“I wish I could tell you about the South Pacific. The way it actually was. The endless ocean. The infinite specks of coral we called islands. Coconut palms nodding gracefully toward the ocean. Reefs upon which waves broke into spray, and inner lagoons, lovely beyond description.”

So begins James Michener’s “Tales of the South Pacific,” the book which was the inspirational source of  Rodgers and Hammerstein’s classic musical “South Pacific.”

The challenge of this musical was to combine visual beauty with the horror of war while sprinkling in elements of romantic comedy.

The Riverside Center for the Performing Arts production, masterfully directed by and choreographed by Penny Ayn Maas and produced by Patrick A’Hearn, succeeds in weaving these delicate threads of the music together and is complemented with an outstanding cast and brilliant singing and musical numbers.