Hawaiian Actress Loretta Ables Sayre Will Be Bloody Mary in South Pacific

Hawaiian actress Loretta Ables Sayre will play Bloody Mary in Lincoln Center Theater's forthcoming production of Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific. Sayre joins the previously announced Kelli O'Hara Nellie Forbush and Paulo Szot Emile DeBecque, who will star in the first Broadway production of South Pacific since its 1949 premiere. Directed by Bartlett Sher, the revival will begin previews at the Vivian Beaumont Theater on March 1, 2008, and open on April 3.

Sayre, who will be making her New York and Broadway debuts in South Pacific, is well known in her native state, where she has opened for the Beach Boys, Kenny Loggins, James Brown and the Four Tops at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. Her television credits include the recurring role of Aunty on Nickelodeon's Beyond the Break, FOX-TV's North Shore, NBC's Hawaii and Baywatch Hawaii and ABC's Byrds of Paradise.

South Pacific has music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and a book by Hammerstein and Joshua Logan. Adapted from the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Tales of the South Pacific by James A. Michener, the original production was directed by Logan. Lincoln Center Theater's production will have musical staging by Christopher Gattelli, sets by Michael Yeargan, costumes by Catherine Zuber, lighting by Donald Holder, sound by Scott Lehrer and musical direction by Ted Sperling.