MSMT & Fulton Theatre’s SOUTH PACIFIC
REVIEWS & PRESS
SOUTH PACIFIC at 75: Prescient, Powerful, and Entirely Enchanting
Maine State Music Theatre Opens 2024 Season with Stunning Revival Of Rodgers & Hammerstein Classic
Lydia Gaston serves up a younger, more sympathetic Bloody Mary than some. She is a survivor, a comic Mother Courage, who only wants the best for her daughter, Liat, and she makes the most of “Bali H’ai” with her appealing alto and strong belt.
SOUTH PACIFIC at Fulton Theatre
“…as portrayed by Lydia Gaston, Mary is fresh, funny, smart, and absolutely charming. She was a breath of fresh air and owned the stage upon every entrance.”
'South Pacific' kicks off at Fulton Theatre this week, oldest production in 'season of joy'
Lydia (center) as Bloody Mary in Fulton Theatre’s SOUTH PACIFIC (June 2024)
Excerpt of interview with Lydia in Lancaster Online:
"There's joy in the show that is so palpable in the music and the way it was written," says actor Lydia Gaston, who performs as Bloody Mary, a Tonkinese (northern Vietnamese) woman who is local to where the American soldiers are stationed in "South Pacific." Bloody Mary is also Liat's mother.
"She's very wily and at the same time also protective of her home," Gaston says. "She sees the others as maybe the invaders ... But she's making the best of the situation and seeing how she can take advantage and make it work for her."
