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Hal Hundley knows the classic Broadway musicals like Placido Domingo knows "Tosca."

The founder and director of the Redondo Music Theatre is a seasoned pro familiar to longtime Tucson theatergoers as the former head of the now-defunct Southern Arizona Light Opera Company (SALOC). Hundley has staged all the grand war horses often enough to feel comfortable taking a fresh approach to the iconic "South Pacific," opening tonight at the Leo Rich Theatre.

"South Pacific" has been staged worldwide since its 1949 opening on Broadway with Mary Martin and Ezio Pinza. The winner of nine Tonys and the Pulitzer Prize for drama, it was enshrined by the 1958 hit film starring Mitzi Gaynor and Rossano Brazzi and features some of the most hummable music ever written — songs such as "Bali H'ai," "Some Enchanted Evening" and "Younger Than Springtime."

"People are sure they know how these classics are supposed to sound," Hundley said in a recent phone interview, "so it's good to give them some surprises."

Asked if that might not make listeners mad, Hundley laughed.

"Sure, it's a risk," he said, "but it's worth it if you want to make the show a new experience. Just because it's a classic doesn't mean it has to feel old."

So instead of the usual elaborate sets and props, Hundley goes for a minimalist approach that relies on a few bits of stage-setting to create the atmosphere, in this case aided by audience memories of the movie and previous productions.

"The cast are all in wardrobe," Hundley says, "and the lighting is professional, so it's amazing how strong an impression you get of the original setting."

Minus elaborate sets, the audience's attention is focused on the players and the music, and here again Hundley makes changes that are meant to pique the audience's interest. With "Bali H'ai," for instance, audiences are used to Bloody Mary singing the song sweetly, but when Hundley started rehearsing the song with Elinor Sherman, he had an inspiration.

"Elinor is a terrific character singer," Hundley says, "and she sang 'Bloody Mary' for me the first time back at SALOC in 1978. This time I asked her to try to line up the singing with the character: Bloody Mary's a schemer, a conniver, and I asked Elinor to put some evil into it, make it bitchy. At first Elinor thought I was kidding, but then she went for it, and it really works."

A nine-piece orchestra will join the cast on stage.