See What I Wanna See

See What I Wanna See
Original cast recording
Music	Michael John LaChiusa
Lyrics	Michael John LaChiusa
Book	Michael John LaChiusa
Basis	Short stories by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa
Productions	2004 Williamstown Theatre Festival 2005 Off-Broadway 2006 Ohio 2007 Boston 2009 Arlington, Virginia 2013 New York City 2015 London

See What I Wanna See is a musical by Michael John LaChiusa based on three short stories by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa: "Kesa and Morito", "In a Grove" (the inspiration also for Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon) and "The Dragon". The story is told in two parts with two prologues. Each prologue involves the medieval lovers/killers Kesa and Morito. The first act follows a murder in Central Park in 1951 from the various perspectives of several different characters. Act two centers on a priest, wavering in his faith, who creates a hoax about a miracle.

The musical played Off-Broadway in 2005 and has since been performed in the UK and in regional U.S. theatres.

An early version of the show was mounted at the Williamstown Theater Festival from July 21, 2004 through August 1, 2004. The musical was titled R Shomon then. Directed by Ted Sperling, the cast featured Audra McDonald (Kesa/Wife/Actress), Henry Stram (Janitor/Priest); Michael C. Hall (Morito/Thief/Reporter), Tom Wopat (Husband/CPA), and Mary Testa (Medium, Aunt).

The musical premiered off-Broadway in New York at the Public Theater on October 30, 2005 (October 11 in previews) and ran through December 4, 2005. Directed by Ted Sperling, the cast included Idina Menzel as Kesa/Wife/Actress, Marc Kudisch as Morito/Husband/CPA, Henry Stram as The Janitor/Priest, Aaron Lohr as Thief/Reporter, and Mary Testa as Medium/Aunt. The production received Drama Desk Award nominations for Outstanding Musical, Actor in a Musical (Kudisch), Lead Actress in a Musical (Menzel), Featured Actress in a Musical (Testa), Music and Lyrics (LaChiusa), Orchestrations (Bruce Coughlin), Set Design (Thomas Lynch), and Sound Design (Acme Sound Partners). Menzel also was nominated for the Drama League Award for Distinguished Performance in 2006.