Sondheim Supplement #31
An exclusive Pacific Overtures essay, a Q-themed crossword, and more...
Welcome to Supplement 31!
In our crossword this week, every answer begins with the letter Q. Plus, we have an exclusive essay on “Please Hello” (Pacific Overtures) for you, lots more from our conversation with Gypsy music director Andy Einhorn, a look back at last year’s conversation with Jennifer Ashley Tepper, and there’s our survey of This Week in Sondheim, too.
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Lyric Essay: “Please Hello”
Please hello, America back.
Commodore Perry send hello.
Also comes memorial plaque
President Fillmore wish bestow.Emperor read our letter? If no,
Commodore Perry very sad.
Emperor like our letter? If so,
Commodore Perry very merry,
President Fillmore still more glad.
“Please Hello” opens with a devastating act of linguistic mimicry, a portrait of cultural imperialism through the very syntax of condescension. The American Admiral’s broken, childlike English, ostensibly an attempt to communicate across language barriers, reveals instead the profound arrogance of a nation that assumes the entire world should accommodate its presence, even when that nation can’t be bothered to learn proper diplomatic protocol, much less a local language.
The opening lines establish the Admiral as both emissary and caricature.