With a cast of six and a small orchestra, Tokio Confidential probably never intends to be more than a simple chamber musical; albeit, a chamber musical with a dense plot. The musical premiered in 2012 Off-Broadway directed by Johanna McKeon, with music and lyrics by Eric Schorr and starred Jill Paice. A recording of the score was finally recorded and released under Broadway Records (with Jose Llana replacing Mel Sagrado Maghuyop, Bruce Warren replacing Benjamin J McHugh and Telly Leung replacing Austin Ku). By 2015 Tokio Confidential has not become a cult classic, I admit I had not heard of it before. Why the recording, then? Cast recordings at their best preserve something that would have been lost otherwise.

The story follows a widow who journeys to Japan, a country her late husband loved. She becomes enamoured with the symbolic art and is encouraged to try a full body tattoo (banned for locals but allowed for foreigners). She falls in love with the tattoo artist and then tragedy strikes thrusting the cast of six (the woman, her dead husband’s ghost, her new paramour, his live-in girlfriend, and an Englishman and his male Japanese companion) together. Tokio Confidential features an ambitious plot, perhaps overly ambitious (although I’m curious to see what it would be like performed). But the cast recording does not have to worry about logical or sincere plotting, with some dialogue to assist the story the one hour recording is really about the music and Schorr’s creation (he also wrote the libretto) is one which, even when it falters, is always intriguing. The evidence of research in the plot and the musical arrangement is obvious and Tokio Confidential is clearly a piece created with sincerity.

Schorr's calling card as a writer is his love for symbolism (a key example "The Power of Suggestion" speaking of the difference between Western and Eastern Art). It's clear he intends Tokio Confidential to be something of an Eastern art form more about representing what is real than presenting everything. That comes from the understated musical arrangements, and the romantic duets which are less viscerally passionate than you would expect. But, it's a gamble which works.

When the show premiered in 2012 it was made possible by generous support from Asian Cultural Council, and although the show centers on a white woman’s journey in a foreign land, Tokio Confidential has half of the cast made up of API actors each of whom has a great song. I was most curious for Jose Llana who I’ll always appreciate for singing one of my favourite renditions of “I Have Dreamed” on the 1996 revival recording of The King & I (he made his Broadway debut in the show as Lun Tha). He eerily sounds not a day older, still young voiced and it’s almost jarring hearing him sing the role of a tough tattooist. But he sings beautifully. The coldness of the character leaves his delivery in his first solo (“Are You Prepared for that?” a bit remote) but he gets two beautiful later numbers. "The Tale of the Yoshiwara", about his liaison with a courtesan and then "Ukiyo", is one of the standouts from Act One. Even more impressive than Llana though are the Telly Leung and Manna Nichols. The two forgotten lovers share a beautiful moment, if pressed I might even say it’s the highpoint of the recording – the two spurned lovers commiserate with a solo for Leung ("The Jurisdiction of Affection") and a solo for Nichols (the gorgeous "Looking-Back Willow") which they sing in counterpoint briefly. Schorr’s lyrics tend to be, occasionally, too wordy but even as the small orchestra tends to lend itself to seeming recitative its earnestness and sincerity works. And it’s on these two numbers that his talents are at their height.

Jeff Kready as the story's villain and Bruce Warren as our heroine's dead husband are both impressive. Schorr's impressive talent as a creator is giving his entire cast a platform to do something impressive to do. As the central figure of the play Paice is in fine form. She does not get my favourite single number but she’s fantastic in the first true song of the recording ("Restless Spirits") with her dead husband which immediately captures the listener’s attention. Paice has been such an underrated performer (fantastic with her solo in Curtains and lovely on the woefully underrated Maury Yeston Death Takes A Holiday). Tokio Confidential leaves me yearning to hear the entire cast in more things, Jill Paice in a Ragtime, a new show written for Nichols' beautiful voice, Telly Leung in something other than occasional bit parts...The score is not pristine, it seems to be missing a truly great eleven o’clock number to bring it all together, but the entire creation is just so lovely the overall emotion of the piece trumps its issues. I'm curious to see what Schorr does next.