Customer Reviews

Pacific Overtures (1976 Original Broadway Cast)

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

1976 - America was celebrating two hundred years of idependence. Tv, radio, records and movies were all things patriotic. This was the way things were when the musical PACIFIC OVERTURES arrived at Broadway's Winter Garden theatre. A musical that took a critical look at how the U.S. forced Japan into international trade in 1842... what were they thinking?

It didn't look like a Broadway musical. It sure didn't sound like Broadway music. The critics were mixed..a few loved it, several loathed it...but most admitted they didn't quite know what to make of it. Audiences went to see A CHORUS LINE (which would win the 1976 Tony award) and CHICAGO. PACIFIC OVERTURES was gone after 193 performances. The great experiment failed.

Or had it?

RCA did a cast album. Sales were slow at first but it eventually became one of their biggest sellers allowing more people a chance to hear this wonderful score. Regional theatres began exploring the possibility of doing the show. An off-Broadway revival in 1984 was critically lauded. A new production is planned for New York for 2005. It may never be as big as hit as LEZ MIZ, but for those looking for something different and exciting, PACIFIC OVERTURES will do very nicely.

I don't want to give away all the many details of the score: that would rob you of the thrill of discovering so much on your own. But a few "hints": Sondheim has long considered "Someone in a Tree" to be one of his favourite numbers; "Please Hello" is brilliant in weaving together musical styles for the U.S.; England; Holland; Russia & France as each country enters to set up trade with Japan. "Chrysanthemum Tea" has brilliant lyrics (including the lines "If the tea the Shogun drank will serve to keep the Shogun tranquil...") Notice too how the score becomes more "americanized" as it proceeds all the way to the finale "Next."

RCA has included a libretto and detailed synopsis. It will take a few serious listens (following along with the libretto) to begin to penetrate this work. Then, once you have fallen in love with it seek out the English National Opera's complete recording on Jay/TER which has the whole show, dialogue and music. It's not as well sung and acted as this original cast disc.

"Pacific Overtures" is the political euphemism used by Commodore Matthew Perry in 1853 when Japan was persuaded to open up trade relations because of the display of naval power put on by the United States. The clash of cultures as the "Floating Kingdom" was forced to end centuries of enforced isolation is the subject of this unique musical, which dramatizes Perry's expedition to Japan. John Weidman's original idea, which first came to him in a Harvard lecture hall in 1966, was realized a decade later when director-producer Harold Prince decided to adapt various Japanese theatrical techniques and conventions, and Stephen Sondheim was brought in to write the music.

At that point in time Sondheim was primarily known for his exploration of personal relationships (e.g., "Company," "Follies," "A Little Night Music"), so it is not surprising that he presents countries as characters when delving into international relations. There are three long set pieces in the show. "Chrysanthemum Tea" deals with the attempts in vain of the Shogun's mother to spur her son to action to stop the invaders, until she poisons him in frustration. "Someone in a Tree" relates the first formal meeting between the Japanese and the Americans from the perspective of a young boy in a tree and a warrior hidden underneath the floorboards in case of American treachery. The showpiece of the musical is "Please Hello," where a series of admirals representing the Western powers arrive and haughtily make their demands of the Japanese, allowing Sondheim to make maximum use of his delightful word play. There are also several effective smaller pieces, most notably "Poems." You will not find a song in "Pacific Overtures" that Barbra Streisand will cover on one of her Broadway albums, but that is because such the story and form of the show do not lend themselves to such melodies.

"Pacific Overtures" a rare musical to see in performance, which is a shame because of its imaginative use of Kabuki. Among the Kabuki traditions adapted to the show were the use of males to play the female roles, the Reciter (Mako) who comments on and sometimes participates in the proceedings, and stagehands completely clothed in black and musicians on stage throughout the play. Act I ends with the symbolism of a Kabuki lion dance, which provides the image for the album cover. More than most musicals "Pacific Overtures" is a piece that loses something significant when you listen to the album and are left without the images and only the sounds. First time listeners need to read the synopsis by William H. Evans and follow along with the libretto to get an appropriate idea of the production. While it would never be a very popular show, this musical is certainly a fascinating attempt that is of much interest to the Westernization of Japan as it is to devotees of the American stage. Ultimately, Prince has a bigger impact on the show than Sondheim, which takes some doing to be sure.

Stephen Sondheim has spent a lifetime revolutionizing the world of musical theater; combining daring thematic material with unique musical forms and brilliant lyrics. None of his work, however, displays the inventiveness of this show, which combines Japanese Kobuki sensibilities, Americana, and even a brief Gilbert & Sullivan-esque patter song parody to tell the story of America's discovery and eventual cultural co-option of Japan at the turn of the century. The score, which includes the sensational "Someone in a Tree" (where past and present overlap, and the concept of history being a function of its observers is explored brilliantly), the exquisite "Poems" and "Pretty Lady" (whose lovely melody and harmony belie the brutality of its scene), and the moody "Bowler Hat" (in which an entire decade of culural transformation is presented through one singer) combine to create an effect which can only be described as astonishing. Mako and the rest of a cast of unknowns make this cast recording an essential one for anyone who believes that broadway musical theater can be as inventive and challenging as any other form of art.

I saw this piece performed at The Alliance Theatre in Atlanta and have yet to shut-up about it. It is an exquisite piece of theatre - a chamber musical - expertly performed. I have had this album for - well, decades. I've always admired the score. However, now, having finally seen it brought to life, I can't get it out of my mind. This music is the work of a genius. There is no other word for it. Along with "Sunday in the Park with George," this is my favorite Sondheim.

I'll be going against most people's opinions when I say this is Sondheim's best musical. He is able to capture a musical style of a different country while also making accessible to English ears.

Some of his best work ever is on this CD: "Someone in a Tree" may be his single best song ever, as it makes fascinating observations about life. "A Bowler Hat" is remarkable, as is "Pretty Lady," "Chrysanthemum Tea," "Next," and "There is No Other Way."

The last line may be the most haunting and goosebump causing moment in theatre-history: "Welcome to Japan."

While the subject matter would seem quite hard to musicalize, Sondheim has done it, and he's done it with flying colors. It takes a few listens to really appreciate the genius of this score. The songs are so beautiful, some are really funny, some are touching, and all of them give me chills! What I love most about this score is its like an adventure every time i listen to it---with every listen I discover something new about the piece---subleties that Sondheim snuck in that make the pieces effective and exciting! Buy it---it's a wonderful experience!

I saw it in 1976 on Broadway, by accident, and realized I knew two cast members from college. It's initial all-male kabuki style beginning and its amazing recounting of Japanese history in song and metaphor struck a cord instantly in me and I was taken completely. The music is unusual and haunting and interesting and just captivating. The story is an astounding history lesson -- a story of a isolated island that came to western ways after great resistance, and maybe still haven't and shouldn't.

I think Sondheim is a genius to have told the story of Japan in a lyrical manner. Then, I saw the show again, about 20 years after the original production in a theatre in the upper west side of NYC in a small theatre. Gone was the big orchestra and grand production, but unbelievably, the show and music still worked. I sadly missed the recent production at Lincoln center and the Kennedy center, but tried. This show is timeless. For those who belong to this cult, it is hard to explain to rest of the normal world. I don't even try. Occasionally, I meet someone who has the Pacific Overtures bug and I enjoin them for a time. Buy this if you have time to listen, maybe the bug will bite you too.

This seldom-performed masterpiece is my favorite Stephen Sondheim score. The Broadway cast recording, though slightly truncated, preserves the brilliant performances and Jonathan Tunick's definitive orchestrations. Songs such as "There Is No Other Way", "Poems", and "Pretty Lady" show Sondheim's gift for sophisticated melody. And "Someone In A Tree" may well be his single-best song. This recording is a must-have for anyone who loves musical theatre, and begs to be remastered to hear every lovely note.

This CD replaces the British cast recording which I had owned for years; I finally tossed that out due to the inferior quality of the recording/sound track, etc. The Original Broadway cast recording is, in my mind, a superior rendition of the Sondheim piece, and makes up for the technical "flaws" of the soundtrack that apparently were in the British edition. This "new" disk brought back fond memories of when my parents used to play the old vinyl album of the Broadway piece--almost wearing it out on the phonograph at the house where I grew up...Given the fact that this show is hardly ever mounted these days, it is always a pleasure to hear this great production.

Having been completely ignorant of the splendor that is Pacific Overtures, upon purchasing and listening, it was one musical theatre orgasm after another.

While some of Sondheim's shows have stayed hidden due to their lack of prowess next to his hits (Saturday Night, Anyone Can Whistle,etc), this has become one of my favorite Sondheim scores second only to Sweeney Todd.

Great tracks include: Pretty Lady, A Bowler Hat, the Opening.

Also check out:
The Revival. it's is equally beautiful with higher sound quality!