Pacific Overtures is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by John Weidman, with "additional material by" Hugh Wheeler.
Set in nineteenth-century Japan, it tells the story of the country's westernization starting in 1853, when American ships forcibly opened it to the rest of the world. The story is told from the point of view of the Japanese, and focuses in particular on the lives of two friends who are caught in the change.
Sondheim wrote the score in a quasi-Japanese musical style of parallel 4ths and no leading-tone. He did not use the pentatonic scale; the 4th degree of the major scale is represented from the opening number through the finale, as Sondheim found just five pitches too limiting. The music contrasts Japanese contemplation ("There Is No Other Way") with Western ingenuousness ("Please Hello"), while over the course of the 127 years Western harmonies, tonality, and even lyrics are infused into the score. The score is generally considered to be one of Sondheim's most ambitious and sophisticated efforts.Suskin, Steven. "Show Tunes" (2000). Oxford University Press US. , p. 283
The original Broadway production of Pacific Overtures in 1976 was staged in Kabuki theatre form, with men playing women's parts and set changes made in full view of the audience by black-clad stagehands. The show opened to mixed reviews and closed after six months, despite being nominated for ten Tony Awards.
Given its specific casting and production demands, Pacific Overtures remains one of Stephen Sondheim's least-performed musicals. The show is occasionally staged by opera companies. The cast requires an abundance of male Asian actors who must play male and female parts. As written, women join the ensemble for only half of the last song; all other principal female roles are played by men, as was traditional in Kabuki theatre. In the original production the five female cast members appeared throughout the show in small roles and as stagehands, and more recent productions, including the 2004 Broadway revival, did away with the device of men playing the majority of the women's roles.
The most recent U.S. revival in 2017 at Classic Stage Company (CSC), directed by John Doyle and starring George Takei as The Reciter, featured a cast of only 10 people: 8 men and 2 women. This Off-Broadway production was also notable for featuring a revised book by John Weidman with a reduced running time of 90 minutes (versus the 2 hour 30 minute original run time).
Title The title of the work is drawn directly from text in a letter from Admiral Perry addressed to the Emperor dated July 7, 1853:
Many of the large ships-of-war destined to visit Japan have not yet arrived in these seas, though they are hourly expected; and the undersigned, as an evidence of his friendly intentions, has brought but four of the smaller ones, designing, should it become necessary, to return to Edo in the ensuing spring with a much larger force. But it is expected that the government of your imperial majesty will render such return unnecessary, by acceding at once to the very reasonable and pacific overtures contained in the President's letter, and which will be further explained by the undersigned on the first fitting occasion.
In addition to playing on the musical term "overture" and the geographical reference to the Pacific Ocean there is also the irony, revealed as the story unfolds, that these "pacific overtures" to initiate commercial exploitation of the Pacific nation were backed by a none too subtle threat of force.
Productions Pacific Overtures previewed in Boston and ran at The Kennedy Center for a month before opening on Broadway at the Winter Garden Theatre on January 11, 1976. It closed after 193 performances on June 27, 1976. Directed by Harold Prince, the choreography was by Patricia Birch, scenic design by Boris Aronson, costume design by Florence Klotz, and lighting design by Tharon Musser. The original cast recording was released originally by RCA Records and later on CD. This production was nominated for 10 Tony Awards, and won Best Scenic Design (Boris Aronson) and Best Costume Design (Florence Klotz). The original Broadway production was filmed and broadcast on Japanese television in 1976.
Mako later directed and reprised his role of the Reciter in a 1979 production at the East West Players in Los Angeles. The production featured multiple members of the original Broadway cast reprising their roles, including Sab Shimono, Ernest Harada, and Alvin Ing, with Soon-tek Oh taking on the role of Kayama. A young John Lone performed in the production as Commodore Perry. The musical was produced again by East West Players in 1998 as the inaugural performance at the David Henry Hwang Theater. East West Players staged Pacific Overtures for a third time in November 2024, led by Jon Jon Briones and Gedde Watanabe, who was part of the original Broadway production.
An Off-Broadway production ran at the Promenade Theatre from October 25, 1984 for 109 performances, transferring from an earlier production at the York Theatre Company. Directed by Fran Soeder with choreography by Janet Watson, the cast featured Ernest Abuba and Kevin Gray.Pacific Overtures Listing lortel.org, retrieved December 10, 2009
The European premiere was directed by Howard Lloyd-Lewis (Library Theatre, Manchester) at Wythenshawe Forum in 1986 with choreography by Paul Kerryson who subsequently directed the show in 1993 at Leicester Haymarket Theatre. Both productions featured Mitch Sebastian in the role of Commodore Perry.
A production was mounted in London by the English National Opera in 1987. The production was recorded in its entirety on CD, preserving nearly the entire libretto as well as the score.Jones, Kenneth. playbill.com, February 1, 2005Wolf, Matt. "Sondheim Scores Another Hit With the British" Chicago Tribune, October 2, 1987 Unlike previous productions, this production featured a cast consisting primarily of Caucasian actors and opera singers.
A critically acclaimed 2001 Chicago Shakespeare Theater production, directed by Gary Griffin,Kleiman, Kelly. Review, Pacific Overtures aislesay.com, retrieved December 10, 2009 transferred to the West End Donmar Warehouse, where it ran from June 30, 2003 until September 6, 2003 and received the 2004 Olivier Award for Outstanding Musical Production." Pacific Overtures History" sondheimguide.com, retrieved February 23, 2017"Olivier Awards, 2004" olivierawards.com, retrieved February 23, 2017
In 2002 the New National Theatre of Tokyo presented two limited engagements of their production, which was performed in Japanese with English supertitles. The production ran at Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center from July 9, 2002 through July 13, and then at the Eisenhower Theater, Kennedy Center, from September 3, 2002, through September 8.Lipfert, David and Lohrey, David."Lincoln Center Festival 2002" curtainup.com, July 13, 2002
A Broadway revival by the Roundabout Theatre Company (an English-language mounting of the previous New National Theatre of Tokyo production) ran at Studio 54 from December 2, 2004, to January 30, 2005, directed by Amon Miyamoto and starring BD Wong as the Narrator and several members of the original cast. A new Broadway recording, with new (reduced) orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick was released by PS Classics, with additional material not included on the original cast album. The production was nominated for four Tony Awards, including Best Revival of a Musical. The orchestrations were "scaled back" for a 7-piece orchestra. Variety noted that "the heavy use of traditional lutes and percussion instruments like wood blocks, chimes and drums showcases the craftsmanship behind this distinctly Japanese-flavored score."Rooney, David. "Reviews. Pacific Overtures Variety,
Classic Stage Company revived Pacific Overtures in 2017 for a limited Off-Broadway run, with a new abridged book by John Weidman, new orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick, directed by John Doyle, and starring George Takei as the Reciter. The production began previews April 6, 2017; after opening May 4, the show's run was twice extended, eventually closing June 18.Pacific Overtures lortel.org, retrieved June 28, 2018 Staged in one act,Feldman, Adam. Pacific Overtures Time Out, accessed August 8, 2019 with a 10-member cast in modern-dress, the production excised both "Chrysanthemum Tea" and the instrumental "Lion Dance".Rooney, David "Review. Pacific Overtures Hollywood Reporter, May 4, 2017Pacific Overtures Classic Stage Company The production earned recognition among the year's New York Times Critic's Picks, the Top 5 NY Theater Productions in Variety, and Top 10 NY Theater Productions in Hollywood Reporter. The show earned nominations from the Drama Desk, Drama League, Outer Critics Circle, and Lucille Lortel Awards.
In 2023, a co-production between the Umeda Arts Theater in Osaka, Japan, and the Menier Chocolate Factory in London used Sondheim and Weidman's revisions from 2017. Directed by Matthew White, the production played first in Japan, from March 8-29 at the Nissay Theatre in Tokyo, then from April 8-16 at the Umeda Arts Theater. The all-Japanese cast included Koji Yamamoto and Yuya Matsushita double cast as the Reciter, Eiji Wentz as Manjiro, and Hikaru Asami as the Shogun and Madam. This production next played with a London-based cast, including Takurō Ōno as Kayama and Masashi Fujimoto, at the Menier Chocolate Factory, from November 25, 2023 to February 24, 2024.
Plot summary Act I Conceived as a Japanese playwright's version of an American musical about American influences on Japan, Pacific Overtures opens in July 1853. As traditional Japanese music plays, the Reciter is revealed on stage. Since foreigners were expelled from the island empire two hundred and fifty years previously, explains the Reciter, elsewhere wars are fought and machines are rumbling, but in Nippon they paint screens, plant rice, exchange bows, and enjoy peace and serenity, and there has been nothing to threaten the changeless cycle of their days ("The Advantages of Floating in the Middle of the Sea"). However, unknown to the Nipponese, President Millard Fillmore, determined to open up trade with Japan, has sent Commodore Matthew C. Perry and a fleet of four warships across the Pacific.
To the consternation of Lord Abe and the Shogun's other Councillors, the stirrings of trouble begin with the appearance of Manjiro, a fisherman who had been lost at sea and rescued by Americans. He has returned to Japan and now attempts to warn the authorities of the approaching warships, but is instead arrested for consorting with foreigners. A minor samurai, Kayama Yezaemon, is appointed Prefect of Police at Uraga to drive the Americans away - news which leaves his wife Tamate grief-stricken, since Kayama will certainly fail and both will then have to commit seppuku. As he leaves, she expresses her feelings in dance as two Observers describe the scene and sing her thoughts and words ("There Is No Other Way"). As a Fisherman, a Thief, and other locals relate the sight of the "Four Black Dragons" roaring through the sea, an extravagant Oriental caricature of the USS Powhatan pulls into harbor. Kayama is sent out in a boat to meet with the Americans but he is laughed at and rejected as not being important enough. He enlists the aid of Manjiro, the only man in Japan who has dealt with Americans; disguised as a great lord and speaking arrogantly, Manjiro is able to get an answer from them: Commodore Perry must meet the Shogun within six days or else he will shell the city. Facing this ultimatum, the Shogun refuses to commit himself to an answer and takes to his bed. Exasperated by his indecision and continued procrastination, his Mother, with elaborate courtesy, slowly poisons him. ("Chrysanthemum Tea").