Lainie Kazan
2/28/14 (Fri), Las Vegas
When I was looking for shows to catch in Las Vegas, I was surprised to find Lainie Kazan. I didn’t even know she was still singing, but I figured she’d be a fun link back to Vegas in its heyday. Continue reading
Author Archives: Sekenbanashi
The Eternal Zero (永遠の０)
永遠の０ (The Eternal Zero)
A film of a best-selling book about children seeking the truth about their grandfather, who died in a kamikaze mission towards the war’s end. He turns out to have been a soldier who did not go gently into the good night, insisting that he was not mere cannon fodder and wanted to live – a dangerous view at the time. Continue reading
Gravity
Gravity
2/2/14 (Sun), Tokyo
A much-talked about film, already out for several weeks here, being hyped as a potential Oscar winner. I usually don’t take much notice of these disaster flicks, having been burned once too often. But I was interested in how they would build a film around spacewalking, where character interaction is obviously going to be limited, and I like Sandra Bullock. Continue reading
BUNRAKU: 大塔宮曦鎧、恋娘昔八丈
BUNRAKU: 大塔宮曦鎧、恋娘昔八丈
12/14/13 (Sat), Tokyo
Bunraku was showing off some of the younger singers and performers this month. Continue reading
The Sound of Music (live TV)
The Sound of Music (NBC live broadcast)
12/8/13 (Sun)
When I heard that NBC was going to broadcast a live version of The Sound of Music, I was immediately intrigued. There hasn’t been a live broadcast of a musical in my lifetime – the last time, coincidentally another R&H show, Cinderella, was in 1957 – and unlike the Met Live films, this one is made specifically for the screen. I was very curious as to how they were going to approach this given the daunting logistics. Continue reading
The Suit
The Suit
11/16/13 (Sat), Tokyo
This was a Peter Brook production of a fable set in a South African townscape, based on his French version. It is a slight story in a slender retelling. Continue reading
London shows (Oct 2013)
- Handbagged, 10/28/13 (Mon), Tricycle
- Roots, 10/29/13 (Tues), Donmar
- Ghosts, 10/30/13 (Wed), Almeida
- The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, 10/31/13 (Thur), West End
The Drowned Man
The Drowned Man: A Hollywood Fable
10/27/13 (Sun), London
It’s hard to know what to call The Drowned Man: A Hollywood Fable, another National production from a group called Punchdrunk. It was described to me as interactive theater, but neither of those words seems quite right. Continue reading
Liolà
Liolà
10/27/13 (Sun), London, National Theatre
Liolà, a rather obscure Pirandello play, seemed an odd choice for the National Theatre. But if nothing else, it was being directed by Richard Eyre, soon to retire as the National’s artistic director after a spectacularly successful term. That seemed good enough reason to catch it. Continue reading
Street of Shame (赤線地帯)
赤線地帯 (Street of Shame)
9/16/13 (Thurs), Tokyo
Kenji Mizoguchi’s 1956 film about five prostitutes working at a brothel (the ironically named “Dreamland”) in Yoshiwara, Tokyo’s old red-light district, and struggling to survive amid the changing mores of the post-war era. The government is moving to outlaw prostitution with the laudable aim of protecting women (and to answer public opinion), but the move would in fact destroy not only the livelihood of these women but, in Mizoguchi’s world, the only way that women can make it on their own in society. Continue reading
Kabuki: Shiranui Kengyo, The Horse Thief (不知火検校, 馬盗人)
Kabuki: 不知火検校, 馬盗人 (Shiranui Kengyo, The Horse Thief)
9/6/13 (Fri), Tokyo
Shiranui Kengyo is a rare showing of a modern piece dating from 1960 that is known mainly as the inspiration for the wildly successful “Zatoichi” movie series. Continue reading
Hello, Birdie!
NBC has announced that its live holiday musical for 2017 will be the golden oldie Bye Bye Birdie starring Jennifer Lopez. I was surprised to see the announcement before the airing of this year’s event, Hairspray, in December, but I don’t blame them for wanting to get the word out. It’s a terrific choice — an upbeat family musical with a familiar title, a great score (including several standards), a good range of wacky characters, an Elvis spoof and a nostalgic portrait of uncomplicated life in small-town America. It is set roughly in the same period as Grease and Hairspray, the two live musicals that immediately preceded it (albeit on different networks) — the late 50s and early 60s are a hot time these days, I guess, not to mention high school life. The show was apparently proposed by Lopez herself, evidently a fan of the (rather altered) movie. Hooray for her. Continue reading
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