Mako

I don’t have a Filler Clip™ right now that’s specifically TV-related, so here’s one that was at least broadcast on TV. I mentioned the musical Pacific Overtures in my post on Stephen Sondheim’s 80th birthday last year; since then, someone uploaded a clip of the opening number that’s in much better quality than any other I’ve seen from this broadcast — I wish I knew where the uploader got this copy. (Pacific Overtures was taped in the theatre for broadcast not on U.S. TV, but in Japan, where the show has been popular as one of the few U.S. musicals about Japan.) Like most opening numbers from Stephen Sondheim/Harold Prince musicals, it tells us the premise of the show and presents the “order” that will soon be undermined: eight minutes of exposition, in song and dance, about Japan before the arrival of Commodore Perry.