Stars reach Perth via South Pacific Lisa McCune, who will star when Opera Australia returns for its first production in Perth for 23 years. Picture: Richard Hatherly Source: PerthNow Christine Anu will play Bloody Mary in the Broadway classic South Pacific. OPERA Australia will make a highly anticipated return to Perth after a 23-year absence. The company will bring its production of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical South Pacific, which stars four-time Gold Logie winner Lisa McCune, Opera star Teddy Tahu Rhodes and singer Christine Anu, to Crown Theatre Perth in November. Tony Award winning US director Bartlett Sher is at the helm of the production, which was first performed on Broadway in 1949 and features a cast of 40 and Perth Symphony Orchestra performing live. McCune, who plays an American nurse Nellie Forbush, was in Perth yesterday with Anu and members of Australian Opera for the announcement. She said the romantic story, set on a tropical island during World War II, would be well-suited to Crown Theatre Perth's wide stage. "We're supposed to be on an island in the South Pacific so it actually lends itself to these very big beautiful stages," McCune said. So I think it will be great here in Perth. The play, which has been performed in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, is returning for a second run at the Sydney Opera House before heading to Perth. "Just the way the show has been received around the country has been fantastic," McCune said. It has been a glorious run and to sing at the Opera House, what a great experience that was. That was on the bucket list... I thought "I'd love my children to see me perform at the Opera House."" Though McCune said she enjoyed the challenge of musical theatre, she said she was also "partial to a bit of a gag on stage." "I get in trouble all the time for laughing," she said. McCune had nothing but nice things to say about the cast and crew of South Pacific, gushing about New Zealand baritone Tahu Rhodes, who plays her on-stage love interest Emile de Becque. "To find somebody who physically can play Emile, who can sing Emile - it's not an easy role to cast," she said. He's actually the pivotal role. He was cast first and I think that's because he's the most difficult person to cast and I think once you get that right, other characters are like satellites around Emile, interestingly. He (Tahu Rhodes) is fantastic and he's just so good in South Pacific - he really crosses over into that genre really well Rumours of an affair between the pair dominated headlines late last year as they were seen getting cosy off-stage. But McCune, who is married to and has three children (Archer, Oliver and Remy) with Tim Disney, has never addressed them. The TV darling, who grew up in Perth and attended the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, said she was thrilled to be returning to WA to work, particularly after hearing of Opera Australia's 23-year absence from the state. Anu, who joined the cast to play Bloody Mary for the Brisbane following the departure of Kate Cebrano, also expressed her excitement at being asked to return to the cast for the Perth production. She was relishing the challenge of the role after being placed in a "pressure cooker situation" and having just over two weeks to prepare ahead of the Brisbane season last year. "What was freaking me out about it was that it was a very technical job compared to the pop world that I'm used to," Anu said. When a cast has already been doing it for many, many weeks it's very nerve-wracking coming in because you're the outsider, or so you feel, and they've been used to seeing a particular Bloody Mary for so long... The best thing about having to do it in two weeks is you can't be cerebral about it, you just have to get out there and do it. According to Anu, the South Pacific cast and crew have been supportive and she has enjoyed being able to push and challenge herself with her passion for music and acting in new ways. "I'm just loving the acting," she said. I'm loving that that's another part of me and I sit there and twiddle my thumbs like I'm a kid in a candy store. I have to become Bloody Mary and there is not a nuance of me that any body can see on stage - My hair is transformed, my face is transformed, my teeth are absolutely transformed and then the way that I hold myself is completely someone else, so I love the fact I get to be someone completely different every night. South Pacific, November 10-December 8, Crown Theatre Perth. Tickets from $74.90 from Ticketek.