“South Pacific” won five prizes at the Drama Desk Awards, including best musical revival. The first-ever revival of South Pacific also received prizes for actor-musical, Paolo Szot; director-musical, Bartlett Sher; sets-musical, Michael Yeargan, and sound design, Scott Lehrer.

The musical, with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and book by Hammerstein and Joshua Logan, recreates the atmosphere of two love stories, both between people of different cultures on the background of World War II.

On a South Pacific island, a US Navy nurse from Arkansas, Ensign Nellie Forbush, falls in love with Emile de Becque, a French plantation owner. They met at a dinner at the officer’s club (“Some Enchanted Evening”). The love story between “A Cockeyed Optimist” and a middle-aged plantation owner follows its course in a time when everyone’s attention is focused on the outcome of the war.

The show’s story was inspired by two short stories written by James A. Michener from his Pulitzer-winning 1948 book, entitled “Tales of the South Pacific.” Its songs including “Bali Ha’i,” “Some Enchanted Evening,” “Younger than Springtime” and “A Wonderful Guy” are known all over the world. The Broadway production of “South Pacific” won ten Tony Awards in 1950, including Best Musical, Best Score and Best Libretto.

The fist Broadway revival of “South Pacific” began previews on March 1, 2008. The official opening took place on April 3 at Lincoln Center’s Vivian Beaumont Theatre, directed by Barlett Sher and choreographed by Christopher Gatteli with Kelli O’Hara as Nellie Forbush, Paulo Szot as Emile de Becque, and Mathew Morrison as Lt. Cable and featuring Danny Burstein and Loretta Ables Sayre.

“August: Osage County” was chosen best play of the New York theatre season. The revival of “Gypsy” won three awards, for its star, Patti LuPone and for its featured actors, Body Gaines and Laura Benanti. Mark Rylance won the actor-play prize for his role in the revival play “Boeing-Boeing.” “Xanadu” won best book of a musical over “Passing Strange.”