Pacific Overtures
Opening Night: December 2, 2004
Closing: January 30, 2005
Theater: Studio 54
Spanning 150 years, Pacific Overtures tells the story of Commodore Matthew Perry’s arrival in the "Floating Kingdom" of Nippon in 1853. This landmark musical chronicles the influence America had upon Japan, detailing and dramatizing the westernization of Japanese culture. The style of the musical is based on ancient forms of Japanese theatre such as Kabuki and Noh.
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December 3, 2004
By rights, this should be the moment to announce that a Japanese director named Amon Miyamoto has conquered America – or at least that small but very glittery swath of America called Broadway. Mr. Miyamoto’s production of "Pacific Overtures," Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman’s 1976 musical about American gunboat diplomacy as visited on 19th-century Japan, opened last night at Studio 54. And if any musical in this uncertain season could be anticipated as a guaranteed succès d’estime, it was surely this one.
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