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This original Broadway production was filmed and broadcast on Japanese television in 1976. 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. Set in 19th-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. Stephen Sondheim wrote the score in a quasi-Japanese 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. The original Broadway production of Pacific Overtures in 1976 was staged in Kabuki style, with men playing women's parts and set changes made in full view of the audience by black-clad stagehands. It opened to mixed reviews and closed after six months, despite being nominated for ten Tony Awards. 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. Music and Lyrics by STEPHEN SONDHEIM Book by JOHN WEIDMAN Additional material by Hugh Wheeler Orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick Original Broadway Production Directed by Harold Prince and Produced by Harold Prince in association with Ruth Mitchell _______________________________________ This channel is purposely not monetized. Any ad revenue is paid to YouTube and the copy write holder: Warner Chappell who claims on their site that “Our policy regarding music on YouTube is primarily to monetize it – essentially, placing ads and collecting the royalties generated by views“.
