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" (1922, the inspiration for Akira Kurosawa's 1950 film Rashomon) and Dragon: the Old Potter's Tale (1919).

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).

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.

Directed by Artistic Director Jason Bruffy, the cast included Liz Holt, Charlie Clark, Derek Snow, Molly Binder, and Robert Williams.

In June 2008, a highly sophisticated and critically acclaimed production opened at the Seoul Opera House complex.

This was a very successful version produced by the Korean company Musical Heaven, and directed by the innovative and avant-garde Colombian theater director Javier Gutiérrez R. This same year the play was nominated for numerous Korean musical theater awards, winning two of them.

Directed and Choreographed by Jason Wise, the cast featured Ben Liebert (Janitor/Priest), Brian Bailey (Medium/Aunt Monica), Parker Krug (Morito/Husband/CPA), Nate Suggs (Thief/Reporter), and Colby Levin (Kesa/Wife/Actress).

[14] In 2024 Out of the Box Theatrics produced the show Off-Broadway at Theatre 154, notably cast entirely with actors of Asian/Pacific Islander descent, including Sam Simahk, Marina Kondo, Zachary Noah Piser, and Kelvin Moon Loh.

Kesa divulges to the audience that "[her] husband knows [their] secret" and draws a knife out of her kimono and raises it to stab Morito at the height of her climax, but a blackout leaves the outcome unknown.

He explains that when he left work in the late night/early morning he took a shortcut through Central Park, where he found "the scarf, the body, the blood" ("The Janitor's Statement").

He slips when he refers to the weapon as "his knife", indicating that the killer is a male, but then he claims that the police had mentioned this to him.

The Thief knocks out the husband, ties him up and rapes Lily, who tries vainly to defend herself with a knife ("The Park").

The Janitor explains to his interrogator his philosophy about witnessing strange situations in New York City: "Best Not To Get Involved", but he admits to remembering Lily - "how could you forget a woman like her?"

She begins to comply ("Louie guide my hand, I will honor you") but at the last second, as he pushes the knife towards her, she panics and turns it towards him, killing him and running away.

The rape becomes passionate love-making, and the Husband attempts to block it out of his mind by recalling that the marquee of the movie house screening Rashomon was missing the "a" in the title.

The Medium and the Husband perform an elaborate ritual reminiscent of traditional Japanese Seppuku (stomach-cutting).

Everyone appears as a collage of voices, telling their statements, sometimes in unison but often interjecting with their own skewed perspectives on the truth.

The Priest has lost his faith in the wake of "the tragedy" (alluding to, but not directly referencing the September 11 attacks), having failed to bring comfort to his flock ("Confession/Last Year").

She reminds the Priest of all the flaws and wrongdoings in the world and berates him for being "a gullible dope", falling for "The Greatest Practical Joke" of humanity: religion.

Worried that God "doesn't see [his] life", he goes to the park, where he discovers his true calling, "to live free and wild".

To celebrate her success, her soap opera-actor boyfriend and she binge on cocaine and vodka and go for a drive in their Jaguar through Beverly Hills.

The car flies off a cliff, and the actress breaks her neck, legs, nose and arms: "ouch right?".

The TV news program she is watching shows the hordes of people gathering in Central Park for the "Gloryday".

The other characters appear, lighting candles and praying as the Priest emotionlessly "admires [his] handicraft" ("Prayer").

With one hour left until the miracle the Priest giddily points out souvenir salesmen, religious groups and celebrities ("Third Prayer/Feed the Lions").

Now Deanna, the CPA, the Reporter and Aunt Monica describe the scene: The sky goes black, a harsh wind picks up, lightning flashes, mist hangs in the air, the earth trembles, and a tornado hits the lake.