Stephen Sondheim fans could not wish for a more spectacular pick-me-up from post-election blues than East West Players’ Broadway-couldn’t-do-it-better production of Sondheim and John Weidman’s rarely-revived 1976 classic Pacific Overtures.

 Recounting the arrival of Admiral Matthew C. Perry and his flotilla in Japanese waters circa 1853 and the influence these self-proclaimed “pacific overtures” had on a feudal society that had for centuries prided itself on being free from Western influences, Weidman’s book (additional material by Hugh Wheeler) and its accompanying Sondheim songs do so as if told by Japanese performers in ancient Kabuki style and narrated by an all-seeing, all-knowing Reciter.

Japanese fisherman John Manjiro, long ago lost at sea, rescued by Americans, and now returned to the motherland after years spent in the U.S., first brings news of the Americans’ imminent arrival to Lord Abe, upon which the Shogun’s second in command comes up with the idea of promoting minor samurai Kayama Yesaemon to Prefect Of Police and ordering him to inform Perry that he and his fleet are unwelcome in The Land Of The Rising Sun.

Unfortunately for Lord Abe, the Americans tell Kayama he’s too small potatoes to merit Perry’s attention, and so a plan is hatched to have American-culture-savvy Manjiro pose as the Shogun’s Lord Councilor in hopes the Yanks will pay him more heed than they did a mere police prefect.

Also figuring in the action are Kayama’s wife Tamate, certain her husband’s failure will bring shame upon their house; the Shogun’s mother, who serves her son some lethal cups of “Chrysanthemum Tea”; a Madam and her stable of geishas, who inform the American visitors they are “Welcome To Kanagawa;” a pair of witnesses to the meeting between Perry and the Japanese, one who could only see from a distance and one who could only hear what was being said; a quintet of foreign admirals, whose “Please Hello” pastiches each country’s distinctive musical style; and a trio of English sailors who discover the dire consequences of mistaking a samurai’s daughter for a geisha.

Pacific Overtures scores high marks for style, for its history lesson as told through Japanese eyes, and for doing both with an all-Asian cast.

Weidman’s book may be harder to follow than is usually the case in a Sondheim musical, composed as it is as a series of vignettes, but it ends up a fascinating look at Japanese history from a non-Western point of view (albeit written by a pair of Westerners).

And if Sondheim’s songs, composed to mimic the five-note Japanese scale, aren’t as (relatively) hummable as those in Company or Into The Woods or A Little Night Music, they are distinctively Sondheim and at least some of them may stick in your head, which is what “Four Black Dragons” and “Chrysanthemum Tea” are doing even as I write this.

Still, despite all these plusses, it’s been years if not decades since L.A. has seen a major Pacific Overtures revival (it’s an expensive show to mount and a challenging one to cast), which is just one reason its arrival at East West Players achieves event status.

There’s probably no director in town more qualified to direct (for the second time) this truly unique Sondheim musical than EWP Artistic Director Emeritus Tim Dang, who does so with stylistic flourish and an eye to accuracy, and what he has achieved is nothing short of magnificent.

Broadway/West End star Jon Jon Briones follows spectacularly in EWP Founding Artistic Director Mako’s illustrious footsteps as the tale-narrating Reciter, a role he plays commandingly opposite Original Broadway Cast member Gedde Watanabe, who earns a justified round of applause even before launching into Old Man’s “Someone In A Tree,” a song he joined into as “Boy” some 48 years ago.

Major roles are aced by Adam Kaokept as the lowly but upwardly mobile Manjiro, Brian Kim McCormick as the eager-to-learn-Western-ways Kayama, and Kerry K. Carnahan as the powerful Lord Abe.

 Aric Martin makes for the sauciest of geisha-backed Madams, Kurt Kanazawa Scott Keiji Takeda reveal dueling operatic pipes in “Four Black Dragons,” and Ashley En-Fu Matthews combines loveliness and grit as Tamate.

Kit DeZolt proves himself the evening’s dance standout as a leonine-maned Admiral Perry in the aptly named “Lion Dance,” just one of Yuka Takara’s authentically choreographed gems; and triple-threat featured players Sittichai Chaiyahat, Nina Kasuya, Kavin Panmeechao, Gemma Pedersen, and Norge Yip excel in multiple roles each.

 Scenic designer Tesshi Nakagawa, costume designer Naomi Yoshida, lighting designer Brian Gale, sound designer Cricket Myers, projections designer David Murakami, properties designer Glenn Michael Baker, and hair and makeup designer Yoko Haitz combine their prodigious talents to give this Spring Awakening an authentically Japanese look and sound that even major Broadway bucks could probably not top.

Last but not least, music director Marc Macalintal elicits all-around sensational vocal performances while conducting and playing keyboards in a superb 10-piece orchestra that spotlights onstage Japanese music experts Shih-Wei Wu (Japanese winds and percussion) and Tsugaru Terry (shamisen and percussion).

Jordan Fan and Jonah Meyer are understudies.

Pacific Overtures features Kabuki Theatre consulting and choreography by Gankō Nakamura and fight choreography by Amanda Noriko Newman. Edward Khris Fernandez is production stage manager and Mikayla Bettner and Bonnie Lynn Montano are assistant stage managers.

If you’re anything like me, Sondheim lover or not, you might decide to pass on seeing another Into The Woods (I’ve seen 22 of them), Sweeney Todd (15), Company (11), Merrily We Roll Along (10), or Sunday In The Park With George (8).

Such is definitely not the case with the almost never staged Pacific Overtures, and though I only have one other production to compare it to, there’s no doubt in my mind that no true Stephen Sondheim aficionado will want to pass on this rarest-of-rare revivals, an out-and-out triumph for East West Players.

East West Players, David Henry Hwang Theatre, 120 Judge John Aiso St., Los Angeles.
www.eastwestplayers.org

–Steven Stanley
November 10, 2024
Photos: Teolindo

Tags: East West Players, John Weidman, Los Angeles Theater Review, Stephen Sondheim