Pacific Overtures (Los Angeles, CA)

Pacific Overtures
Music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Book by John Weidman
East West Players
Extended to December 8

The 2024 Season culminates with the Tony Award winning musical Pacific Overtures, with music & lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by John Weidman, additional material by Hugh Wheeler, and orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick. 1853, and it’s the end of the world. Commodore Matthew C. Perry intends to open the gates of isolationist Japan. When Samurai Kayama and America-loving fisherman Manjiro are tasked with meeting the American gunboat docked on the coast of Kanagawa, little could they know that they would irreversibly change the “Floating Kingdom.” The original Broadway production of Pacific Overtures was directed by Harold Prince, and produced by Harold Prince in association with Ruth Mitchell.

East West Players previously produced Pacific Overtures in 1979 with EWP founding Artistic Director Mako reprising his Tony nominated performance as The Reciter. The musical was again produced by EWP in 1998 as the David Henry Hwang Theater’s inaugural performance.

This production  will be presented at the David Henry Hwang Theater in the Union Center of the Arts at 120 Judge John Aiso Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012 in Little Tokyo. Pacific Overtures will perform November 7 through December 1 with opening night on Sunday, November 10. This production is supported in part by the David Lee Foundation.