Some Enchanted Evening - in South Pacific

In South Pacific

The song appears in the first act of the musical. It is sung as a solo by 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 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 says that when you fall in love, you must seize the moment; 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 the Olivier Award for Best Actor for his role as Emile; seven years later Paulo Szot won the 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, together with all the songs contained in those two scenes. 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.