Pacific Overtures (1976 Original Broadway Cast)
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Music CD Cover
Composer: Stephen SondheimPerformer: Alvin Ing
Performer: Conrad Yama
Performer: Ernest Harada
Performer: Freda Foh Shen
Performer: Fusako Yoshida
Performer: Gedde Watanabe
Performer: Isao Sato
Performer: Jae Woo Lee
Performer: James Dybas
Performer: Leslie Watanabe
Performer: Mako
Performer: Mark Hsu Syers
Performer: Patrick Kinser-Lau
Performer: Ricardo Tobia
Performer: Sab Shimono
Performer: Timm Fujii
Performer: Yuki Shimoda
Edition: Music CD
Format: Cast Recording
CD Release Date: 1990-10-25
Music Label: RCA Victor Broadway
Soundtracks:
- The Advantages Of Floating In The Middle Of The Sea - Mako And Company
- There Is No Other Way - Alvin Ing/Ricardo Tobia
- Four Black Dragons - Jae Woo Lee/Mark Hsu Syers/Mako And Company
- Chrysanthemum Tea - Alvin Ing/Mako/Mark Hsu Syers/Timm Fujii/Gedde Watanabe/Patrick Kinser-Lau...
- Poems - Isao Sato/Sab Shimono
- Welcome To Kanagawa - Ernest Harada/Timm Fujii/Patrick Kinser-Lau/Gedde Wtanabe/Leslie Watanabe/Mako
- Someone In A Tree - James Dybas/Mako/Gedde Watanabe/Mark Hsu Syers
- Please Hello - Alvin Ing/Yuki Shimoda/Ernest Harada/Mako/Patrick Kinser-Lau...
- A Bowler Hat - Isao Sato
- Pretty Lady - Patrick Kinser-Lau/Timm Fujii/Mark Hsu Syers
- Next - Mako And Company
Free Music Notes for Pacific Overtures (1976 Original Broadway Cast)
Free Music Review: The Floating Master
Hit: 5 Stars
Sondheim has been like a floating island with bothersome threats both from inside earthquakes and outside heavy artillery from sundry corporate --department stores-- musicals, the Lloyd Weber commodore epics (driveling frogs more than firing dragons), yet he is alive and well, if not exclusively living in Broadway.... anyway, as from the demise of the Shuberts.... what is Broadway? ... as the grand British impresario used to say: just another stop in my American tour! Our floating master remains the fine heir to composer/lyricists Cole Porter, Coward or Loesser, only this, by some considered "less accessible" (boring) 30-year-old work has no awesome aging star to deliver some "Send in the Clowns" or "I'm Still Here" 11 o'clock show-stopper; the longwinded songs are more (deceptively) minimalist, the verse and rhymes, starker, yet we still have an equivalent here: "A Bowler Hat" has no less wit and charm than, say, "Could I Leave You?"; and "Please Hello" is as effervescent and funny as any other Sondheim dish special. Maybe some find the 'raw fish' an acquired taste, I love it all. Is Niponnia here depicted from the inside or from a Western point of view? Perhaps a bit of both, as someone in a tree oversees the treaty house: the ripple, not the sea? Who cares? This show stands firm as any Mikados, Kismets or King&Is ... and as classy as any from its trademark: the crisp orchestral ostinato strains accompanying the melody lines, the delightful pastiches-within-pastiche, the balanced interplay of musical waves under sailing lyrics. And in this --as always, preferable-- original cast album, the virtuoso fast chats, sometimes forceful or soft and ethereal singing from the all-male Asian cast (Pretty Lady), the limpid Sondheim textures and rhythms, the elegant, pristine Jonathan Tunick orchestrations (subtle, effectual inclusion of Kabuki instruments) all remain perfectly evocative, somewhat hypnotic to listen to and dream of leaves changing green to pink to gold.
Pacific Overtures (1976 Original Broadway Cast) Poster
Pacific Overtures is one of Stephen Sondheim's most rewarding but least-appreciated works. Part of the reason is it's been one of the least-staged Sondheim shows due to its unusual requirements: following the conventions of the Japanese Noh play, it uses an all-Asian, all-male cast, and authentic instruments such as the shamisen. As a slice of history, John Weidman's book is fascinating: In 1853, Japan's borders were closed to all foreigners until the arrival of American Commodore Matthew Perry forced the opening of trade relations. Sondheim's score captures the delicacy of Japanese verse ("Poems"), a blackly humorous scene of the emperor's refusal to acknowledge the American ships ("Chrysanthemum Tea"), Gilbert & Sullivan-esque patter ("Please Hello"), and the most beautiful song ever written about prostitution (the lyric men's trio "Pretty Lady"). Worthy of special mention is the song Sondheim has often claimed as his best ever, "Someone in a Tree," which describes the crucial meeting in the treaty house from the perspective of different characters on the outside. Over a quarter century after its 1976 Broadway debut, Pacific Overtures began to enjoy increased attention from theater companies, culminating in a Broadway revival in 2004. --David HoriuchiBroadway & Vocalists Music CDs
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