Cast Set for PACIFIC OVERTURES at Kunoichi Productions
Performances will run from May 30–June 15, 2025.
By: Chloe Rabinowitz Apr. 16, 2025
Kunoichi Productions has revealed the cast and creative team for John Weidman and Stephen Sondheim’s PACIFIC OVERTURES, performing May 30–June 15, 2025 at San Francisco’s Brava Theater.
Mixing elements of Kabuki theatre with the conventions of the Broadway musical, PACIFIC OVERTURES is a highly original, inventive, powerful, educational, and surprisingly humorous theatrical experience. Considered by many to be the artistic pinnacle of the legendary Stephen Sondheim/Hal Prince collaborations, this exploration of culture and imperialism pushes the boundaries of musical theatre further than ever before.
Commodore Matthew Perry's 1853 mission to open trade relations with isolationist Japan through gunboat diplomacy forges an unlikely friendship between the samurai, Kayama, and the Americanized fisherman, Manjiro. Kayama and Manjiro—and all of Japanese society—must face the wave of Westernization that follows.
PACIFIC OVERTURES explores how structures of power are dislodged and replaced by one another, be it in the name of modernity, imperialism, or survival. It presents a range of characters who see their lives upended in the face of global upheaval. The grandiose aesthetics of kabuki embellish the story in larger-than-life scope as the characters struggle to reconcile tradition with modernity, the world around them rapidly transforming through the inevitable ebb and flow of history.
The cast of PACIFIC OVERTURES will bring over 50 roles to vibrant life in this rarely done Sondheim work. They are (in alphabetical order): Lawrence-Michael C. Arias (Abe), Faustino Cadiz III (Swing), Keiko Shimosato Carreiro (The Reciter), Edward Im (The Boy), Sarah Jiang (Tamate), Stephen Kanaski (The Warrior), Ryan Marchand (Perry), Eiko Moon-Yamamoto (The Shogun's Mother), Nick Nakashima (Kayama), Vinh G. Nguyen (Manjiro), Mayadevi Ross (The Madame), and Julia Wright (Swing).
Directed by Nick Ishimaru, the creative team for PACIFIC OVERTURES includes Bandō Hirohichirō (Assistant Director/Assistant Choreographer; Cultural Consultant), Diana Lee (Music Direction), Justin Kelly-Cahill (Lighting Design), Yusuke Soi (Scenic Design), Keiko Shimosato Carreiro (Costume Design), Megan Kurashige and Shannon Kurashige of Sharp & Fine (Choreography), and Ai Eibashi (Puppets and Props; Dramaturg).
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