Category Archives: Musical

A Look Back: Pacific Overtures in Tokyo (2000)

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A Look Back: Pacific Overtures in Tokyo

Here is an expanded version of an essay written originally for the Sondheim Review (reproduced here) discussing the innovative Tokyo production of the Japan-themed musical in 2000. The essay played a small role in helping to bring the production to New York in both Japanese and English. It discusses the differing perspectives of the American writers and Japanese director regarding the musical’s themes. A British-helmed production played in Tokyo nearly a quarter-century later but did not have the same impact. This longer essay was featured in The Oxford Handbook of the Global Stage Musical (2023).

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Golden Boy (ゴールデンボーイ)

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  • Golden Boy (ゴールデンボーイ)

3/4/26 (Wed)

A chance reference online led me to this YouTube broadcast of the full stage musical from a Tokyo production of September 1988, starring Nishikiori Kazukiyo from the then-popular Shonentai boy band. It was released in video back in the day by Warner Brothers Pioneer, but I was surprised to find a free download online, a rarity for a star vehicle in Japan. In any case, I had never seen this rarely produced musical in any language, so I immediately took a look. Continue reading →

Gold Diggers of 1933

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  • Gold Diggers of 1933

2/15/26 (Sun)

Mervyn LeRoy’s joyous musical celebration comes between two other Warner Bros backstage musicals the same year, 42nd Street and Footlight Parade, that pretty much define the era. The songs are performed as stage productions rather than character or narrative numbers and are essentially interchangeable, having nothing to do with the underlying story; the producers in fact switched out the final number for a new song with no effect at all on the narrative. The show is based on a stage farce from 1919 that already had two previous film treatments. This one apparently was supposed to be a drama as well but added musical numbers following the success of 42nd Street (they moved fast in those days). Its huge popularity spawned several sequels.

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Pretty Woman (プリティ・ウーマン, musical)

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  • Pretty Woman (プリティ・ウーマン, musical)

1/23/26 (Fri), Tokyo

A Japanese-language version of the flop Broadway musical. This production appears meant as a showcase for the half-Spanish hunk Shirota Yu, who also translated the book and lyrics. The other main roles were double-cast despite an effective run of less than two weeks.

It was no better or worse than feared, basically a paint-by-numbers recreation of the movie with songs thrown on top, as with most of these film retreads. Continue reading →

& Juliet

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  • & Juliet

12/14/25 (Sun), Broadway

This one wasn’t at the top of my to-see list during my NY visit – I had ignored it in London, where it debuted – but there weren’t many choices on a Sunday night. It was either this or Mamma Mia, another musical based on the work of Swedish songwriters, which I hadn’t seen since (gulp) 2000. I ending up going for the new piece. Big mistake.

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West Side Story (1961 film)

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  • West Side Story (1961 film)

12/3/25 (Wed)

I hadn’t seen this version of the film in decades, so I took advantage of the 10am classic movie series sponsored by Toho Cinemas to see it on the big screen. I especially wanted to refresh my memory after Spielberg’s remake a few years back. Continue reading →

A Look Back: Merrily We Roll Along

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With the release of the filmed version of the 2023 Broadway revival of the cult Sondheim musical Merrily We Roll Along, the timing seems right for a rerun of this piece from last year. Unlike the Met Live and National Theatre Live productions, the film is not the record of a single performance but shot over three days and edited into one work. While that feels like cheating — it essentially gives the actors three takes to get it right, going against the entire idea of a live show — it does give a wider audience a look at a flawed vehicle that most are unlikely to see in person. Reviews of the film rendering have been mixed, but the production itself, based on the original London showing that I saw some years ago, was solid. It’s also a way for the producers to squeeze even more money out of the show after charging up to $899 per ticket on Broadway. Here is my take.

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Yankee damns Yankees

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  • Yankee damns Yankees

10/12/25 (Sun)

It seems that the 1955 musical Damn Yankees is set to be the next sacrifice on the altar of woke. I was excited to hear that a revival of the show, one of the best of the Golden Age musicals, will be moving to Broadway after an apparently successful run in Washington DC. I saw the last revival twice in 1994 with a pitch-perfect Victor Garber as the devil, and it was a joy. I remember in previews when 104-year-old George Abbott, the original director four decades earlier, showed up in the audience to a standing ovation.

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Fashion Freak Show

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  • Fashion Freak Show

9/12/25 (Fri)

Jean Paul Gaultier’s more-or-less autobiographical show, subtitled “The Exhibition”, has evidently been around for a few years, but I knew nothing about it when a friend called and tempted me with a free ticket. I assumed at first that it would just be a fashion show, but reviews from London and elsewhere suggested that it was a musical revue of sorts and were broadly positive. And I couldn’t argue with the price.

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A Look Back: Hamilton

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Hamilton is welcoming its 10th anniversary on Broadway on August 6 (coinciding here in Japan with the 80th anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing), so I thought I’d rerun my review of some years back. The NY Times and other outlets seem particularly taken by the musical’s use of race-blind (or, more accurately, race-conscious) casting, though it has always reminded me of the black characters in Get Out who are so desperate to be white. Also, its message of tolerance and love doesn’t seem to have reached some of its cast members. 

In any case, I was more interested in the author’s view of history. Hamilton, portrayed in the show as an immigrant, was nothing of the kind: he was a white guy of British/French heritage who moved from one British colony (in the Caribbean) to another British colony (New York), where Thomas Jefferson and John Adams would equally have been “immigrants” prior to American independence, and was pretty stridently anti-immigration himself once the new nation was established. That rather undercuts the intended message of the show. It’s better enjoyed as a parody of history, and in that sense it’s great fun. Here’s my review.

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Encores! 2026: Two Steps Back, One Step Forward

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Encores! is taking two steps back, one step forward with the announcement of its 2026 season. The series suffered a previous attempt to go “relevant” in 2022 with “productions where artists reclaim work for our time through their own personal lens”, choosing two mediocre black-themed shows. The poor reception of those productions prompted a return in the following years to its original goal of presenting great theater.

Next year’s three offerings under new artistic director Jenny Gersten will be an all-black version of the much revived La Cage Aux Folles (1983), the haunted musical comedy High Spirits (1964), and George Wolfe’s short-lived The Wild Party (2000). (Separately, City Center will also present a gala revival of the off Broadway musical Bat Boy (1992).) Gerston notes that “all have narratives about understanding and respecting our differences” and stresses their importance “at a time when it’s so easy for us to get lost in our own echo chambers”. In particular, she says the black La Cage will “center voices that are also marginalized because of their background”.

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Company (1995)

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  • Company (1995)

3/27/25 (Wed)

I had vague memories of Sam Mendes’ Donmar Warehouse production as rather overdone, but I do remember enjoying the performances, especially Adrian Lester as Bobby. When I learned that a filmed version had been broadcast, I immediately looked online and found it.

The director’s concept was to present the show as a figment of Bobby’s imagination, thereby establishing Bobby clearly as the central role rather than as an observer of others. Sondheim himself voices his approval in a video interview shown between acts. I have to say that the approach went over my head at the time and, even knowing the idea this time around, thought the director was taking things too seriously. The theme is not that difficult: does committing to someone mean losing oneself in the process (“Once you’re married, you can never again not have been married”), or is it offset by what we gain in companionship, i.e., company?

The musical stacks the deck against marriage by featuring battling, unhappy and even divorced couples – didn’t the writer know any happy pairs? – but the fact that they all remain together and still push Bobby to marry at the end suggests that they must see something in the arrangement, that the loss of freedom and such is compensated by something on the other side. Continue reading →