Daily post 14 Feb 2007 07:52 am
Inspiration
- In these days of horrible animation, I find difficulty in getting inspired to do anything artistic. I want to work with more than a lackluster obeisance to duty. I need to feel excited about the work. So what I have to do is go searching. Fortunately, this has been going on for so long that I’ve found a couple of sure-fire sparks to do the job.
Today we were editing some documentary pieces which will accompany the two dvds I have coming out in May/June. The two will feature four half-hour shows I did of Andersen tales.
The Red Shoes/Little Match Girl on one.
The Emperor’s New Clothes/Nightingale on the second.
In talking with my editor, Paul Carrillo, I mentioned Mako‘s work as an actor and how I sought him to narrate the Nightingale back in 1992. (I set it in Japan rather than China, as in the original.) Mako, who died last year, was someone whose work I loved. He is best remembered, probably, for his role in The Sand Pebbles. Animation people probably are most familiar with his voice in Samurai Jack.
Back in 1976 I saw him in Pacific Overtures and was so impressed, I returned immediately to see the Sondheim musical a second time.
The beauty of this show, beyond Stephen Sondheim‘s music, was the amazing sets by Boris Aronson.
I went back to Frank Rich‘s book about his work.
I’ve talked about Aronson’s work before and probably will again. (First post here; second post here.)
Like Jiri Trnka’s artwork, Aronson’s designs inspire me beyond anything I see today. Boris Aronson
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This guy gets my juices flowing. He was a true artist, and my respect for what he did in the theater inspires me beyond anything I can say here. There aren’t too many in designers in theater today who can compare. (Probably Bob Crowley and Tony Walton come close.)
Here are some of the setpieces that Aronson designed for Pacific Overtures on Browadway:
This is Mako within the show. He was the Reciter, the Shogun and the Emperor in it. He sang the opening lyrics I love so much; I only hear his voice and his intonations when thinking about this song:
In the middle of the sea.
The realities remain remote
In the middle of the sea.”
This is the design of the tree that blossomed like a Japanese fan. A young man climbed into it. An old man at the bottom of the tree represented the child grown up, and a third man lay under the treatyhouse where the Japanese negotiated with Admiral Perry. The house was designed so that the barbarian Americans would never have to touch Japanese soil, but would walk on tatami mats.
This is a setting wherein the soon-to-be minister will trek home with the sailor who has been “Americanized” in Boston.
Above is the design for the ship that morphed out of a dragon as it approached Japan.
The actual set is pictured below.
I wonder if Stephen Sondheim would allow an animated version of this show? He and I once discussed animating the show Assassins, but the book’s writer, John Weidman, wouldn’t allow an animated version. Sondheim seemed keen on the idea, and Hugh Wheeler wrote this book.
on 14 Feb 2007 at 8:56 am 1.Clint Edwards said …
Michael,
What a fantastic idea! As Sondheim ascends to mythic heights of living-legend status they keep mounting these lavish concert versions of his shows with glorious star-studded casts-love letters, really, to the shows and the man. I happened to see the wonderful “Follies” at City Center this past week with a beaming Sondheim in attendance…but the shows only last a few magical nights and then disappear forever. An animated telling of the “Pacific Overtures” story would capture this enchanting and often mis-understood/ignored show on screen forever, and a real treat for all of us fans! I wonder if an audio recording of the complete original show exists or would a new one have to be made, thus losing out on the genius of Mako?
I wish you luck and would love to see this movie.
on 14 Feb 2007 at 5:28 pm 2.Galen Fott said …
The original Broadway production of Pacific Overtures was videotaped for Japanese television. I have a VHS copy…somewhere…been quite a few years since I watched it, but if memory serves it was at least of “watchable” quality.
I regret that the “Into the Woods” movie with Henson Creature Shop participation never materialized!
on 14 Feb 2007 at 5:30 pm 3.Galen Fott said …
Oh…by “watchable” quality, I was questioning the quality of the tape, NOT the show!
on 14 Feb 2007 at 6:07 pm 4.Michael said …
Yes, I have the dvd of that filmed version. It’s a bit distant but a record just the same. I don’t really feel much of a loss with the Into The Woods film having fallen through.
on 15 Feb 2007 at 2:37 pm 5.Galen Fott said …
Is your DVD, like my tape, an “unofficial” release? I got mine from someone who had worked with an original cast member, who had his own (possibly “unofficial”) copy…
It was never actually released anywhere, was it?
on 15 Feb 2007 at 3:09 pm 6.Michael said …
My piece is the full show which is decently shot (with a couple of interruptions), but is definitely an underground copy. It’s not a professional film.
on 11 Apr 2007 at 6:55 am 7.duke said …
The original Broadway production of Pacific Overtures was videotaped for Japanese television.It was never actually released anywhere, was it?
on 30 Mar 2011 at 7:11 pm 8.Damien Slattery said …
Wonderful blog of yours!!
on 29 Apr 2011 at 2:23 am 9.Eric Henwood-Greer said …
Wonderful blog–sorry to reply to an old post… However, John Weidman also wrote the book for Pacific Overtures – Hugh Wheeler at the request of Hal Prince (they had just done Night Music together) did get credit for “additional material”. Apparently they actually consider Pacific Overtures/Assasins and the recent Road Show as an unofficial political trilogy between Weidman and Sondheim. I would LOVE to see a beautifully animated take on this show though.