Pacific Overtures cast at Menier Chocolate Factory announced
Casting has been announced for the new revival of Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman’s Pacific Overtures at Menier Chocolate Factory.
In a co-production with Umeda Arts Theater, the musical will run from 25 November 2023 – 24 February 2024.
Matthew White directs the revised version which was worked on by both Sondheim and Weidman in 2017 and makes its UK debut.
The cast will feature Jon Chew (Reciter), Kanako Nakano (Tamate), Saori Oda (Shogun/Madam), Takuro Ohno (Kayama), and Joaquin Pedro Valdes (Manjiro).
Joining them are Luoran Ding, Masashi Fujimoto, Rachel Hayne Picar, Eu Jin Hwang, Abel Law, Ethan Le Phong, JoJo Meredith, Patrick Munday, Sario Solomon, Joy Tan, Lee V G and Iverson Yabut.
Nippon. The Floating Kingdom. One of Stephen Sondheim’s most ambitious creations comes to the Chocolate Factory in a co-production with Umeda Arts Theater in Japan, where it has already been a huge success in Tokyo and Osaka.
The story of the arrival of the West in 1853 in isolated Japan is seen from a western perspective but played in an eastern style. The score is filled with some of Sondheim’s most ravishing music, including Someone in a Tree, Pretty Lady and A Bowler Hat.
The production has set design by Paul Farnsworth, costume design by Ayako Maeda, sound design by Gregory Clarke, choreography by Ashley Nottingham, musical supervision by Catherine Jayes, orchestrations by Jonathan Tunic and hair and make-up design by Wakana Yoshihara with cultural consultant You-Ri Yamanaka.
For more information and tickets, visit menierchocolatefactory.com
