Pacific Overtures

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Dodd, Mead, 1977 - Drama - 128 pages
First performed on Broadway in 1976, this musical drama is set in 1853 Japan and presents the Westernization of the country after the arrival of Admiral Perry. It is told from the point of view of the Japanese, in the style of a Japanese drama, and the story focuses on the lives of two friends caught in the change.-- adapted from Wikipedia entry, accessed 2-9-15.

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Contents

Section 1
6
Section 2
9
Section 3
23
Copyright

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About the author (1977)

Stephen Sondheim was born in New York and studied music at Williams College, where he wrote the lyrics and music for two college shows. Sondheim also studied at Princeton University with Milton Babbit. He received recognition for writing lyrics for Leonard Bernstein's West Side Story (1957) and success as a lyricist-composer with A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1962). However, his next musical, Anyone Can Whistle (1964), was unsuccessful. The production of Company (1970) again established Sondheim as a major composer and lyricist on Broadway. Sondheim's other productions include Follies (1971); A Little Night Music (1973), wherein its leading song, "Send in the Clowns," was awarded a Grammy in 1976; and Sunday in the Park with George (1983), a musical inspired by George Seurat's famous painting "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte." He has won him three Tony Awards, a Grammy Award, the New York Drama Critics Circle Best Musical Award, and the Pulitzer Prize.

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