PACIFIC OVERTURES in Los Angeles

[ChairinMain]

Posted: 11/13/24 at 3:08pm

Had the opportunity to see this excellent production at East West Players last week, and hey, Sondheim lovers, this production contains a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

While there were some rough-around-the-edges line stumbles at the second preview, the production is beautifully thought out and the cast is really solid, including an understudy (Jordan Fan) who never missed a beat with presumedly way less rehearsal time than everyone else. A really solid presentation of an underperformed show would have been worth the drive from San Francisco for me, but the riveting performance of Jon Jon Briones as the Reciter made it a can't miss; he was searingly intense and magnetic. 

But an excellent production of a rarely performed Sondheim show is one thing; a production that manages to change the nature of one of the songs through casting is another. Gedde Wantanabe's performance is delightful for the length of the evening; his performance of "Chrysanthemum tea" is a highlight of the evening and he provides able support in a small supporting role elsewhere. But then he comes out for "Someone in a Tree", playing the Old man, the older version of the character he created in 1976. "If it happened, I was there," he sings, and the philosophical nature of the song became something more. Suddenly, the song was about about the history of the show, the history of theater, the history of this theater company, the history of this community. A beloved member of the Asian American arts community is both in character looking back at his life and out of character looking at his career. I'm not a member of the AAPI community, but I felt the weight and wonder of this moment so strongly. It was something I'll never forget. 

[Someone in a Tree2]

Posted: 11/13/24 at 3:12pm

What a beautiful write-up, especially regarding Gedde's participation. We see the show this Monday and can't wait. 

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 11/13/24 at 3:16pm

Happy to hear they kept Chrysanthemum Tea!  Did they do Lion Dance as well?

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 11/13/24 at 3:19pm

I really hope New York gets a top notch production one day soon.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 11/13/24 at 3:22pm

chrishuyen said: "Happy to hear they kept Chrysanthemum Tea! Did they do Lion Dance as well?"

Was just coming to ask this.  Interesting, when the Menier did it in London early this year, they claimed they were only allowed to perform the one act version (that started with the Doyle revival) without either of those...  Which seemed odd since Signature in DC had just done the two act version (albeit I think they cut Lion Dance but that's been cut off and on since the 1980s York revival)

 

[ChairinMain]

Posted: 11/13/24 at 3:24pm

Lion Dance is included; the show is performed essentially without cuts.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 11/13/24 at 3:36pm

ChairinMain said: "Lion Dance is included; the show is performed essentially without cuts."

Fab!  I know Weidman has permanently cut a number of the reciter interjections (he said he grew to be embarrassed by them as he realized they weren't remotely authentic Japanese and more an orientalist cliche)

[ChairinMain]

Posted: 11/13/24 at 3:51pm

I'll clarify; there's still some dialogue changes and small cuts compared to the published script I own, but all the musical numbers were performed without cuts. (i think they're performing the revised lyrics of "Welcome to Kanagawa" but original lyrics for "Someone in a Tree")

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 11/13/24 at 8:18pm

ChairinMain said: "I'll clarify; there's still some dialogue changes and small cuts compared to the published script I own, but all the musical numbers were performed without cuts. (i think they're performingthe revised lyrics of "Welcome to Kanagawa" but original lyrics for "Someone in a Tree")"

Ah but WHICH revised Kanagawa?  There have been at least five (though Sondheim only provides the example of one i think in the Finishing the Hat book)  Someone said that even for the Doyle production he was at final rehearsals revising the lyrics (which I guess, as he's mentioned, he has never thought were funny enough.)

And yes, now I'm just being annoying--I don't think I would be able to tell which revised lyric would be used (the three major cast recordings each have different lyrics though, to varying degrees.)  (The edit made after the original production that I've never understood why it was cut is the "rickshaw" scene.)

 

[ChairinMain]

Posted: 11/14/24 at 12:51pm

I thiiiiiiiink they're using the lyrics from the 2004 revival. 

[Wayman_Wong]

Posted: 11/14/24 at 7:44pm

Here's Gedde Watanabe spilling some ''Chrysanthemum Tea'' on ''Pacific Overtures. In the 1976 original Broadway cast, he played the Boy in ''Someone in a Tree''; now, he's playing the Old Man in that same song in East-West Players' ''Pacific Overtures.'' And he serves up ''Tea'' as Shogun's Mother.

https://www.theatermania.com/news/interview-gedde-watanabe-returns-to-pacific-overtures-decades-after-starring-in-it-on-broadway_1755311/

Updated On: 11/14/24 at 07:44 PM