By Aline Mahrud

WORTH A LOOK?: ***

WHEN?: Sunday 28 January (matinee), runs through 25 February 2024 RUNTIME: 105 minutes without interval

We promised ourselves we’d seek out more Sondheim after catching the glorious Old Friends starring Bernadette Peters and Lea Salonga in London’s West End late last year.

• Read on for reasons including why this is a strong production of a rarely performed work

Pacific Overtures is 1 of Sondheim’s least performed musicals and its obscure subject matter – America’s naval intimidation of Japan in 1853 – perhaps gives a sense of why that might be.

This production, however, is not without a sense of humour and is innovatively staged and performed memorably by the Asian-led cast.

It’s perhaps short on crowdpleasing hits although we did enjoy the spectacle of different boats from around the world trying to dock in a country which had been closed to international visitors for so long.

During Please Hello cast members donned boat-shaped costumes around their midriffs to portray naval representatives of countries including America, the UK, Russia and Netherlands which very much played up to national stereotypes and proved a pleasing comic interlude.

Pacific Overtures is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by John Weidman, with additional material by Hugh Wheeler.

Set in 19th-century Japan, it tells the story of the country’s westernization starting in 1853, when American ships forcibly opened it to the rest of the world. The story is told from the point of view of the Japanese, and focuses in particular on the lives of two characters caught iup n the change.

The original Broadway production of Pacific Overtures in 1976 was staged in Kabuki style, with men playing women’s parts and set changes made in full view of the audience by black-clad stagehands. It opened to mixed reviews and closed after six months, despite being nominated for 10 Tonys.

The Menier cast is strong and we recognised Sario Solomon from the BBC’s Let It Shine talent show, Joaquin Pedro Valdes (Heathers, Theatre Royal Haymarket) and Jon Chew (Anything Goes, Barbican).

The Menier’s bench seating meant it was an uncomfortable squeeze of a show for us but we’re happy to have seen such a strong production of a rarely performed work.

• Main picture via Facebook courtesy Menier Chocolate Factory
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