Mitzi Gaynor returns to island where “South Pacific” was filmed after 50 years

Mitzi Gaynor returns to isle of “South Pacific”

HONOLULU — Actress Mitzi Gaynor says filming “South Pacific” on the Hawaiian island of Kauai some 50 years ago “was a hoot.”

The 78-year-old is scheduled to return to the island Thursday for the first time since production wrapped on the hit 1958 musical. Gaynor’s portrayal as Ensign Nellie Forbush earned her a Golden Globe Award nomination for best actress in a musical.

“Fifty years ago, it was Eden. It really was. It was a paradise,” Gaynor said of Kauai in a telephone interview from her home in Beverly Hills, Calif. “And the people were so wonderful and so kind to us.”

Gaynor recalled shooting the beach scene where she sings “I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Out of My Hair,” while actually washing her hair. Despite three months of rehearsals on the mainland, she found she had to stop because the shampoo stung her eyes.

The resulting round-trip car ride to Lihue to buy baby shampoo prompted a four-hour filming delay. But the milder shampoo “saved the day,” Gaynor said.

“We did it all in one day,” she said.

On Saturday, Gaynor is to attend the reopening of the St. Regis Princeville Resort, which is located where the song “Some Enchanted Evening” was performed in the classic musical.

The following day, she will appear at the Kauai Marriott Resort & Beach Club at an event dubbed “An Afternoon with Mitzi Gaynor,” where the actress will reflect on her career and the filming of “South Pacific.”

“We’re going to do questions and answers and chat and show off and make a nuisance of myself,” she joked.

Gaynor is also busy with her one-woman song-and-dance show, “Razzle Dazzle: My Life Behind the Sequins,” which debuted in San Francisco in January.

“I’m having a marvelous time doing it,” Gaynor said. “And this coming year, I’ll be doing it all over the United States, and I would love to do it in Hawaii, because that would really be a ball.”