The song is a three-verse solo for the leading male character, Emile, in which he describes first seeing a stranger, knowing that he will see her again, then dreaming of hearing her laughter and finally of feeling her call him. He sings that when you find your "true love", you must "fly to her side, and make her your own, / Or all through your life you may dream all alone." The song has been called "a marvelous distillation of love at first sight [but also] a reflection for mature people who've known it and lived it".[3]
In South Pacific
The song appears in the first act of the musical. It is sung as a solo by the show's male lead, Emile de Becque, a middle-aged French expatriate who has become a plantation owner on a South Pacific island during World War II. Emile falls in love with Ensign Nellie Forbush, an optimistic and naive young American navy nurse from Little Rock, Arkansas. The two have known each other for only a few weeks, and each worries that the other may not return his or her love. In the song, Emile expresses his romantic feelings for Nellie, recalling how they met at an officers' club dance and instantly were attracted to each other. He describes a man seeing a stranger and instantly knowing he will see her again, hearing her laughter and dreaming of it. He says that when you find your "true love", you must "fly to her side, and make her your own"; otherwise, all your life you will "dream all alone". He later asks her to marry him. The song is then reprised several times during the show by Nellie and/or Emile as their relationship experiences setbacks and reconciliations.
In the original Broadway production, "Some Enchanted Evening" was sung by former Metropolitan Opera star Ezio Pinza. Pinza won the Tony Award for Best Actor in 1950 for this role,[4] and the song made him a favorite with audiences and listeners who normally did not attend or listen to opera.[5] In the 2001 London revival of the show, Philip Quast won an Olivier Award for Best Actor for his role as Emile,[6] and seven years later, international opera singer Paulo Szot won a Tony for his portrayal in the 2008 New York revival.[7]
In the film version of South Pacific, the first and second scenes of the play are switched around. Because of the switch, Emile enters later in the film, and "Some Enchanted Evening" is not heard until nearly 45 minutes into the film, while in the original stage version it is heard about 15 minutes after Act I begins.[8] In the film, the song is sung by Metropolitan Opera bass Giorgio Tozzi, who dubbed the singing for actor Rossano Brazzi.[9] Tozzi's version finished at No. 28 on the 2004 American Film Institute list and television special, AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs, selecting the top 100 songs in American cinema.[10]
Analysis
According to Popular Music in America, the song's "lush orchestration, expansive form, and above all its soaring melody" allow the singer and character (Emile) to "linger in the moment" of immediate infatuation.[11]Gerald Mast's history of the American musical notes that the song is a climactic moment which reveals that two characters have fallen in love, and it expresses a seize-the-opportunity lyric:[1] "When you find your true love ... Then fly to her side / And make her your own". According to the running commentary on the 2006 Fox DVD release of the 1958 film version of South Pacific, Lehman Engel remembered that Oscar Hammerstein II wanted to write a song based around verbs but waited ten years to do so before he wrote this song, in which the verses are built around the verbs "see", "hear" and "fly".[12]
Selected recorded versions
Many popular singers have recorded and performed "Some Enchanted Evening".[13]Perry Como's version was a #1 hit in 1949,[14] and Frank Sinatra recorded the song several times.
Ezio Pinza (recorded April 18, 1949, Original Broadway cast recording of South Pacific). His single version reached No. 7 in the Billboard charts in 1949.[15]
Perry Como (1949). His single reached No. 1 in 1949
Frank Sinatra (1949), (1963, including a duet with Rosemary Clooney), (1967). The 1949 version reached the No. 6 position in the Billboard charts.[16]
Bing Crosby (1949), recorded March 10, 1949[17] and reached No. 3 in the Billboard charts during a 20-week stay.[18]
^In the 2006 Fox DVD release of the 1958 film version, running commentary of the film is provided on the first disc by Ted Chapin and Gerard Alessandrini. Alessondrini mentions that Hammerstein told Engel that he wanted to write a lyric focusing on verbs ten years before he wrote South Pacific.
