Choreographer Josh Rhodes said the script originally used dance only at the palace ball, but director Mark Brokaw and writer Douglas Carter Beane asked him look for danceable moments.

WSJ: Culture City: Searching Every Stage for Broadway Dance

According to legend, travelling performers of "bugaku, " the ritual dance and music of the imperial palace, visited Hachimantai Town in northern Japan in the early eighth century, during the reconstruction of Dainichido, the shrine pavilion.

UNESCO: Culture