There is no love story in Pacific Overtures. There is no standard emotional center to the show. No splashy 11 O' clock number. Pacific Overtures is about history. Pacific Ovetures is also about denial and illusion, specifically Japan's. When Admiral Perry and his foreign entourage( who are anchored off the Japanese coast) enter the land mass of Japan for the first time. The first time in 250 years that any foreign feet will tred on Japanese soil, because it is against Japan's sacred laws to do so, they will step on mats. The Japanese have covered the ground with mats, an idea devised by Manjiro (a young man who has returned to Japan and had been imprisoned, because he had traveled to America and was "poisoned." He gains his freedom through this idea.) The Americans will enter Japan, a trade treaty will be signed, yet their feet will not touch the ground. Their feet will not touch Japan's sacred soil. As the emperor replies "They were never here." Eventually, Japan will have to come to grips with the fact that they were, but for that moment no sacred Japanese laws were broken. The illusion was maintained. This is the sort of stuff Pacific Overtures is about "cups of tea and history." Sondheim's score is stunning and beautifully rendered in Roundabout's revival of Pacific Overtures. The orchestra could be beefed up a bit. If it were a Western style score, the small orchestra Roundabout offers for this production might not have been enough, but for the Japanese style music Sondheim has written, with it's light staccato strokes and splashes, it works beautifully. B.D. Wong as the reciter(narrator) is well tempered and charming. He's not the worlds greatest singer, he was a bit off key in the opening number; The Advantages of Floating In The Middle of The Sea, this afternoon, but otherwise his voice was fine. There is a good deal of humor in Pacific Overtures, more than I expected, with only a knowledge of the score, having never seen it before, I was surprised at the amount of humor in the show. I was expecting a more serious study, which I found, but it was not at all stale. Pacific Overtures has its share of laughs. The highlight of the production for me was Someone In A Tree, staged beautifully. I now understand why Sondheim has often referred to it as his favorite. The set was quite neat; A blonde wood block centered in a pool of water, the back drops were screens moved around for scene changes, all set on a blonde wood background. Very tasteful and fitting for Pacific Overtures. The costumes were traditional Japanese, very colorful and exquisite pastels. My favorite cool set moment was Admiral Perry's ship, it was strikingly represented by an American flag which slowly shot out from the very rear ceiling of the theatre till it covered the entire ceiling from the last row to the front, like a very large plank. Quite cool. To sum up; Roundabout's production of Pacific Overtures has some stunning moments. It also has some tedious moments. And some not fully realized moments, but overall, it's a beautiful production that has to be viewed with caring eyes, because it's not your usual fare.
