- Company (Taiwan)
7/12/26 (Sun), Taichung National Theater (Taiwan)
Company, Sondheim’s sardonic look at marriage, has been turned into 42nd Street in this bright, splashy version by Japanese director Amon Miyamoto – and it (more or less) works.
Category Archives: Musical
Back to the Future the Musical (バックトゥザフューチャー)
- バックトゥザフューチャー (Back to the Future the Musical)
3/29/26 (Sun), Tokyo
I didn’t bother to see this in London or New York, wary as always about another movie-to-musical adaptation. But a friend had an extra ticket to this sold-out Japanese-language production, and I had heard good things about the staging, handled here as on the West End/Broadway by John Rando. As usual for productions by the giant Gekidan Shiki theatrical group, I saw no children at all at this family-oriented show. Families are crowded out by the avid Shiki fans, for better or worse.
The show itself is just the movie on stage with some mediocre songs thrown on top in all the predictable places. Continue reading
A Look Back: Pacific Overtures in Tokyo (2000)
A Look Back: Pacific Overtures in Tokyo
Here is an expanded version of an essay written originally for the Sondheim Review (reproduced here) discussing the innovative Tokyo production of the Japan-themed musical in 2000. The essay played a small role in helping to bring the production to New York in both Japanese and English. It discusses the differing perspectives of the American writers and Japanese director regarding the musical’s themes. A British-helmed production played in Tokyo nearly a quarter-century later but did not have the same impact. This longer essay was featured in The Oxford Handbook of the Global Stage Musical (2023).
Golden Boy (ゴールデンボーイ)
- Golden Boy (ゴールデンボーイ)
3/4/26 (Wed)
A chance reference online led me to this YouTube broadcast of the full stage musical from a Tokyo production of September 1988, starring Nishikiori Kazukiyo from the then-popular Shonentai boy band. It was released in video back in the day by Warner Brothers Pioneer, but I was surprised to find a free download online, a rarity for a star vehicle in Japan. In any case, I had never seen this rarely produced musical in any language, so I immediately took a look. Continue reading
Gold Diggers of 1933
- Gold Diggers of 1933
2/15/26 (Sun)
Mervyn LeRoy’s joyous musical celebration comes between two other Warner Bros backstage musicals the same year, 42nd Street and Footlight Parade, that pretty much define the era. The songs are performed as stage productions rather than character or narrative numbers and are essentially interchangeable, having nothing to do with the underlying story; the producers in fact switched out the final number for a new song with no effect at all on the narrative. The show is based on a stage farce from 1919 that already had two previous film treatments. This one apparently was supposed to be a drama as well but added musical numbers following the success of 42nd Street (they moved fast in those days). Its huge popularity spawned several sequels.
Pretty Woman (プリティ・ウーマン, musical)
- Pretty Woman (プリティ・ウーマン, musical)
1/23/26 (Fri), Tokyo
A Japanese-language version of the flop Broadway musical. This production appears meant as a showcase for the half-Spanish hunk Shirota Yu, who also translated the book and lyrics. The other main roles were double-cast despite an effective run of less than two weeks.
It was no better or worse than feared, basically a paint-by-numbers recreation of the movie with songs thrown on top, as with most of these film retreads. Continue reading
& Juliet
- & Juliet
12/14/25 (Sun), Broadway
This one wasn’t at the top of my to-see list during my NY visit – I had ignored it in London, where it debuted – but there weren’t many choices on a Sunday night. It was either this or Mamma Mia, another musical based on the work of Swedish songwriters, which I hadn’t seen since (gulp) 2000. I ending up going for the new piece. Big mistake.
West Side Story (1961 film)
- West Side Story (1961 film)
12/3/25 (Wed)
I hadn’t seen this version of the film in decades, so I took advantage of the 10am classic movie series sponsored by Toho Cinemas to see it on the big screen. I especially wanted to refresh my memory after Spielberg’s remake a few years back. Continue reading
A Look Back: Merrily We Roll Along
With the release of the filmed version of the 2023 Broadway revival of the cult Sondheim musical Merrily We Roll Along, the timing seems right for a rerun of this piece from last year. Unlike the Met Live and National Theatre Live productions, the film is not the record of a single performance but shot over three days and edited into one work. While that feels like cheating — it essentially gives the actors three takes to get it right, going against the entire idea of a live show — it does give a wider audience a look at a flawed vehicle that most are unlikely to see in person. Reviews of the film rendering have been mixed, but the production itself, based on the original London showing that I saw some years ago, was solid. It’s also a way for the producers to squeeze even more money out of the show after charging up to $899 per ticket on Broadway. Here is my take.
Yankee damns Yankees
- Yankee damns Yankees
10/12/25 (Sun)
It seems that the 1955 musical Damn Yankees is set to be the next sacrifice on the altar of woke. I was excited to hear that a revival of the show, one of the best of the Golden Age musicals, will be moving to Broadway after an apparently successful run in Washington DC. I saw the last revival twice in 1994 with a pitch-perfect Victor Garber as the devil, and it was a joy. I remember in previews when 104-year-old George Abbott, the original director four decades earlier, showed up in the audience to a standing ovation.
Fashion Freak Show
- Fashion Freak Show
9/12/25 (Fri)
Jean Paul Gaultier’s more-or-less autobiographical show, subtitled “The Exhibition”, has evidently been around for a few years, but I knew nothing about it when a friend called and tempted me with a free ticket. I assumed at first that it would just be a fashion show, but reviews from London and elsewhere suggested that it was a musical revue of sorts and were broadly positive. And I couldn’t argue with the price.
A Look Back: Hamilton
Hamilton is welcoming its 10th anniversary on Broadway on August 6 (coinciding here in Japan with the 80th anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing), so I thought I’d rerun my review of some years back. The NY Times and other outlets seem particularly taken by the musical’s use of race-blind (or, more accurately, race-conscious) casting, though it has always reminded me of the black characters in Get Out who are so desperate to be white. Also, its message of tolerance and love doesn’t seem to have reached some of its cast members.
In any case, I was more interested in the author’s view of history. Hamilton, portrayed in the show as an immigrant, was nothing of the kind: he was a white guy of British/French heritage who moved from one British colony (in the Caribbean) to another British colony (New York), where Thomas Jefferson and John Adams would equally have been “immigrants” prior to American independence, and was pretty stridently anti-immigration himself once the new nation was established. That rather undercuts the intended message of the show. It’s better enjoyed as a parody of history, and in that sense it’s great fun. Here’s my review.
sekenbanashi 