Quantum Staging ‘Peribañez’ in Mellon Park Rose Garden; CLO’s ‘South Pacific’ at Benedum (Tues., 8/9/16)

Ethan Saks declaims while Amanda Pulcini smells a fish in “Peribañez.” photo: John Altdorfer.

1) What? The man wrote more than a thousand plays and you haven’t seen a single one? Félix Lope de Vega y Carpio (1562-1635) was known in Spain as “monstruo de la naturaleza”: a freak or force of nature. Along with serving two tours in the Spanish navy and engaging in many scandalous love affairs—even after he entered the priesthood at age 51—Lope de Vega turned out prodigious flows of new material for theaters of the time. About 450 of his plays survive, many still considered masterpieces, bristling with energy and deftly mixing humor with serious themes. Lope de Vega’s work is seldom produced in English translation, but last year Pitt’s Department of Theatre Arts did his romantic comedy The Dog in the Manger, and now Quantum Theatre is staging Peribañez, a tragicomedy in which an army commander schemes to seduce a peasant’s wife.

Quantum is performing Peribañez in a modern adaptation by British playwright Tanya Ronder. 8 p.m. Continues through August 28. The venue is one of Quantum’s favorite outdoor sites, the Jennie King Mellon Rose Garden in Mellon Park, corner of Fifth Avenue and Beechwood Boulevard, Shadyside. (MV)

2) South Pacific is a legendary musical. Opening in New York in 1949, it was one of a string of shows by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II (following Oklahoma! and Carousel) that expanded the horizons of Broadway musical theater. Despite its light-hearted elements, South Pacific explores serious matters in a deadly serious setting: an island used by American combat troops as a staging ground against Japanese forces in World War II. And South Pacific was perhaps the first major musical to deal openly with racism. It features parallel love stories in which two white Americans, a Navy nurse and a Marine officer, fall for residents of the Polynesian island and wrestle with the prospect of bringing nonwhites into their lives. The show’s progressive viewpoint—as expressed in the ironic song “You’ve Got to Be Carefully Taught” (sampled above from the movie version)—set off heated controversies in postwar America. Yet South Pacific was a huge success, winning the Tony Award for Best Musical and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It introduced many memorable songs, from the rousing “There Is Nothing Like a Dame” to the haunting “Bali Ha’i” and “Some Enchanted Evening.”

How well do the social messages and the songs hold up today? See Pittsburgh CLO’s revival of South Pacific and find out. The musical was co-written by Joshua Logan and is based on short stories by James Michener; both men served in the Pacific. 8 p.m. Performances through August 14. Benedum Center, 237 7th St., Downtown. (MV)

3) Tuesday night jazz continues at Theater Square’s Backstage Bar/Agnes Katz Plaza with Kevin Howard. Howard—a contemporary jazz keyboardist and Pittsburgh native—has been recognized by several local media outlets as one of the region’s top jazz performers. He has toured with the legendary Ronnie Laws and played with Najee and another Pittsburgh native—George Benson. Ease into your Tuesday evening with some cool jazz from a top artist. 5 p.m. 7th and Penn Ave., Cultural District.

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