During World War II, an American Navy nurse named Nellie Forbush arrives on an island in the South Pacific, where she quickly falls in love with Emile de Becque, a dashing French plantation owner. While everyone else is concerned with the war around them, Nellie assures Emile that as a “Cockeyed Optimist,” she knows everything will turn out well in the end. They express their love for each other (“Some Enchanted Evening”) before she heads back to the hospital.

The navy men are growing restless, as the women on the island are all commissioned nurses and thus off limits to them. The only female civilian is “Bloody Mary,” a flirtatious middle-aged Tonkinese woman who sells grass skirts and other novelties. Luther Billis and the other men hope she will one day take them to the legendary island Bali Ha’i, which is allegedly full of women, as they all agree “There is Nothing Like a Dame.”

Marine Lieutenant Joseph Cable arrives on the island to carry out a military mission. Bloody Mary convinces him that “Bali Ha’i” will be important to him, and he agrees to go along with Billis and some other friends. He has heard of Emile and feels his knowledge of the area would be useful on their next mission and asks Nellie to find out more about his character, as he has heard unsavoury rumours about him, including that he killed a man in France.

Nellie is furious at the allegations and decides she is done with Emile (“I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair”). However, he soon arrives and manages to persuade her to join him for a party where he will introduce her to his friends. At the party, he reveals that he killed a man in self-defence and a relieved Nellie accepts his marriage proposal (“I’m in Love With a Wonderful Guy”).

Cable asks Emile to join his mission, but Emile is eager to start his new life with Nellie and refuses. Cable and Billis head to the island of Bali Ha’i, where Bloody Mary introduces Cable to her daughter Liat, knowing that her only chance of a better life is marrying an American soldier. Cable and Liat instantly fall in love (“Younger Than Springtime”). Meanwhile, Emile introduces Nellie to Jerome and Ngana, who he reveals are his children with a Tonkinese woman who has since died. Nellie likes the children but cannot bring herself to be mother to children who are not white and leaves Emile dumbfounded.

Bloody Mary encourages Cable and Liat’s blossoming romance (“Happy Talk”), and advises they get marries. Cable reveals he could never marry a woman who is not white because of his family’s prejudice, and Bloody Mary furiously tears her away. Later, Emile confronts Cable about his and Nellie’s racist views, and Cable explains that this is the way American society has raised them (“You’ve Got to Be Carefully Taught”).

Emile laments losing Nellie and wonders what might have been (“This Could Have Been Mine”). He decides to join Cable on the dangerous mission, as he has nothing to lose. Though the mission is successful, Cable is killed and Emile is now missing. When Nellie finds out the news, she is forced to tell Liat her love is dead. The rest of the soldiers head off to battle, but Nellie decides to stay behind and look after Emile’s children, soon growing to love them. As they sing “Dites-Moi” together, they hear Emile’s voice join them, and Nellie assures him she has given up her prejudice and wants to be with him for good.

Act I

• Overture
• Dites-Moi
• Cockeyed Optimist, A
• Twin Soliloquies
• Some Enchanted Evening
• Bloody Mary
• There Is Nothin’ Like A Dame
• Bali Ha’i
• I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair
• Wonderful Guy, A
• Younger Than Springtime

Act II

• Happy Talk
• Honey Bun
• You’ve Got To Be Carefully Taught
• This Nearly Was Mine
• My Girl Back Home
• Finale

1949 Tony Awards: Best Musical, Best Male Performer (Pinza), Best Female Performer (Martin), Best Supporting Male Performer (McCormick), Best Supporting Female Performer (Hall), Best Director (Logan), Best Book and Best Score.

1950 Pulitzer Prize for Drama

UK: Josef Weinberger

USA: R & H Theatricals

The show begins with a spotlight on a single woman, growing to 2 women and 2 men. They sing about their hopes, dreams and ambitions as if they were explorers looking for a new world. We are taken aboard a 16th Century ship taking passengers to shore. As the struggle to survive the crossing they think about God and ask for support in their new life, (“On the Deck of the Spanish Sailing Ship”). A woman standing on a ledge of her penthouse is threatening to take “Just One Step” and jump as a crowd gathers below to watch her suicidal mission. She is scared about stepping forward into a new life.

A new mother appears and sings to her new born child, saying that strength will see her through, (“I’m Not Afraid of Anything”). We then see two men talking about the idea of wealth and rewards, wondering why some are lucky and others are not, “The River Won’t Flow”. Meanwhile, a woman who has married into wealth looks back at her life and questions the decisions she made and if she really is happy (“Stars and the Moon”).

We then see a different form of relationship as a man struggles with the woman he loves who continues to lie to her. Despite this, he chooses to go back to her, (“She Cries”). In the Bronx a hard young man dreams of being a basketball star and his passion inspires him to fight to achieve his goals (“The Steam Train”).

As the second act begins we see a man struggle to talk to his father after he has failed in life and is unable to make a clear decision, “The World Was Dancing”. Mrs Claus enters and laments about being married to Santa Claus at the prospect of spending another festive season on her own, “Surabaya-Santa”. In direct contrast, a less fearsome woman turns to God to help her find purpose in the real world as she sings a “Christmas Lullaby”.

We cut to a man in his prison cell who questions why he is there and the actions he has taken, (“King of the World”). Straight afterwards we see a couple separated, trying to make their life together work, (“I’d Give it All For You”). A mother of an American Revolutionary soldier sews a flag whilst waiting for news of her son, (“The Flagmaker 1775″). A young man hears the voices of angels and realises he is “Flying Home”. All the four singers come together to talk once again about their hopes, dreams and ambitions they hope to carry on to the new world, “Hear My Song”.

Act One

• Opening: The New World
• On The Deck Of A Spanish Sailing Ship, 1492
• Just One Step
• I’m Not Afraid Of Anything
• The River Won’t Flow
• Stars And The Moon
• She Cries
• The Steam Train
• The World Was Dancing

Act Two

• Surabaya-Santa
• Christmas Lullaby
• King Of The World
• I’d Give It All For You
• The Flagmaker, 1775
• Flying Home
• Hear My Song

UK: Josef Weinberger

USA: Musical Theatre International

The Cat in the Hat arrives and welcomes the audience to the show, telling them to let their imagination go wild (“Oh The Things You Can Think!”). We arrive in the Jungle of Nool, where Horton the Elephant hears a peculiar noise from a small speck of dust, (“Horton Hears a Who”). He places it on a four leaf clover to protect it from the other animals, who mock him for being able to hear it. Gertrude McFuzz acts as his only friend and begins to fall in love with Horton. As the voices continue to get clearer, the Mayor of Who tells Horton about their very small and very fragile planet, as The Cat in the Hat zooms in on the whole land, (“Here on Who”).

Jojo, the mayor’s son is a daydreamer and is told off by his parents for thinking ‘thinks’ that often distract him from everyday life, especially his school work. He continually tries not to think as much, but he begins to imagine that his bathtub is McElligot’s pool, and everything spins out of control, (“It’s Possible”). The Mayor and his wife are worry about “How to Raise a Child”, and they decide to send him to military school to correct him. The school is run by the tyrannical General Genghis Khan Schmitz who picks fights with other people and has declared war on those people who eact their bread with the butter side down, (“The Military”).

Horton the Elephant meets the small Jojo and they bond about being socially excluded, (“Alone in the Universe”). Gertrude wonders why Horton isn’t in love with her and thinks it is because her tail is small and has only one feather. She is upset and seeks help from Mayzie LaBird who has a beautiful tale. She is told to get pills from Dr Dake who lives by the lake, and Mayzie tells her that it will make her tail beautiful, (“Amazing Mayzie/Amazing Gertrude”). Gertrude overdoses on the pills and her tail grows out of control.

Meanwhile, Horton is attacked by the Wickersham Brothers, a gang of naught monkeys that steal his clover, that ends up getting lost in a large field of identical clovers (“Chasing the Whos”). The audience are told by The Cat in The Hat how lucky they are to not be a Who, (“How Lucky You Are”). Horton attempts to find the clover in the field whilst Gertrude continues to struggle to get Horton to notice her and she takes more pills, (“Notice Me Horton”). Mayzie has been left with an egg and begs Horton to look after it so she can have some time off. She flies away and doesn’t return, as the seasons change and Horton is captured by hunters. Gertrude tries to save him, but her tail is now so large she can’t get off the ground.

As Act II begins, Horton is sent to New York City and sold to a travelling Circus, (“Egg, Nest and Tree”). Whilst Horton is depressed (“The Circus on Tour”), Mayzie is sick of sunbathing in Palm Beach and decides to visit Horton in the Circus with the egg. Horton begs her to take the egg back, but she refuses and tells him to keep it forever. He swears to look after the egg and sings to it, telling it about a magical place called “Solla Sollew”.

Jojo continues to live in the Military, and is deployed to fight in the Butter Battle. Jojo tells the General that he believes war to be immoral, causing an explosion of “Green Eggs and Ham” that is thought to have killed him. The Mayor and his wife are told of their loss during their Christmas celebrations. The Cat in the Hat jumps in and brings Jojo back from the dark place he has ended up, reuniting him with his parents.

Gertrude arrives at the circus to free Horton, after having her tail trimmed (“All For You”) and she brings the clover. Horton is pleased that the Whos are safe and looks at Gertrude differently. Their happiness is short lived, as the Sour Kangaroo and the Monkeys drag Horton back to the jungle to put him on trial for talking to dust and looking after the egg. Yertle the Turtle says the clover should be boiled, and Horton tells the Whos to shout to prove their existence. Jojo has one of his ‘thinks’ and gets the whole land to yell the word ‘YOPP’ which results in them being saved and his parents finally appreciating him. The charges against Horton are dropped, just in time for his egg to hatch as an Elephant-Bird emerges. Horton and Gertrude decide they will both teach it what to do, and will raise it together.

• Oh, The Thinks You Can Think! ………………The Cat in the Hat and the Company
• Horton Hears A Who ……….Bird Girls, Horton and Citizens of the Jungle of Nool
• Biggest Blame Fool ………Sour Kangaroo, Horton, Wickersham Brothers, Bird Girls,
  Gertrude McFuzz, Mayzie LaBird, Citizens of the Jungle of Nool and The Cat
• Here On Who ……………Mayor of Whoville, Mrs. Mayor, The Grinch, Whos, Horton
• A Day for The Cat in The Hat ………………….The Cat, JoJo and Cat’s Helpers
• It’s Possible (McElligot’s Pool)………………………JoJo, The Cat and Fish
• How To Raise A Child …………………………………..Mayor and Mrs. Mayor
• The Military ……..Gen. Genghis Kahn Schmitz, Mayor, Mrs. Mayor, JoJo and Cadets
• Alone In The Universe ………………………………………Horton and JoJo
• The One Feather Tail of Miss Gertrude McFuzz ………………………..Gertrude
• Amayzing Mayzie ……………………………..Mayzie, Gertrude and Bird Girls
• Amayzing Gertrude …………………………..Gertrude, The Cat and Bird Girls
• Monkey Around ………………………………………….Wickersham Brothers
• Chasing The Whos ………..Horton, Sour Kangaroo, Bird Girls, Wickersham Brothers,
  The Cat, Vlad Vladikoff and Whos
• How Lucky You Are …………………………………………………The Cat
• Notice Me, Horton ………………………………………Gertrude and Horton
• How Lucky You Are (Reprise)……………………….Mayzie, Horton and The Cat
• Act I Finale …………………………………………………Full Company

ACT TWO

• How Lucky You Are(Reprise)………………………………………..The Cat
• Egg, Nest, and Tree …….Sour Kangaroo, Bird Girls, Wickersham Brothers, The Cat,
  Cat’s Helpers and Hunters
• The Circus McGurkus ………..The Cat, Horton and the Circus McGurkus Animals and
  Performers
• The Circus on Tour …………………………………………………Horton
• Mayzie in Palm Beach ……………………………..Mayzie, The Cat and Horton
• Solla Sollew ………..Horton, Animals and Performers, Mayor, Mrs. Mayor and JoJo
• The Whos’ Christmas Pageant ……………………………..The Grinch and Whos
• A Message From The Front ……………Gen. Schmitz, Mayor, Mrs. Mayor and Cadets
• Havin’ a Hunch ………………………………The Cat, JoJo and Cat’s Helpers
• All For You ………………………………………..Gertrude and Bird Girls
• The People Versus Horton The Elephant …………………..Horton, Sour Kangaroo,
  Wickersham Brothers,Marshal, Judge Yertle the Turtle, Bird Girls,
  Gertrude, Mayor, Mrs. Mayor, JoJo, Whos and The Cat
• Finale / Oh, The Thinks You Can Think! ………………………….Full Company

2001 Tony Awards: Nominated for – Best Actor in a Musical, Kevin Chamberlin.

2001 Drama Desk Awards: Nominated for –  Outstanding Actor in a Musical – Kevin Chamberlin, Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical – Janine LaManna (nominee), Outstanding Music – Music by Stephen Flaherty (nominee)

UK: Josef Weinberger

USA: R & H Theatricals