Spanning 150 years, Pacific Overtures tells the story of Commodore Matthew Perry's arrival in the "Floating Kingdom" of Nippon in 1853. The show chronicles the influence America had upon Japan, detailing and dramatizing the westernization of Japanese culture.
The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and Music Director Edo de Waart open the 2014 Beethoven Festival with Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 on March 21-23, 2014 at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts. The program features the MSO Chorus, soprano Susanna Phillips, mezzo- soprano Kelley O'Connor, tenor Thomas Cooley, and baritone Christopher Maltman. The performances open with John Adams's The Wound-Dresser, a setting of Walt Whitman's Civil War prose.
Today in 1976, Pacific Overtures opened at the Winter Garden Theatre, where it ran for 193 performances. With music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, a libretto by John Weidman, and additional material by Hugh Wheeler, the musical is set in 1853 Japan and follows the difficult Westernization of Japan, through the lives of two friends caught in the change. The original Broadway production of Pacific Overtures in 1976 was presented in Kabuki style, with men playing women's parts and set changes made in full view of the audience by people dressed in black. A Broadway revival ran at Studio 54 from December 2, 2004 to January 30, 2005, directed by Amon Miyamoto and starring B.D. Wong as the Narrator and several members of the original cast.
Theatre Rhinoceros presents the Bay Area Premiere of the Stephen Sondheim Musical ROAD SHOW, featuring Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and Book by John Weidman, and running today, January 2 - 19, 2014.
Theatre Rhinoceros presents the Bay Area Premiere of the Stephen Sondheim Musical ROAD SHOW, featuring Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and Book by John Weidman, and running January 2 - 19, 2014
Smash creator, Theresa Rebeck opens up about her career and the release of her fourth volume of collected plays with a book signing to follow. The event is set for Monday, October 21st at 5pm at The Drama Book Shop.
Stephen Sondheim and Wynton Marsalis will collaborate on A BED AND A CHAIR: A New York Love Affair, a new musical event featuring Sondheim's music arranged and performed by the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis. This Encores! Special Event, directed by frequent Sondheim collaborator John Doyle, with choreography by Parker Esse and musical supervision by David Loud, was conceived by Peter Gethers, Jack Viertel and John Doyle, and will run for seven performances, November 13 - 17 at City Center.
Today we are continuing BroadwayWorld's 2013 Tony Awards Clip Countdown with a special spotlight focused on one of the biggest battles in Tony Awards history - 1976 and A CHORUS LINE versus CHICAGO.
Arden Theatre Company closes its 25th season with A Little Night Music, with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Hugh Wheeler. Directed Terrence J. Nolen, A Little Night Music will run on the Arden's F. Otto Haas Stage from May 23 through June 30, 2013.
Stephen Sondheim and Wynton Marsalis will collaborate on A BED AND A CHAIR: A New York Love Story, a new musical event featuring Sondheim's music arranged and performed by the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, announced Arlene Shuler, President & CEO of New York City Center. This Encores! Special Event, directed by frequent Sondheim collaborator John Doyle, and conceived by Peter Gethers, Jack Viertel and John Doyle, will run for seven performances, November 13 - 17 at City Center. City Center's annual Gala Benefit will take place on Thursday, November 14 and will include a post-performance dinner at the Plaza Hotel.
Today in 1976, Pacific Overtures opened at the Winter Garden Theatre, where it ran for 193 performances. With music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, a libretto by John Weidman, and additional material by Hugh Wheeler, the musical is set in 1853 Japan and follows the difficult Westernization of Japan, through the lives of two friends caught in the change. The original Broadway production of Pacific Overtures in 1976 was presented in Kabuki style, with men playing women's parts and set changes made in full view of the audience by people dressed in black. A Broadway revival ran at Studio 54 from December 2, 2004 to January 30, 2005, directed by Amon Miyamoto and starring B.D. Wong as the Narrator and several members of the original cast.
According to a feature about the new UK arena touring production of Jesus Christ Superstar in the Sydney Morning Herald, Andrew Lloyd Webber reveals he would like to collaborate with Stephen Sondheim.
The Muny presents the third show of its 94th season, Disney's Aladdin, opening tonight through July 13, directed by Gary Griffin, and choreographed by Alex Sanchez.
The Muny announced today principal casting for the third show of its 94th season, Disney's Aladdin (July 5-13), directed by Gary Griffin, and choreographed by Alex Sanchez.
Tony® Nominees Robin de Jesus and John Tartaglia star as Aladdin and the Genie, respectively. Joining them will be Jason Graae as Omar, Curtis Holbrook as Iago, Francis Jue as Kassim, Eddie Korbich as Babkak, Samantha Massell as Jasmine, Ken Page as the Sultan, and Thom Sesma as Jafar.
A 25th anniversary production of the imaginative, fractured-fairy tale musical "Into the Woods" by James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim will be staged at the theater where Sondheim was an apprentice in 1950, Westport Country Playhouse, in Westport, CT, May 1 through May 26. Directed by Mark Lamos, the Playhouse's artistic director, the musical will open the historic theater's 82nd season. It is co-produced with Baltimore's CENTERSTAGE.
Patti LuPone, Richard Thomas, Mary Beth Hurt, Jay O. Sanders and Henry Stram will join forces with the previously announced Michi Barral, Cindy Cheung, Joel de la Fuente, Angel Desai, Ann Harada, Jennifer Ikeda, Paul Juhn, Peter Kim, Ken Leung, Li Jun Li, Jennifer Lim, Angela Lin, Paolo Montalban, Olivia Oguma, Jon Norman Schneider, Thom Sesma, Sab Shimono, Jade Wu, Jonny Wo, James Yaegashi and Stacey Yen to raise funds that will go directly to Japanese theater artists devasted by last year's earthquake when they appear in this Sunday's March 11 benefit performances of Shinsai: Theaters for Japan, at the Great Hall at Cooper Union (Seventh Street at Third Avenue).
The benefit will feature a segment from the 1976 musical Pacific Overtures revised, with new lyrics, especially for the occasion by its creators librettist John Weidman and composer-lyricist Stephen Sondheim.
BroadwayWorld.com is excited to premiere the text from creators John Weidman and Stephen Sondheim.
Patti LuPone, Richard Thomas, Mary Beth Hurt, Jay O. Sanders and Henry Stram will join forces with the previously announced Michi Barral, Cindy Cheung, Joel de la Fuente, Angel Desai, Ann Harada, Jennifer Ikeda, Paul Juhn, Peter Kim, Ken Leung, Li Jun Li, Jennifer Lim, Angela Lin, Paolo Montalban, Olivia Oguma, Jon Norman Schneider, Thom Sesma, Sab Shimono, Jade Wu, Jonny Wo, James Yaegashi and Stacey Yen to raise funds that will go directly to Japanese theater artists devasted by last year's earthquake when they appear in this Sunday's March 11 benefit performances of Shinsai: Theaters for Japan, at the Great Hall at Cooper Union (Seventh Street at Third Avenue).
Michi Barral, Cindy Cheung, Joel de la Fuente, Angel Desai, Ann Harada, Jennifer Ikeda, Paul Juhn, Peter Kim, Ken Leung, Li Jun Li, Jennifer Lim, Angela Lin, Paolo Montalban, Olivia Oguma, Jon Norman Schneider, Thom Sesma, Sab Shimono, Jade Wu, Jonny Wo, James Yaegashi and Stacey Yen will be featured in Shinsai: Theaters for Japan, a two performance benefit to raise funds that will go directly to Japanese theater artists devastated by last year's great earthquake (Shinsai). Shinsai: Theaters for Japan, will be performed this Sunday, March 11 at 3pm and 8pm at the Great Hall at Cooper Union (Seventh Street at Third Avenue).
The Dramatists Guild of America presents its In the Room series, broadcasting archived audio, unheard by the public since their original recording. In the Room features some of the most influential and celebrated playwrights, composers and lyricists in American theatre, sharing their insight to craft, process and personal stories behind creating some of their most celebrated work. Featured this week is a vintage interview with theatre legend Stephen Sondheim as he chats about lyrics back in 1971.
Nashville audiences-and chattering, anticipatory theater critics-will be given the opportunity to weigh in with their own impressions of Pacific Overtures, thanks to an ambitious production from Blackbird Theater, the acclaimed company now in its sophomore season at David Lipscomb University's Shamblin Theatre.
Beautifully conceived by an ambitious, driven director and artfully brought to life by a stellar cast of actors, Pacific Overtures-the musical by Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman-seems, at first, an unlikely choice for the sophomore season of Nashville's Blackbird Theater. Yet when you consider the company's prior offerings (which include Twilight of the Gods, an original play by Wes Driver and Greg Greene, the company's co-founders; Tom Stoppard's intellectually compelling Arcadia; and G.K. Chesterton's rarely produced Magic), it fits perfectly into the Blackbird canon. And, like those earlier productions, Pacific Overtures is another artistic triumph, the realization of a long-held dream by director Greene to bring his favorite work for musical theater to the stage.
An unprecedented effort will take place on Sunday, March 11 when New York City's leading theatre companies, including Atlantic Theater Company, Lincoln Center Theater, Manhattan Theatre Club, New York Theatre Workshop, The Play Company, Playwrights Horizons and The Public Theater, will join forces to present Shinsai: Theaters for Japan, a two performance benefit to raise funds that will go directly to Japanese theater artists devastated by last year's great earthquake (Shinsai). Shinsai: Theaters for Japan, will be performed for two performances only at 3pm and 8pm at the Great Hall at Cooper Union (Seventh Street at Third Avenue).
Nashville audiences-and chattering, anticipatory theater critics-will be given the opportunity to weigh in with their own impressions of Pacific Overtures, thanks to an ambitious production from Blackbird Theater, the acclaimed company now in its sophomore season at David Lipscomb University's Shamblin Theatre.
Nashville audiences-and chattering, anticipatory theater critics-will be given the opportunity to weigh in with their own impressions of Pacific Overtures, thanks to an ambitious production from Blackbird Theater, the acclaimed company now in its sophomore season at David Lipscomb University's Shamblin Theatre.
Today in 1976, Pacific Overtures opened at the Winter Garden Theatre, where it ran for 193 performances. With music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, a libretto by John Weidman, and additional material by Hugh Wheeler, the musical is set in 1853 Japan and follows the difficult Westernization of Japan, through the lives of two friends caught in the change. The original Broadway production of Pacific Overtures in 1976 was presented in Kabuki style, with men playing women's parts and set changes made in full view of the audience by people dressed in black. A Broadway revival ran at Studio 54 from December 2, 2004 to January 30, 2005, directed by Amon Miyamoto and starring B.D. Wong as the Narrator and several members of the original cast.
1976 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
1976 | US Tour |
West Coast Tour US Tour |
1984 | Off-Off-Broadway |
York Theatre Company Production Off-Off-Broadway |
1984 | Off-Broadway |
Off-Broadway Revival Off-Broadway |
1987 | Regional (UK) |
English National Opera Production Regional (UK) |
2000 |
New National Theatre of Tokyo Production |
|
2001 | Regional (US) |
Regional Revival Regional (US) |
2002 | US Tour |
New National Theatre of Tokyo Production US Tour |
2003 | US Tour |
Touring Revival US Tour |
2003 | West End |
Donmar Warehouse Revival West End |
2004 | Broadway |
Roundabout Revival Broadway |
2017 | Off-Broadway |
Classic Stage Company Off-Broadway Revival Off-Broadway |
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