With a smile beaming from his face, Broadway legend Harold Prince enters the room I'm waiting in and cheerfully declares, "I'm not jet-lagged at all — they're just working me to death."

Prince arrived in Tokyo only a few days earlier and is eager to talk about his life as a theater producer and director. He's also keen to discuss "Prince of Broadway," his latest, largely autobiographical musical, which will have its world premiere this month at Theatre Orb in Shibuya before it moves to Umeda Arts Theater in Osaka.

The winner of an unparalleled 21 Tony awards, 87-year-old Prince — who is accompanied by Susan Stroman, his co-director and choreographer, and a five-time Tony winner herself — may have been cheerful as he walked into the interview room at Theatre Orb, but as I was waiting for him beforehand I caught a glimpse of the other side to this show-biz king when I overheard his passionate-yet-stern voice through the door as he discussed staging details with his crew.