Video: First Look at PACIFIC OVERTURES at Signature Theatre

Signature Theatre is presenting Pacific Overtures with music & lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by John Weidman. The production features direction and musical staging by Signature Theatre Associate Artistic Director Ethan Heard (Signature's Which Way to the Stage) is the second of three Sondheim productions featured in Signature's 2022/23 season. Get a first look at the cast in action!

In 1853, after 200 years of stability, Japan faces an American expedition determined to open the "floating kingdom" to trade. The isolationist island's reckoning with the unwelcome western influence is brilliantly illuminated through a kaleidoscope of stories about sailors, samurai, "someone in a tree" and two friends who choose radically different paths. This innovative epic of East meets West is one of Sondheim's most ambitious and rarely produced musicals. Signature Theatre Associate Artistic Director Ethan Heard (Signature's Which Way to the Stage, Heartbeat Opera's Fidelio) directs, and Alexander Tom (Broadway's The Music Man, The Public's The Visitor) is the Music Director.

The cast for Pacific Overtures includes Eymard Meneses Cabling (Prospect Theater's Honor, The Kennedy Center's Me... Jane) as Lord Abe and others, Andrew Cristi (Broadway's A Christmas Story, The Public's Miss You Like Hell) as the Mother of Shogun and others, Albert Hsueh (Theatre Row's Anything Goes, TADA Theatre's Romance of the Western Chamber) as Boy and others, Jonny Lee Jr. (Utah Shakespeare Festival's Gold Mountain, Village Theatre's Eastbound) as Manjiro and others, Quynh-My Luu (Signature's Daphne's Dive, A Little Night Music) as Tamate and others, Jason Ma (Broadway's Sly Fox, The Public's Antony & Cleopatra) as Reciter and others, Daniel May (Broadway's Flower Drum Song, The Public's Soft Power) as Kayama and others, Christopher Mueller (Signature's She Loves Me, Assassins) as Warrior and others, Chani Wereley (Signature's Into the Woods, Olney Theatre Center's Hedwig and the Angry Inch) as Madam and others, and Nicholas Yenson (Signature's Miss Saigon, Shakespeare Theatre Company's Taming of the Shrew) as Perry and others. Alex Koichi Beard, Joey Ledonio, Ashley D. Nguyen and Ryan Sellers are swings.

The creative team for Pacific Overtures includes Scenic Design by Chika Shimizu (Irish Rep's Belfast Girls), Costume and Puppet Design by Helen Q. Huang (Woolly Mammoth's Marie Antoinette), Lighting Design by Oliver Wason (Heartbeat Opera's Fidelio), and Sound Design by Eric Norris (Signature's Into the Woods). Kirk Kanesaka is the Kabuki Consultant, Yoshi Amao is the Fight Director, Mark H. Rooney is the Taiko Consultant, Zach Campion is the Dialect Coach, and Eiji Miura is the Musical Dramaturg. Chelsea Pace is the Resident Intimacy Consultant. Signature Casting is by Jorge Acevedo. New York Casting is by Stewart/Whitley. Kerry Epstein is the Production Stage Manager, Katie Moshier is the Assistant Stage Manager, Stephen Bubniak is the Production Assistant, Aria Velz is the Assistant Director, Ashlynne Ludwig is the Associate Costume Designer, Angie Benson is the Associate Music Director, and Alexander Greenberg is the Keyboard Programmer.

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