Michael Giltz: Exclusive: South Pacific's David Pittsinger Speaks Out http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-giltz/exclusive-south-pacifics_b_152475.html [4/5/2009 12:50:33 PM] APRIL 5, 2009 HOME POLITICS MEDIA BUSINESS ENTERTAINMENT LIVING STYLE GREEN WORLD CHICAGO COMEDY 23/6 VIDEO BLOGGER INDEX ARCHIVE Make HuffPost Your HomePage Get Email Alerts Twitter: Follow Us BIG NEWS : Angelina Jolie | Madonna | Chris Brown & Rihanna | Paul McCartney | More...</p><p> LOG IN | SIGN UP Michael Giltz Award-winning freelance writer Posted December 19, 2008 | 05:36 PM (EST) BIO Become a Fan Get EmailAlerts Bloggers'Index Exclusive: South Pacific's David Pittsinger Speaks Out Read More: Broadway , David Pittsinger , Gene Robinson , Kelli O'Hara , Opera , Paulo Szot , Rodgers & Hammestein , South Pacific , Tony Winner , Entertainment News If Barack Obama's chief of staff Rahm Emmanuel considered a career in ballet, it shouldn't be any surprise to find out that opera and Broadway starDavid Pittsinger -- currently starring in the hitrevival of South Pacific at Lincoln Center in New York City -- was drawn to politics. "I was a Republican intern under Senator[Lowell] Weicker, who was probably the most liberal Republican ever.</p><p> He didn't vote partylines," says the bass-baritone Pittsinger, who hastaken over the lead role of Emile de Becque while the Tony-winning Paulo Szot fulfills prior commitments.</p><p> Pittsinger plays the role through January25 and again from March 10 through April 12.</p><p> Be the First to Submit This Story to Digg Get Breaking News Alerts Share Print Comments never spam Popular Stories on HuffPost Fashion Face-Off! 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Was there a crowd-pleasing favorite he always performed? "Usually, some of the blue mountain ballads, like 'Shenandoah,' explained Pittsinger. "When you're out on the boat watching the sunset in a cove just off the Atlantic and the current is runnin' by youand you're blowing smoke rings with a cigar, it's pretty easy to have 'Shenandoah' be a show-stopper." But politics and even the arts weren't his first love: for Pittsinger, that would be soccer. "I was really hoping to get to Europe that way," says the performer, who played center half on a team atthe University of Connecticut that were national champions his freshman year and turned out anumber of pros.</p><p> But a skiing accident threw a spanner in the works and he explored both politicsand singing before deciding he had to give performing a shot.</p><p> His parents, unlike most, urgedPittsinger not to be practical. "Washington was always a very special place to us," says Pittsinger, who spends time chatting inhis dressing room which he hasn't even had time to fill with personal mementoes since he just tookover the role. "My dad worked the Eisenhower inauguration.</p><p> He was very proud of that and itcarried him through his life.</p><p> More important than being practical was being committed.</p><p> He said,'Just go for it.</p><p> You'll know it soon enough.</p><p> You'll either bear it or you won't.'" Pittsinger soon flourished, from his time at Yale under the tutelage of lifelong friends Doris and Richard Cross to a flourishing career in Europe where Pittsinger has always had a higher profile and been in demand.</p><p> His career has taken Pittsinger all over the world, not to mention many highlights at New York City Opera and the Metropolitan Opera.</p><p> He'll be performing in Antony & Cleopatra at NYCO early next year and like all top-notch opera singers, he's booked years in advance at second homes likethe Florida Grand Opera in Miami and houses overseas.</p><p> But this is his first time on Broadway and Pittsinger is savoring it.</p><p> He originally auditioned for the role, losing out to his friend Szot, whomhe's performed with over the years. "They had a great, a great Emile in Paolo, someone I've worked with and adore," says Pittsinger. "I was so happy for him because it gave him a chance for some name recognition.</p><p> It's not like it was 15 years ago when if you crossed over, suddenly you weren't legit.</p><p> Today, the quality of voices onBroadway is as good as it's ever been.</p><p> A few months went by and then Paolo won the Tony and Iwas sitting in my hotel in Florida and was sort of duly impressed and proud of him and envious atthe same time and that's the honest truth." "Washington Unplugged" Arianna was on CBS' "Washington...</p><p> Alex Leo The "Real Housewives Of New York City" Flowchart Of Hate I'm a little embarrassed to love this show as much as... "BRUNO" TRAILER! Calamity, AfricanBabies, ChaseScenes And More (NSFW VIDEO) IT'S HERE! 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(Since classicalperformers are scheduled long in advance, Pittsinger apparently had to pay the MetropolitanOpera to be let out of his commitments to seize this opportunity.</p><p> Pittsinger is loathe to discuss thisand prefers speaking happily about Florida Grand Opera, which freed him, knowing how importantit was to Pittsinger and how it could only raise his profile.) South Pacific hasn't been revived since its original Broadway smash engagement some 50 years ago and the reason was always given that the heroine's feelings about interracial marriage somehow dated it.</p><p> But this acclaimed production proves nothing could be further from the truth -- perhapsone reason it's one of the few shows on Broadway doing stellar business. "It's anything but dated," says Pittsinger. "It's as relevant if not more so today.</p><p> First of all, we're a country at war.</p><p> We have a mixed race President. [It deals with] the culture clashing of morality and what's acceptable to whom and how we tend to be more puritanical in this country.</p><p> Here's an example: Emile De Becq thinks it's more important to him that he tell Nellie everything about him and that he's killed a man than the fact that he has children of ethnic descent." For Pittsinger, the show is even more personal. "There are so many parallels," he says. "I have an ethnic wife. [Pittsinger is married to singer Patricia Schuman.] I have twins.</p><p> I've been more at home outside my country than I have been inmy country." He laughs. "I haven't killed anyone, thank God." An avid reader of nonfiction like Stephen Ambrose's telling of the Lewis & Clark expedition (a great idea for a musical, he says), Pittsinger sees politics interwoven throughout the show andindeed society.</p><p> A practicing Episcopalian, he could be described as an "Eisenhower Republican"and calls himself conservative on fiscal issues and very liberal on social issues.</p><p> He draws moreparallels between the show and today -- such as the battle over same sex marriage and how it'saffecting his church. "[Openly gay bishop] Gene Robinson did something for the church and we don't know yet what it is," says Pittsinger. "It'll play out.</p><p> It could be the Episcopal Church will set the tone for the Catholic Church in the future." The future for Pittsinger is clear: he's got commitments for years to come, ranging from roles he's just growing into to old favorites and recitals.</p><p> But clearly Broadway is beckoning and he'd love totackle everything from Kismet to Carnival .</p><p> He loves the quiet emotional moments as much as the big musical numbers and South Pacific is filled with them, from the smile that steals across his face in the opening scenes when Kellie O'Hara as Nellie Forbush sings "A Cockeyed Optimist" tothe finale where he returns after being lost in battle to find Nellie mothering his children. "I don't think I've ever felt so honest as an actor.</p><p> You're inhabiting the character whereas in opera you're not always doing that.</p><p> You're not always inhabiting the character when you're playingMephistopheles," he explains.</p><p> That final moment -- when they clasp hands under a table whileeating -- is as far from operatic as it gets and Pittsinger loves it. "That's a tough scene," he says. "I remember the first time we did it.</p><p> It was hard because she doesn't know I'm there.</p><p> She's trying to speak French [to the children] and then she says, 'I needyou to mind me and listen to everything I say because I love you very much.' Oh God," he says,reliving the emotion the scene brings out. "And then you have to come out and you don't knowwhat's going to come out because your throat is [constricted]. "It's rare in opera and I'll tell you why it's the exception and not the rule.</p><p> It doesn't mean there aren't great performances.</p><p> But everything is done in time - in a key signature everything is laid out for us and we have to be with the orchestra and the conductor.</p><p> Everything is expressed over time.</p><p> If I'm going to say 'I love you' in a song, that song can last eight minutes.</p><p> But if you say it to her or you ask her to marry you, it's just the moment and that moment has to pack the wallop.</p><p> You don't have the aid of music for your timing or anything.</p><p> So what do you do? The only thing you can do isjust believe it and deliver it just like you were delivering it in your own life." Go to Lincoln Center for more information about tickets to South Pacific.</p><p> Women's Rights Michelle Obama Europe Newspapers Cars War Wire Video Financial Crisis Barack Obama MORE BIG NEWS PAGES » Books by this author A cabin of one's own: New England's MacDowellColony celebrates 100years of artistic utopia.And the gay and lesbianartists who prosperedthere celebrate ... (Thenational gay & lesbiannewsmagazine) by Michael Giltz Affairs to remember:Farley Granger beddedAva Gardner, ShelleyWinters, and LeonardBernstein.</p><p> In hisautobiography, IncludeMe Out, Hitchcock's muse... (The national gay &lesbian newsmagazine) by Michael GiltzCramer declared that the depression...</p><p> Scientists Find Rocket Fuel Chemical In Infant Formula ATLANTA — Traces of achemical used in rocket fuel were found in samples of...</p><p> Least Wasteful Cities In America(SLIDESHOW) It's great to love the cityyou live in, and better to love it for a reason like being green! 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