"A show of rare enchantment." "Rhapsodically enjoyable." Such were the raves for Rodgers and Hammerstein's fourth collaboration, South Pacific, when it opened on April 7, 1949. South Pacitic seemed blessed from its inception. Leland Hayward suggested to Joshua Logan, the director of Mister Roberts, that he read Tales of the South Pacific - James Michener's Pulitzer Prize-winning book of short stories about American servicemen and locals on a South Pacific island before and during World War II. Logan showed the book to Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein and elements of four stories were expertly woven by Logan and Hammerstein into the three storylines of South Pacific: the story of the dashing middle-aged Frenchman Emile de Becque and the naive young nurse Nellie Forbush; the doomed love of Lt. Joe Cable and the Tonkinese Liat; and the comic shenanigans of Luther Billis. The unforgettable score, with such standards as "Younger Than Springtime", "Some Enchanted Evening," and "Bali Ha'i", also included Hammerstein's condemnation of racism, "Carefully Taught". The dramatic content of South Pacific was such that it not only swept the Tony Awards, but also won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama - the second of only seven musicals so honoured since 1932. South Pacific ran for 1,925 performances on Broadway - the second longest run for a musical at that time.