good/And you can’t fix a man when he’s wrong!” Well, it’s Nellie who's wrong, and who changes.
Standouts include Keala Settle’s take-no-prisoners Bloody Mary, and Anderson Davis’ Lt. Joseph Cable. For those of a certain age, the music sparks fond remembrances as well as reminding how times have changed. The score is glorious with catchy tunes -- A Cockeyed Optimist, There Is Nothing Like a Dame, Bloody Mary, Happy Talk, Honey Bun, and the love ballads Younger Than Springtime and This Nearly Was Mine. Sets by Michael Yeargan, costumes by Catherine Zuber, and lighting by Donald Holder are topnotch. Gilfry performs through June 20, and David Pittsinger takes over as de Becque on June 27 through closing on July 17th. Not to be missed.

Opening night brought forth Mitzi Gaynor, who starred in the 1959 film adaptation with Rossano Brazzi; John Kerr, who played Lt. Cable on stage and in the film; France Nuyen, who was Cable’s amour, Liat; BarBara Luna from the Broadway show. A surprise in the film: Tales of the South Pacific author James Michener, who won the Pulitzer Prize, appears as a missionary in an uncredited cameo.

On June 25th, the Academy’s events producer Randy Haberkamp will screen the movie (general admission tickets are $5, and $3 for members; how can you beat that?). Excellent timing while the show’s on at the Ahmanson. Mitzi Gaynor, who’s seen the stage version four times, will be featured in an onstage discussion with Center Theatre Group director Michael Ritchie. Mitzi's returned from her Feinstein's engagement in New York, with Rex Reed anointing her as “a supersonic, stratospheric superstar.”

“I’ve danced with the girls for 37 years, through two hip replacements, back surgery, two husbands, and I’ve been president twice,” announced Marilyn Katleman, who was voted Share member of the year at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium during Share’s Boomtown 2010.

In its 57th year, Share has raised $46 million to assist “at risk” youth, the disabled and abused, and funds vocational training and independent living skills for children in need. Founded by Hollywood wives (among them were Jeanne Martin, with husband Dean Martin performing at the Boomtown hoedowns), Share supports eleven facilities, the I Have a Dream Foundation among them. Joan Rush is Chairman of the Board, with Maxine Smith serving as president, and husband Gary Smith lending his talents as Boomtown producer. Share stands for Share Happily and Reap Endlessly.

Jamie Lee Curtis was honored with the Shining Star Award, and teared-up about wearing her late mom Janet Leigh’s cowgirl garb designed exclusively for the Share ladies. She invited twin sister Kelly Curtis onstage to duet a childhood Christmas carol, with Jamie swearing this was “a one-time only” moment – “I can’t sing worth a damn.”

Fred Willard emceed, comic Larry Miller and songbird Jennifer Holliday performed, as did Share’s high-kicking glamour girls, who rocked the crowd with their Rockette-like chorus lines. The event raised $1 million.

Hand-holding Ryan O’Neal and Cheryl Tiegs were among the early Red Carpet arrivals, greeted by Share treasurer Corinna Tsopei-Fields and sexy Shera Danese Falk. Other early birds included Mitzi Gaynor with Joni Berry and Stephen Maitland-Lewis (Joni underwrote the costumes and the chuckwagon dinner catered by Mary Micucci of Along Came Mary).

Also: Louise Danelian and Gary Pudney, artist John Calamaras, Jane Seymour and James Keach, Ginny Mancini, Arthur Kassel, Linda Thompson, the Comedy Store’s Alix and Budd Friedman, Laura Lizer and Rob Word, Michael Solomon with wife Luciana Paluzzi, Susan Blakely and Steve Jaffe, John Byner and Annie Gaybis, Martha and A.C. Lyles, Juli Hutner, Jane Wooster Scott, Anne Jeffreys and Ann Rutherford.

At longtime member Joanna Carson’s table, we visited with Victoria McMahon, the ex of Ed McMahon (who was Johnny Carson’s sidekick on The Tonight Show). Both Johnny and Ed often performed for Share. Victoria’s looking hale and hearty after her lung transplants in San Diego. “Two years ago, I replaced both simultaneously, and I’ve never felt better! No, I haven't smoked a day in my life.” Joanna defines Share as a “sisterhood.”

Another night in homage to artist Arshile Gorky’s Armenian heritage, Louise Danelian, her sister Joyce Stein and other local Armenian-Americans previewed Gorky’s traveling retrospective at our Museum of Contemporary Art. Born Vosdanig Adoian in Ottoman Turkey, Gorky became a forerunner of abstract expressionism. Louise and Joyce are patrons of the exhibition, as are Lennie and Bernie Greenberg, Steve Martin, the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation.

Lennie and Bernie, beloved philanthropists who’ve hugely enriched our cultural landscape, hosted a post-preview dinner at their Beverly Hills residence, where their contemporary art collection is museum-worthy, and includes drawings by Rembrandt. Donors Susan and David Gersh, Kathy and Gary Cypres dined with MOCA's newly-arrived director from New York, the dapper Jeffrey Deitch in a striped blue, double-breasted suit with a lavender tie, who finds the Los Angeles lifestyle quite comfortable. “Luckily, the museum’s trustworthy realtor found me an ideal house. I had only two requirements. That I live near the museum, and in an area where I could run. Los Feliz turned out to be perfect.”