Current Show
February 2-4, 9-11, 16-18 - doors @ 7:00pm, show @ 7:30pm
Blackbird Theater performs in Shamblin Theater on the campus of Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee.
Contact: greg@BlackbirdNashville.com
Pacific Overtures
We thought it was the end of the world. And it was.
Written by Stephen Sondheim & James Weidman
Directed by Wes Driver & Greg Greene
The Play
The modern master of musical theater is renowned for Sweeney Todd, A Little Night Music, and Company. But one of his most compelling works is the rarely produced gem Pacific Overtures.
In 19th century Japan, an unlikely friendship is forged between the samurai Kayama and the Americanized fisherman Manjiro in the wake of a U.S. naval mission to secure trade relations with the reclusive nation. Kayama and Manjiro – and all of Japanese society – must face the wave of Westernization that follows.
Pacific Overtures tells the story of Commodore Matthew Perry’s 1853 mission to open trade relations with isolationist Japan through gunboat diplomacy. This innovative show by Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman blends the American musical form with elements from Kabuki theater, to present the origin of relations between America and Japan through the eyes of the Japanese.
Pacific Overtures features a gorgeous score and, of course, the peerless lyrics of Stephen Sondheim. Highlights include the soaring “Poems”, the comedic tour-de-force “Please Hello”, the delicate, diabolical “Chrysanthemum Tea”, and its best known song, the beautiful (and chilling) “Pretty Lady”.
Blackbird Theater presents Pacific Overtures just weeks before Nashville’s popular Cherry Blossom Festival, and only days before the one-year anniversary of the devastating tsunami of March 11. The story is a fitting tribute to the strength and the resilient spirit of the Japanese people.
Make your plans to enjoy this must-see theatrical event, one of only a handful of U.S. productions of this musical masterpiece in the next few years.
Cast
| The Reciter | Travis Brazil |
| Kayama Yesaemon | Michael Slayton |
| John Manjiro | Tyson Lammael |
| Lord Abe | Chris Bosen |
| Tamate | Joann Coleman |
| The Shogun’s Mother (Chrysanthemum Tea) | Nancy Allen |
| The Madam (Welcome to Kanagawa) | Jama Bowen |
| Old Man (Someone In a Tree), Shogun’s Physician (Chrysanthemum Tea), French Admiral | Patrick Kramer |
| Thief (Four Black Dragons), Warrior (Someone In a Tree), British Sailor (Pretty Lady) | Mike Baum |
| Fisherman (Four Black Dragons), Dutch Admiral (Please Hello) | Scott Rice |
| Observor (There Is No Other Way), British Sailor (Pretty Lady), American Admiral (Please Hello) | Will Sevier |
| Boy (Someone In a Tree), Girl (Pretty Lady) | Maia Cole |
| Third Councilor, British Admiral (Please Hello), Fencing Master | Brad Oxnam |
| Observor (There Is No Other Way), Priest (Chrysanthemum Tea) | Katherine Sandoval Taylor |
| Geisha (Welcome to Kanagawa) | Sydni Hayes |
| Geisha (Welcome to Kanagawa), Priest (Chrysanthemum Tea) | Evelyn O’Neal Brush |
| Geisha (Welcome to Kanagawa), Shogun’s Wife (Chrysanthemum Tea) | Cori Lammael |
| Russian Admiral (Please Hello), Soothsayer (Chrysanthemum Tea) | Larry Brown |
| Samurai, Imperial Priest | Joshua Martin |
| Second Councilor | Brad Forrister |
| First Officer of the U.S.S. Powhatan, Lord of the South | Jeremy Maxwell |
| Second Officer of the U.S.S. Powhatan, Lord of the South | Andy Kanies |
| Samurai, Shogun’s Companion (Chrysanthemum Tea), British Sailor (Pretty Lady) | Tyler Ashley |
| Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry | James Rudolph |
| Villager, Assassin | Hayden Forrister |
| Village Children (Advantages, Four Black Dragons, Next) | Addison McFarlin, Anna Beth Lasley, Tyler Bond |
Crew
| Music Director | Benjamin van Diepen |
| Choreographer | Kari Smith |
| Scenic Design | Larry Brown |
| Lighting Design | David Hardy |
| Costume Design | Hannah Schmidt |
| Makeup & Hair Design | Aria Durso |
| Stage Manager | Bethany Jones |
| Props Master | Nettie Kraft |
| Sound design | Donnie Freeman |
| Dramaturg | Sam Mayer |
Reviews
- BroadwayWorld.com's Jef Ellis: Blackbird Theater scores another artistic triumph with Sondheim's PACIFIC OVERTURES
- The Tennessean: Blackbird Theater's 'Pacific Overtures' is cerebral, stylish
- ArtNowNashville.com: Blackbird Offers Entertaining and Accessible ‘Pacific Overtures’
- Nashville Scene's Jim Ridley: Stephen Sondheim's Pacific Overtures Opens Thursday at Blackbird Theater
- Angela Fox's preview in the Tennessean's Grassland column
- The Tennessean: Blackbird Theater tackles rarely seen Sondheim gem
- Nashville Scene's Winter Arts Preview (scroll to the Theater section)
- Nashville Scene's Jim Ridley on PACIFIC OVERTURES coming to Nashville