I was thrilled to discover that the third big musical in a row from the Menier Chocolate Factory in 2023 was to be Pacific Overtures, as it has always signified a big gap in my Sondheim knowledge. And although The Third Man was a bit meh, Close Up was a terrific surprise and with the Menier’s star back in its ascendancy again, I had very high hopes of this production.
First produced on Broadway in 1976, but not in the UK until the English National Opera had a crack at it eleven years later, the show has always had that sense of – if not being one of Sondheim’s failures, but certainly not one of his big successes. That New York production emphasised its Japanese element by mixing Broadway showbiz with Kabuki – a bold move indeed. Its original run lasted six months, long enough to chalk up a couple of Tony Awards (for scenic and costume design), and it was just recent enough to have one song (Pretty Lady) selected for inclusion in Ned Sherrin’s very influential Side by Side by Sondheim, which really cemented the late great Steve’s reputation in the UK. Since then Pacific Overtures has had a few revivals, but this current production at the Menier is a co-production with the Umeda Arts Theater of Osaka, having played there and in Tokyo in March and April 2023.
The show tells the story of a period of Japanese history that is hardly known in the UK. Commodore Matthew Perry sailed from America in the 1850s on a mission to open up Japan to the west. Japan had hidden itself away from the world for over two centuries, and Pacific Overtures gives us some insight into the shock of western invasion, not only in the form of political and administrative change but also cultural. The western sailors, for example, who sing to that Pretty Lady are not asking her out on a genteel date but mistaking her for a geisha and chasing her as they would an exotic sex worker. When Kayama, the lower-class samurai who was first tasked to deal with Perry and his men, becomes more and more involved with the invading culture, he starts to wear western clothes and sings about wearing A Bowler Hat. The whole inexorable process of progress is overseen by The Reciter, a narrator and ironic chorus for the story, aloof from the action but never far from it, and taking a prominent role in many of the show’s songs.
It’s always a joy to come to the Menier Chocolate Factory to find out how they’ve jiggled the space around – the configuration is hardly ever the same twice! For Pacific Overtures, they’ve created a traverse stage which really helps the intensity and intimacy of the production. Sit in Row A and you’re never more than three feet from an actor, so you feel truly involved in everything that is going on. Simple staging – excellent set design from Paul Farnsworth – easily suggests the exhibits in a museum, or Perry’s ship arriving in the harbour. Ayako Maeda’s sumptuous costume designs revel in the opulent glory of the Shogun era, but also convey the drabness of the everyday wear of ordinary people. Ashley Nottingham’s choreography smartly reflects the era and location, whilst using every inch of the limited space available. And Paul Bogaev’s hidden band bring out all the exoticism and quirkiness of Sondheim’s tremendous score.
John Weidman, who wrote the book, explains in the programme the need to shorten the show and to remove any unnecessary sequences that get in the way of reflecting the cultural purity of the pre-Perry era. The excellent song Chrysanthemum Tea has been cut because it is a delicious blend of Japanese and 1970’s American showbiz, which doesn’t have a place in the vision of this production. I can’t compare as I have never seen the show before, but you do get the sense that there is something missing from this show; perhaps embodied in the role of the Reciter, who cocks many a snook at the ways of traditional Japan, whilst dressed in the epitome of smart glitzy Broadway, rather than as an Edo everyman. But it’s a minor quibble.
The production is crammed with glorious performances throughout. It’s very much an ensemble piece, despite the presence of obviously major roles being played by some star performers. Takuro Ohno and Joaquin Pedro Valdes are superb as the two main protagonists, the samurai Kayama and the fisherman Manjiro, with commanding presence on stage and superb voices. Saori Oda makes a fantastic Shogun, full of imperious bravado but often with a touch of tongue-in-cheek humour. A familiar face from many shows, Masashi Fujimoto brings dignity and authority to all his roles, and is especially poignant in the song Someone in a Tree. Lee V G, Ethan Le Phong, Sario Solomon and Patrick Munday give great comic support as the four foreign admirals, and there are also terrific performances from Kanako Nakano as Tamate and Rachel Jayne Picar as Councillor/Kanagawa Girl.
But there’s a stand-out performance from Jon Chew as the Reciter; sometimes the busybody, sometimes the showman, but always with a glint of mischief in his eye. He’s a great singer and actor, and has enormous stage presence; the kind of performer you can’t stop watching even when they’re silent.
A tremendous production; what it may occasionally lack a little in clarity it more than makes up for with sheer gusto and musical excellence. One hour 45 minutes without an interval, it’s certainly an intense experience.
Production photos by Manuel Harlan
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