Trivial Pursuit #132 - Pacific Overtures...

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Posted: 6/29/05 at 6:56pm

Well seeing as Jose is obsessed with mentioning them, I thought I would bring them back. (and before anyone jumps, Mary_Ethel bequeathed the title of TP Coordinator to me long before he left).

So here goes again:

One of Stephen Sondheim's most underrated works is the wonderful Pacific Overtures. It opened January 11, 1976 at the Winter Garden Theatre and ran for just 193 performances.

It's competition that year was the big hit A Chorus Line, and the moderate hit Chicago. It did, however, manage to get a higher tally of Tony Awards than Chicago's nil, winning awards for design.

It tells it's story using traditional Kabuki styles (in the recent revival this was largely changed to Noh), and has a very traditional score by Mr. Sondheim.

The story is narrated by a figure called the Reciter.

Partway through the story he says:

The bird from the sea,
Not knowing pine from bamboo,
Roosts on anything.

What is he referring to?

GOOD LUCK!

Updated On: 6/29/05 at 06:56 PM

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Posted: 6/29/05 at 7:05pm

Clue #1: They're not talking about trees...

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Posted: 6/29/05 at 7:13pm

Clue #2: Wood and Street Corners...

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Posted: 6/29/05 at 7:19pm

Clue #3: Geisha

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Posted: 6/29/05 at 7:28pm

Clue #4: It's only the money that matters...

[Beergoggles]

Posted: 6/29/05 at 7:32pm

is it about paying for a service? i don't want to write the word because of minors!

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Posted: 6/29/05 at 7:37pm

It certainly is!

The Reciter says this haiku during the song "Welcome to Kanagawa" which is sung by a Madame and her Geisha's.

Welcome to the Winner's Circle, beergoggles!

Now, for your bonus points:

What is so special about the song "Someone in a Tree"? What has been said about it?

[Beergoggles]

Posted: 6/29/05 at 7:38pm

Don't know... never seen or heard the show! Just worked it out from the clues... alas i am a fraud lol!

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Posted: 6/29/05 at 7:41pm

Well, that means the question is open!


Good Luck, Everybody!

[magruder]

Posted: 6/29/05 at 7:50pm

Sondheim says it's his personal favorite song that he's ever written.

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Posted: 6/29/05 at 7:50pm

Clue #1: Sondheim said it

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Posted: 6/29/05 at 7:56pm

And Magruder comes and saves the day!!!

Yes Magruder, Sondheim has said that SOMEONE IN A TREE is not only his favourite, but his best blend of words and music.

Welcome back into the Winner's Circle.

Now both of you, for your prizes:

It's a Seiko watch, the third highest selling brand of watch in Switzerland. Don't you just love globalisation?

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Posted: 6/29/05 at 7:57pm

Welcome to Kanagawa
MADAM
I own a small commercial venture
With a modest clientele
In Kanagawa.

GIRLS
I think I see one over there behind the trees!

MADAM
Sh!
(to the audience)
It's been my family's for centur-
Ies and doing very well —
For Kanagawa.

GIRLS
I hear they're covered all with hair, like some disease.

MADAM
Sh!

FOURTH GIRL
Except their knees.

MADAM
Sh!
(to audience)
The arrival of these giants
Out of the blue,
Bringing panic to my clients,
Alters my view.
With so many of them fleeing,
Conferring, decreeing,
I find myself agreeing
With the ancient haiku:

RECITER
The nest-building bird,
Seeking the tree without twigs,
Looks for new forests.

MADAM
Exactly.
(As a "forest" forms on the stage, she and the girls search for Americans.)
Welcome to Kanagawa.

GIRLS
Welcome to Kanagawa!

MADAM
No …
Welcome to Kanagawa.

GIRLS
Oh …
Welcome to Kanagawa.

MADAM
So …
With all my flowers disappearing
In alarm,
I've been reduced to commandeering
From the farm.
But with appropriate veneering,
Even green wood has its charm.

GIRLS
(searching)
Yo-ho!
Yo-ho!

MADAM
(beckoning them)
Yo-ho!
(She hands out pornographic fans to the girls and points to each in turn.)
That you'll have to bend for —
Can yo see why?

FIRST GIRL
Yo-ho!

MADAM
That you'll need a friend for —
Still, you might try.

SECOND GIRL
Yo-ho!

MADAM
That you do through the kimono —
Not very much.

THIRD GIRL
Yo-ho!

MADAM
That you use glue, then you —
No, no, no, no,
Those you don't touch!

ALL
Welcome to Kanagawa,
Music and food for twenty yen —
Music and food —

MADAM
And maybe then —

ALL
Welcome!

Welcome to Kanagawa!
Music and food and company!
Music and food —

MADAM
— And for a fee —

ALL
Welcome!

MADAM
(to the audience)
When a country is in trouble,
Choices are few.
And apart from charging double,
What can you do?
With my clients off defending,
And strangers descending,
I find myself depending
On the ancient haiku:

RECITER
The bird from the sea,
Not knowing pine from bamboo,
Roosts on anything.

MADAM
Exactly.

GIRLS
Welcome to Kanagawa!

MADAM
Glow!

GIRLS
Welcome to Kanagawa!

MADAM
Low!

GIRLS
Welcome to Kanagawa!

MADAM
Grow!

GIRLS
Welcome to Kanagawa!

MADAM
Go!

(as they all move into the "forest")
GIRLS
Yo-ho!
Yo-ho!

MADAM
Yo-ho! …
Yo-ho!

Music and Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim
Copyright © ASCAP. All rights reserved.

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Posted: 6/29/05 at 7:58pm

Someone In a Tree
OLD MAN
Pardon me, I was there.

RECITER
You were where?

OLD MAN
At the treaty house.

RECITER
At the treaty house?

OLD MAN
There was a tree …

RECITER
Which was where?

OLD MAN
Very near.

RECITER
Over here?

OLD MAN
Maybe over there,
But there were trees then, everywhere.
May I show you?

RECITER
If you please.

OLD MAN
There were trees
Then, everywhere.

RECITER
But you were there.

OLD MAN
And I was there!
Let me show you.

RECITER
If you please.

OLD MAN
(tries to climb)
I was younger then …
(tries again)
I was good at climbing trees …
(again)
I was younger then …
(again)
I saw everything! …
(again)
I was hidden all the time …
(again)
It was easier to climb …
(again)
I was younger then …
(again)
I saw everything! …
(again)
Where they came and where they went —
I was part of the event.
I was someone in a tree!
(tries once more)
I was younger then!

(Suddenly, a Young Boy appears, scurries across the stage, and up the tree.)

BOY
(to the Old Man)
Tell him what I see!

OLD MAN
I am in a tree.
I am ten.
I am in a tree.

BOY
I was younger then.

OLD MAN
In between the eaves I can see —
(to the Boy)
Tell me what I see.
(to the Reciter)
I was only ten.

BOY
I see men and matting.
Some are old, some chatting.

OLD MAN
If it happened, I was there!

BOTH
I saw/see everything!

OLD MAN
I was someone in a tree.

BOY
Tell him what I see!

OLD MAN
Some of them have gold on their coats.

BOY
One of them has gold.
(to the Reciter)
He was younger then.

OLD MAN
Someone crawls around passing notes —

BOY
Someone very old —

OLD MAN
(to the Reciter)
He was only ten.

BOY
And there's someone in a tree —

OLD MAN
— Or the day is incomplete.

BOTH
Without someone in a tree,
Nothing happened here.

OLD MAN
I am hiding in a tree.

BOY
I'm a fragment of the day.

BOTH
If I weren't, who's to say
Things would happen here the way
That they happened here?

OLD MAN
I was there then.

BOY
I am here still.
It's the fragment, not the day.

OLD MAN
It's the pebble, not the stream.

BOTH
It's the ripple, not the sea.
Not the building but the beam,
Not the garden but the stone,
Not the treaty house,
Someone in a tree.

WARRIOR
(slides panel open underneath the house)
Pardon me, I am here —
If you please, I am also here —

OLD MAN
They kept drinking cups of tea.

BOY
They kept sitting on the floor.

BOTH
They drank many cups of tea.
(to each other)
No, we told him that before.

WARRIOR
If you please, I am here.

RECITER
You are where?

WARRIOR
In the treaty house.

RECITER
In the treaty house?

WARRIOR
Or very near.

RECITER
Can you hear?

WARRIOR
I'm below.

RECITER
So I notice.

WARRIOR
Underneath the floor,
And so I can't see anything.
I can hear them,
But I can't see anything.

RECITER
But you can hear?

WARRIOR
But I can hear.
Shall I listen?

RECITER
If you please.

WARRIOR
I can hear them now …
I shall try to shift my knees …
I can hear them now …
I hear everything …
I'm the part that's underneath,
With my sword inside my sheath.
I can hear them now …
One is over me …
If they knock, then I appear.
I'm a part of what I hear.
I'm the fragment underneath.
I can hear them now!

RECITER, OLD MAN, BOY
Tell us what you hear!

WARRIOR
First I hear a creak and a thump.
Now I hear a clink …
Then they talk a bit …
Many times they shout when they speak.
Other times they think.
Or they argue it …
I hear floorboards groaning …
Angry growls … Much droning …
Since I hear them, they are there,
As they argue it.
I'm the listener underneath.

BOY
(peering into the house)
Someone reads a list
From a box.

WARRIOR
(listening)
Someone talks of laws.

OLD MAN
Then they fan a bit.

BOY
Someone bangs a fist.

WARRIOR
Someone knocks.

OLD MAN
Now there was a pause.

ALL
Then they argue it:

WARRIOR
"But we want …"
"No, you can't
And we won't …"
"But we need it,
And we want …"
"Will you grant — ?"
"If you don't …"
"We concede it …"

OLD MAN WARRIOR
And they sat I can hear
Through the night Them.
And they lit
Yellow tapers. BOY
I was I'm a And they
There Fragment of the Chat
Then. Day. And they fight
And they sit
Signing papers.
If I If I I am
Weren't, who's to Weren't, who's to There
Say Say Still.
Things would Things would If I
Happen here the Happen here the Weren't who's to
Way Way Say
That they're That they're That they're
Happening? Happening? Happening?

ALL
It's the fragment, not the day.
It's the pebble, not the stream.
It's the ripple, not the sea
That is happening.
Not the building but the beam,
Not the garden but the stone,
Only cups of tea
And history
And someone in a tree.


Music and Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim
Copyright © ASCAP. All rights reserved.

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Posted: 6/29/05 at 7:59pm

Thankyou, and Good Night!

Posted: 6/29/05 at 9:15pm

P_E, it's possible you misundstand the meaning of obsession.

An example of an obsession is the demonstrated need to type complete song lyrics jconstantly in message threads.

Buy, hey, M_E, has "bequeathed the title of TP Coordinator to" you, so I assume that along with the title the obsessive behavior is attached.

Oh, and if you aren't aware, I thought that you might want to know that in the States the capitalized initials "TP" commonly refers to toilet paper. You might want to look at that title you were gloriously and aptly given.