Some Enchanted Evening - wikipedia Some Enchanted Evening This article is about the song. For other uses, see Some Enchanted Evening ( disambiguation ). `` Some Enchanted Evening '' Song from South Pacific Published 1949 Songwriter ( s ) Oscar Hammerstein II Composer ( s ) Richard Rodgers `` Some Enchanted Evening '' is a show tune from the 1949 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical South Pacific. It is `` the single biggest popular hit to come out of any Rodgers and Hammerstein show. '' It is a three - verse solo for the leading male character, Emile, in which he describes seeing a stranger, knowing that he will see her again, and dreaming of her laughter. He sings that when you find your `` true love '', you must `` fly to her side, / And make her your own ''. Contents 1 In South Pacific 2 Analysis 3 Selected recorded versions 4 In popular culture 5 Notes 6 References 7 External links In South Pacific The song appears in the first act of the musical. It is sung as a solo by the show 's male lead, Emile de Becque, a middle - aged French expatriate who has become a plantation owner on a South Pacific island during World War II. Emile falls in love with Ensign Nellie Forbush, an optimistic and naive young American navy nurse from Little Rock, Arkansas. The two have known each other for only a few weeks, and each worries that the other may not return his or her love. Emile expresses his romantic feelings for Nellie, recalling how they met at an officers ' club dance and instantly were attracted to each other. He asks her to marry him. In the song, he describes a man seeing a stranger and instantly knowing he will see her again, hearing her laughter and dreaming of it. He says that when you find your `` true love '', you must `` fly to her side, / And make her your own '' ; otherwise, all your life you will `` dream all alone ''. The song is then reprised several times during the show by Nellie and / or Emile as their relationship experiences setbacks and reconciliations. In the original Broadway production, `` Some Enchanted Evening '' was sung by former Metropolitan Opera bass Ezio Pinza. Pinza won the Tony Award for Best Actor in 1950 for this role, and the song made him a favorite with audiences and listeners who normally did not attend or listen to opera. In the 2001 London revival of the show, Philip Quast won an Olivier Award for Best Actor for his role as Emile, and seven years later, international opera singer Paulo Szot won a Tony for his portrayal in the 2008 New York revival. In the film version of South Pacific, the first and second scenes of the play are switched around. Because of the switch, Emile enters later in the film, and `` Some Enchanted Evening '' is not heard until nearly 45 minutes into the film, while in the original stage version it is heard about 15 minutes after Act I begins. In the film, the song is sung by another Metropolitan Opera bass, Giorgio Tozzi, who dubbed the singing for actor Rossano Brazzi. Tozzi 's version finished at No. 28 on the 2004 American Film Institute list and television special, AFI 's 100 Years... 100 Songs, selecting the top 100 songs in American cinema. Analysis According to Popular Music in America, the song 's `` lush orchestration, expansive form, and above all its soaring melody '' allow the singer and character ( Emile ) to `` linger in the moment '' of immediate infatuation. Gerald Mast 's history of the American musical notes that the song is a climactic moment which reveals that two characters have fallen in love, and it expresses a seize - the - opportunity lyric : `` When you find your true love... Then fly to her side / And make her your own ''. According to the running commentary on the 2006 Fox DVD release of the 1958 film version of South Pacific, Lehman Engel remembered that Oscar Hammerstein II wanted to write a song based around verbs but waited ten years to do so before he wrote this song, in which the verses are built around the verbs `` see '', `` hear '' and `` fly ''. Selected recorded versions Many popular singers have recorded and performed `` Some Enchanted Evening ''. Perry Como 's version was a # 1 hit in 1949, and Frank Sinatra recorded the song several times. Ezio Pinza ( recorded April 18, 1949, Original Broadway cast recording of South Pacific ). His single version reached No. 7 in the Billboard charts in 1949. Perry Como ( 1949 ). His single reached No. 1 in 1949 Frank Sinatra ( 1949 ), ( 1963 ), ( 1967 ). The 1949 version reached the No. 6 position in the Billboard charts. Bing Crosby ( 1949 ), recorded March 10, 1949 and reached No. 3 in the Billboard charts during a 20 - week stay. Jo Stafford - Autumn in New York ( 1950 ). Her single version reached No. 4 in the Billboard charts in 1949. Giorgio Tozzi ( 1958 for the film soundtrack ; 1967 for the Lincoln Center revival cast recording with Florence Henderson ) Jay & The Americans - United Artists 45 ( 1965 ). The Group 's single version reached No. 13 on the Billboard charts in 1965. Andy Williams ( from the 1958 album, Andy Williams Sings Rodgers and Hammerstein ) José Carreras ( 1986 ) for a studio cast recording of South Pacific with Kiri Te Kanawa, Mandy Patinkin and Sarah Vaughan Willie Nelson included it on his 1988 album, What a Wonderful World Barbra Streisand ( from her No. 1 1993 album Back to Broadway ) The Temptations ( 1995, For Lovers Only ) Bryn Terfel -- Something Wonderful : Bryn Terfel Sings Rodgers and Hammerstein ( 1996 ) Philip Quast for the 2002 London revival cast recording of South Pacific Art Garfunkel ( from his 2007 album Some Enchanted Evening ) Paulo Szot -- South Pacific ( The New Broadway Cast ) ( 2008 ) Bob Dylan ( from his No. 1 2015 album Shadows in the Night ) In popular culture The song 's title has been used as the name for albums, such as one by Blue Öyster Cult, one by Art Garfunkel and a cast album and PBS special of the revue `` Some Enchanted Evening '' -- The Songs of Rodgers & Hammerstein. It was used as the name for television episodes in such TV series as The Simpsons, Last of the Summer Wine, Man About the House, and Bless This House. The song has been sung in films and on TV shows, for example by Harrison Ford in the film American Graffiti ( 1978 reissue ), by an itinerant chanteuse in Crossing Delancey ( 1988 ), by Jon Bon Jovi on Ally McBeal in the episode `` Homecoming '' ( 2002 ) and by Bert in episode 102 on the Muppet Show ( 1977 ) to Connie Stevens. Notes ^ Jump up to : Mast, Gerald. Ca n't Help Singin ' : The American Musical on Stage and Screen. Overlook Press, 1987. p. 206. Excerpted in : Block, Geoffrey. The Richard Rodgers Reader, p. 91, Oxford University Press, 2006. Jump up ^ South Pacific 1950 Tony winners, Tony Awards official website, accessed April 4, 2012 Jump up ^ Eaton, Quaintance. The Miracle of the Met : An Informal History of the Metropolitan Opera, 1883 - 1967. Greenwood Press, 1976. p. 227. Jump up ^ `` Olivier Winners 2002 '', Olivier Awards official website, accessed April 7, 2012 Jump up ^ Gans, Andrew. `` Tony Winner Szot to Return to Broadway 's South Pacific March 31 ; Michals to Sub in April and June ''. Retrieved 5 April 2012. Jump up ^ Pressley, Nelson. `` An Era 's Bias, Cast In Bali Ha'i Relief ; With South Pacific, Arena Stage Takes On A Troubling Zeitgeist ''. Washington Post. December 15, 2002. Jump up ^ `` South Pacific ( 1958 ) ''. TCM.com, accessed April 6, 2012 Jump up ^ `` AFI 's 100 Years... 100 Songs '', American Film Institute, June 22, 2004, accessed October 7, 2014 Jump up ^ Campbell, Michael. Popular Music in America : And the Beat Goes on, p. 132, Cengage Learning, 2008 ISBN 0 - 495 - 50530 - 7 Jump up ^ In the 2006 Fox DVD release of the 1958 film version, running commentary of the film is provided on the first disc by Ted Chapin and Gerard Alessandrini. Alessondrini mentions that Hammerstein told Engel that he wanted to write a lyric focusing on verbs ten years before he wrote South Pacific. Jump up ^ Link to numerous recordings of the song, Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization website, accessed March 18, 2012 Jump up ^ Perry Como, `` Some Enchanted Evening '', Music VF.com, accessed April 7, 2012 Jump up ^ Whitburn, Joel ( 1986 ). Joel Whitburn 's Pop Memories 1890 - 1954. Wisconsin, USA : Record Research Inc. p. 354. ISBN 0 - 89820 - 083 - 0. Jump up ^ Whitburn, Joel ( 1986 ). Joel Whitburn 's Pop Memories 1890 - 1954. Wisconsin, USA : Record Research Inc. p. 393. ISBN 0 - 89820 - 083 - 0. Jump up ^ `` A Bing Crosby Discography ''. BING magazine. International Club Crosby. Retrieved September 20, 2016. Jump up ^ Whitburn, Joel ( 1986 ). Joel Whitburn 's Pop Memories 1890 - 1954. Wisconsin, USA : Record Research Inc. p. 111. ISBN 0 - 89820 - 083 - 0. Jump up ^ Whitburn, Joel ( 1986 ). Joel Whitburn 's Pop Memories 1890 - 1954. Wisconsin, USA : Record Research Inc. p. 406. ISBN 0 - 89820 - 083 - 0. Jump up ^ `` Some Enchanted Evening -- The Songs of Rodgers & Hammerstein '', Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization, accessed December 24, 2013 ; and `` Centennial Summer '', Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization, May 1, 1995, accessed December 24, 2013 Jump up ^ Pfeiffer, Lee and Michael Lewis, The Films of Harrison Ford, Citadel Press, 2002, p. 59 ISBN 0806523646 Jump up ^ Dinicola, Dan. `` Crossing Delancey is Refreshing '', Schenectady Gazette, September 29, 1988, accessed April 7, 2012 Jump up ^ `` Ally McBeal : ' Homecoming ' '', TV.com ( CBS ), accessed April 7, 2012 Jump up ^ `` Rare Appearances of Bert and Ernie on The Muppet Show '', Retroist, March 29, 2012 Jump up ^ Chapman, Phillip. `` Connie Stevens - Episode 2 '', Muppet Central Guides, accessed April 7, 2012 References Nolan, Frederick ( 2002 ). The Sound of Their Music : The Story of Rodgers & Hammerstein. New York : Applause Theatre & Cinema Books. ISBN 1 - 55783 - 473 - 3. External links Szot performs the song with O'Hara on `` The View '' in 2008 on YouTube Preceded by `` ( Ghost ) Riders in the Sky : A Cowboy Legend '' by Vaughn Monroe U.S. Billboard Best Sellers in Stores number - one single by Perry Como July 30, 1949 -- August 27, 1949 Succeeded by `` You 're Breaking My Heart '' by Vic Damone Rodgers and Hammerstein Stage musicals Oklahoma ! Carousel Allegro South Pacific The King and I Me and Juliet Pipe Dream Flower Drum Song The Sound of Music A Grand Night for Singing State Fair Cinderella Productions I Remember Mama Annie Get Your Gun Happy Birthday John Loves Mary Show Boat The Happy Time Burning Bright Films State Fair Oklahoma ! Carousel The King and I South Pacific Flower Drum Song State Fair The Sound of Music Cinderella Television Cinderella The Sound of Music Live ! Songs `` Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin ' '' `` The Surrey with the Fringe on Top '' `` Kansas City '' `` I Cai n't Say No '' `` Many a New Day '' `` It 's a Scandal ! It 's a Outrage ! '' `` People Will Say We 're in Love '' `` Lonely Room '' `` The Farmer and the Cowman '' `` All Er Nuthin ' '' `` Oklahoma '' `` If I Loved You '' `` Soliloquy '' `` You 'll Never Walk Alone '' `` It Might as Well Be Spring '' `` That 's for Me '' `` A Fellow Needs a Girl '' `` So Far '' `` Some Enchanted Evening '' `` There Is Nothing Like a Dame '' `` Bali Ha'i '' `` I 'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair '' `` I 'm in Love with a Wonderful Guy '' `` Younger Than Springtime '' `` Happy Talk '' `` You 've Got to Be Carefully Taught '' `` I Whistle a Happy Tune '' `` Hello, Young Lovers '' `` Getting to Know You '' `` We Kiss in a Shadow '' `` Something Wonderful '' `` I Have Dreamed '' `` Shall We Dance ? '' `` No Other Love '' `` I Enjoy Being a Girl '' `` The Sound of Music '' `` Maria '' `` My Favorite Things '' `` Do - Re-Mi '' `` Sixteen Going on Seventeen '' `` The Lonely Goatherd '' `` Climb Ev'ry Mountain '' `` So Long, Farewell '' `` No Way to Stop It '' `` Edelweiss '' Related articles `` Something Good '' The Sound of Music The Sound of Music : Music from the NBC Television Event James A. Michener 's Tales of the South Pacific ( 1947 ) Characters Bloody Mary Adaptations South Pacific ( 1949 musical ) Awards and nominations South Pacific ( 1958 film ) South Pacific ( 2001 film ) Songs `` Some Enchanted Evening '' `` There Is Nothing Like a Dame '' `` Bali Ha'i '' `` I 'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair '' `` I 'm in Love with a Wonderful Guy '' `` Younger Than Springtime '' `` Happy Talk '' `` You 've Got to Be Carefully Taught '' Albums South Pacific ( 1958 soundtrack ) Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Some_Enchanted_Evening&oldid=803145132 '' Categories : 1949 songs Songs with lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II Songs with music by Richard Rodgers Perry Como songs Frank Sinatra songs Jo Stafford songs Bing Crosby songs Andy Williams songs Jay and the Americans songs Barbra Streisand songs The Temptations songs Number - one singles in the United States Songs from South Pacific ( musical ) Love themes Songs from South Pacific ( 1958 film ) Hidden categories : Music infoboxes with unknown value for type Talk Contents About Wikipedia Deutsch Español 日本 語 Norsk Edit links This page was last edited on 30 September 2017, at 18 : 49. 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Question: who sang some enchanted evening in the film south pacific
Answer: Ezio Pinza