Stephen Sondheim’s “Pacific Overtures” is one of the master songwriter’s most rarely performed works. The show begins in 1853 and tells the tale of how an isolationist Japan was westernized when American ships forcibly opened the country to the rest of the world. The story is told from the Japanese perspective, and focuses primarily on two friends who are caught up in their country’s change.
“Pacific Overtures” opened on Broadway in 1976, where it ran for six months and garnered ten Tony Award nominations. From May 30 to June 15, “Pacific Overtures” returns, this time at the Brava Theater in the Mission District.
This new staging comes to San Francisco courtesy of Kunoichi Productions, a collective consisting of Ai Eibashi, Keiko Shimosato Carreiro, and Nick Ishimaru, who is the director of the Brava production. The three of them have a simple goal, to produce works that speak to them as Japanese Americans.
Ishimaru, who is gay, and also performs in the show, hails from Colorado. He moved to San Francisco for graduate school in 2007 and has lived here ever since. Theater has been a huge part of his life ever since boyhood.
In an interview with the Bay Area Reporter, Ishimaru spoke about the story of “Pacific Overtures” and about Kabuki Theater, the classical form of Japanese theater which helped to inspire the show.
David-Elijah Nahmod: What is the basic story of “Pacific Overtures?” What themes does it explore?
Nick Ishimaru: “Pacific Overtures” tells the story of the forcing open of Japan by Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry of the US Navy in 1853 by gunboat diplomacy in the first act to the collapse of Shogunate and the restoration of the Meiji Emperor in 1868. The events unfold from the Japanese perspective of three characters, Lord Abe Masahiro, the samurai Kayama Yesaemon, and fisherman John Manjiro.
The show explores profound and prescient Western themes like American imperialism and the aftermath of globalization. What I find most compelling through is how the show also incorporates themes from classical Japanese theater, like the opposition of giri and ninjo, or duty and personal feelings, which is central to Kabuki drama.
And finally, we’re framing this show as how we as children of the AAPI diaspora relate to and reconstruct our own ancestry.
Why do you think “Pacific Overtures” is so rarely performed?
I believe “Pacific Overtures” is rarely performed for three reasons. One; on its face, the subject doesn’t seem like a likely source for gripping drama. It’s not as universal a story as Sondheim’s other works, so it’s not an obvious programming choice.
Two; the music is unbelievably difficult, even for a Sondheim show. The harmonies are tight and discordant. There are large moments of silence, which I believe is an interpretation of “ma,” or the Japanese concept of negative space.
Three; additionally, since this show is about Japan and features almost exclusively Japanese characters, it can be hard to cast this piece.
What drew you to want to direct a production of this show?
I’ve been working in musical theater for almost thirty years and traditional Japanese theater (Noh drama and Kyogen comedy) for just over fifteen years. Obviously, this show is more musical than classical Japanese theater, but this is one of the exceedingly rare opportunities to do both at once.
On top of that, it reflects how I as a fourth-generation Japanese American have had access to my ancestry, through a long distant Americanized lens, often only having fleeting glimpses of the homeland to connect to my lived experience.
What, in your opinion, is Stephen Sondheim’s legacy?
In my opinion, Sondheim’s legacy is as the greatest musical theater writer of the latter half of the twentieth century. He wrote uniquely aesthetic music which explores concepts, rather than just actions or stories. It solidified musical theater as a form with depth and intellectual rigor that had previously been reserved for legitimate drama.
How elaborate will the production be?
The stage is a bit small, though it is quite tall, and the house is large. 360 seats make it one of the biggest houses in San Francisco. Overall, the designs are more minimalistic to emphasize the feeling of how we connect to our ancestry through half-remembered stories and old, faded images. But it’s still a full-sized production. The set is three levels and there are over 80 costumes on just ten actors. It might not have the elaborate painted backdrops of the full Broadway productions, but it’s as involved as any other full-scale production.
Will the show be performed with a full orchestra?
We have an eight-piece orchestra, including a shamisen. It’s not a full orchestra of eighteen pieces, but it’s more than a show played on a piano or pre-recorded.
You have a dozen actors playing 50 roles. Are there any other creative changes?
People who really know “Pacific Overtures” might be expecting an all-male cast. To this day, professional kabuki is exclusively male, which Sondheim drew inspiration from for this piece. But I think there are excellent opportunities for non-male voices in this show, so there are soprano and alto voices taking some of the big numbers. The soaring Gs in “There Is No Other Way” is particularly spine-chilling in the soprano voice. I promise audiences won’t be disappointed.
‘Pacific Overtures,’ May 30-June 15, Brava Theater, 2781 24th St., Wed-Sat 7:30 pm; Sundays, 2pm. $28.75-$79.75
https://www.kunoichiproductions.org
https://www.brava.org
