Coming up

• Portland Ovations welcomes a new production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Pulitzer Prize-winning musical “South Pacific” to Merrill Auditorium for three performances next weekend, at 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. March 18.

This is a new production of the classic musical, based on the 2008 Tony Award-winning Lincoln Center Theater production. That show won a Tony for director Bartlett Sher and lighting designer Donald Holder, both of whom have connections to Portland Stage Company.

Set on a tropical island during World War II, the musical tells of the romance of two couples and how their happiness is threatened by the war and their own prejudices. The score includes the classics “Some Enchanted Evening,” “I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair,” “Younger Than Springtime,” “This Nearly Was Mine” and “A Wonderful Guy.”

Ovations Offstage offers a pre-performance lecture, “Issues of Race in Musical Theater,” at 1 p.m. Saturday in Room 24 at Merrill Auditorium. Gretchen Berg, director of Ovations Offstage, will discuss questions of race raised in such Broadway musicals as “Showboat,” “Hairspray,” “South Pacific” and “Avenue Q.”

Tickets range from $50 to $65 through PortTix at 842-0800 or porttix.com. For information, visit portlandovations.org.

• In Lewiston, the Public Theatre stages the Tony Award-winning play “Red” Thursday through March 25. This is the Maine premiere of the show that won the Tony for best play in 2010.

Written by John Logan, “Red” celebrates the creative spirit and offers a glimpse into the mind of a great artist struggling with his ego, his conscience and his art. It tells the story of abstract expressionist Mark Rothko as he confronts the pressure of his own popularity when he accepts the biggest commission in the history of modern art and paints a series of murals to hang in the famous Four Seasons restaurant.

When his young assistant gains the confidence to challenge his artistic integrity, Rothko must face the possibility that his crowning achievement could also be his undoing.

Christopher Schario directs. Starring is New York actor Joel Leffert, who has appeared on Broadway and at the National Theatre in London in Tennessee Williams’ “Not About Nightingales.” Playing his assistant is Anthony Johnston, a Canadian actor.

The giant Rothko paintings used in the production will be recreated by artist Gordon Carlisle.

“Red” will be performed at 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday, 8 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday, and again March 22-25 with an additional 2 p.m. performance March 24.

Tickets cost $18 for adults and $5 for ages 18 and younger. For tickets, call 782-3200 or visit thepublictheatre.org.

 

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