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Pacific Overtures is a musical written by Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman.

The show is set in 1853 Japan and follows the difficult Westernization of Japan, told from the point of view of the Japanese.

In particular, the story zeros in on the lives of two friends caught in the change.

The title of the work is ironic, nodding toward " overture " as a musical form, noting that the initiatives of the Western powers for commercial exploitation of the Pacific nation were anything but " pacific " overtures.

Built around a quasi-Japanese pentatonic scale, the music contrasts Japanese contemplation (" There is No Other Way ") with Western ingenuousness (" Please Hello ").

The score is generally considered to be one of Sondheim's most ambitious and sophisticated efforts.