I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair" is a song from the musical "South Pacific", sung by Nellie Forbush, the female lead, originally played by Mary Martin in the 1949 Broadway production. Her character, fed up with a man (Emile De Becque) and singing energetically in the shower, claims that she will forget about him. The song was written by Rodgers and Hammerstein in response to Martin's request. She had starred on Broadway for years and Martin suggested that she wash her hair on stage during the performance. "I'm
Tales of the South Pacific "Our Heroine", about Nellie Forbush and Emile de Becque. Characters from other stories, such as Bill Harbison, Bus Adams, and Luther Billis, play minor or supporting roles. Some of the characters from the stories were merged and simplified to serve the format of the musical. For example, the coastwatcher in the musical is an American Marine (Lt. Cable) assisted by an expatriate French plantation owner (Emile de Becque). In Michener's short story "The Cave" the coastwatcher is an English expatriate assisted by native islanders, and is a disembodied voice on a short-wave radio identifying himself only as "The Remittance Man".