In my experience with musicals, I have known the show’s story backward and forward, being able to sing along with all the lyrics. However, in New York I received the opportunity to attend Rodgers & Hammerstein’s “South Pacific,” a show I had somehow never seen until March 16.

I found myself enticed the whole three hours, and even if I had seen it 100 times before, my attention would have remained just as intent. No wonder the show won seven Tony Awards in 2008.

“South Pacific” was performed at the Vivian Beaumont Theater in the Lincoln Center. Directors Andr