Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman’s Pacific Overtures (which runs Fri/30-June 13 at Brava) is based on an unlikely subject for a musical: the forcible opening of Japan to the Western world in 1853.

Despite his background in musicals and traditional Japanese theater, director Nick Ishimaru wasn’t well-versed the show—which hasn’t been performed in the Bay Area in decades—but the more he learned about it, the more he loved the production. So much so, that he fought to make the show even through the shuttering of its original company.

“This is such a strange thing to say, but it felt so very Japanese,” he told 48hills. “Even though it’s written by two very American guys, there were so many aesthetics in it that they were picking up on, even back in the ’70s, that are very Japanese in their

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