Well, whaddya know. Just a few days ago, I suggested an NBC Live “Mame” starring Bette Midler because I figured she wouldn’t go for a full eight-night-a-week Broadway run. And now she’s just announced that she’ll be doing that other Jerry Herman hit “Hello, Dolly!” on Broadway next year. I’m perfectly happy to be wrong in this case. What a perfect fit! They haven’t announced other casting, but does it matter?
Hopefully they’ll do two things. Continue reading
Piaf
3 December 2008 (Wed), West End
This show was not a true musical but a biographical play with songs, all sung by the leading character in the context of performances or concerts. It told the story of the singer’s life from her street years to her lonely death. Given Piaf’s self-destructive personality, this could make for a pretty depressing story, as I understand was the case with the movie. But here it was a wild, rapid-fire portrayal of key incidents in the main character’s life, making for an impressionistic picture of the singer’s eventful life. Piaf was a gutter child, and there’s no skimping on the random sex, raw language, alcohol, drugs and some pretty disagreeable character flaws. I can’t say I came to like her, and the show doesn’t dig deep enough to round out the portrait with any measure of sympathy or understanding. At best, I admired her fire and her perseverance, though I did feel sorry for her just a bit for not having enough strength to dig herself out in the end. There were other interesting characters, especially Piaf’s fat and loose friend from her poor days. Everything in the show, though, revolved around Piaf, so that was the character that mattered. Continue reading
Carousel
2 December 2008 (Tues), West End
Carousel was pleasantly and unexpectedly old-fashioned, a throwback to the days when directors were confident enough to let the material speak for itself. As much as I enjoyed the National Theatre production years ago, I’ve always thought that Carousel, a show that includes joys like wife-beating, mental abuse, armed robbery and suicide, hardly needed darkening. The singing was magnificent, the best overall that I’ve ever experienced for this show. That’s a big plus for a score as beautiful as this one. The chorus was also very strong.
The acting, however, was another story. Continue reading
KABUKI: 紅葉狩 (Momijigari)、愛駝姫 (Princess Aida)
8 October 2008 (Sun), Tokyo Kabukiza
The chief attraction here was the second half of the bill, a Kabuki adaptation of Aida directed by the ever-popular Noda Hideki. I’ve said before that I wouldn’t suffer again through Noda’s self-indulgent works, but I somehow convinced myself that I should see at least one of his Kabuki pieces since his other two were such big hits. On top of that, I felt that a Kabuki version of Aida is actually a workable idea. The show is supposedly a sellout, but I managed to get two seats early in the run. Unfortunately I couldn’t find anyone else as gullible as I am to buy the other ticket, so I took a half-interested friend along as a guest.
The good news first. Continue reading
Kabuki: 高野聖 (The Holy Man of Mt. Koya)
10 July 2008 (Thurs), Tokyo Kabukiza
Having loved Tamasaburo in a recent Kabuki Cinema showing, I decided to see him live in this month’s unusual production. This was not one of the classics but Kabuki versions of two ghost stories by the Meiji writer Izumi Kyoka. Because of the casting with both him and the popular young heartthrob Ebizo (not to mention a poster with Tamasaburo half-removing Ebizo’s priestly robes), the tickets were said to be selling fast. As it turned out, there seemed to be plenty of open seats not only for the opening show but also for the main attraction. Continue reading
ふるあめりかに袖はぬらさじ (Kabuki Cinema)
A high-definition film of the modern drama presented at the Kabukiza last December with Tamasaburo, Kanzaburo and a star-packed cast. I had missed the sellout show there and was eager to catch it this time. The show was adapted by the author from her novel in 1972 specifically for the great actress Sugimura Haruko, who I never saw on stage (though numerous times on film), and has been revived many times since. This was the first time in a Kabuki (i.e., all-male) staging. Continue reading
夏祭浪花鑑 (The Summer Festival) (Cocoon Kabuki)
As my fourth straight show in the annual Cocoon Kabuki series (held at Shibuya’s Theatre Cocoon), this had a very familiar ring. I’ve seen this much-performed show in both its Kabuki and Bunraku versions, and remember especially vividly the great climactic scene, where the guy murders his father and quickly disposes of the body in the mud as the festival procession approaches. I ended up with seats on the floor – literally on the floor in traditional style, since there were no normal seats left for the afternoon show. But for all the discomfort, it’s more fun to be down close to the stage, and these particular seats, evidently the house seats (exactly the same as last year), are right at the equivalent of the key 7-3 spot on the hanamichi. So I wasn’t too unhappy with the arrangements.
The show was as fun as ever in its usual crowd-pleasing style, and the production was professional. But I had a slight feeling of déjà vu, a feeling that this was becoming somewhat formulaic. Continue reading
La Fille Du Regiment (Met Live)
30 May 2008 (Fri), Tokyo
The final offering of this season’s Met Live opera film series of a performance from one month earlier. I had really been looking forward to this because of its star Natalie Dessay, who was so amazing in another Donizetti title role in the Met’s opener Lucia last October. I missed the film’s initial showing in Roppongi and wasn’t about to make the same mistake with this special encore performance. The theatre was quite full, but I got a nice seat from some lady with an extra ticket. (She seemed to pick me out of the line because she wanted to speak English. I was happy to oblige for a good seat.) She actually saw this performance live in NY last month and was so delighted that she wanted to watch it again. I took that as a good sign. Continue reading
Gypsy
9 May 2008 (Sat), Broadway
I had high hopes for Gypsy, one of everyone’s favorite shows. I had seen this on Broadway twice before with very different portrayals by Tyne Daly and Bernadette Peters, not to mention the Rosalind Russell movie and the TV production with Bette Midler. The show depends on a strong central performance, and Patti LuPone had brilliant reviews – she seems pretty much born to do this role. So I was looking forward to it. Continue reading
Legend of Kung Fu
13 April 2008 (Sun), Beijing
My friends and I came across this in a Japanese guidebook on our way back from the Great Wall. It described an action piece performed by Shaolin Temple guys and gave it a strong recommendation. Continue reading
春琴 (Shunkin)
4 March 2008 (Tues), Tokyo Setagaya Public Theatre
This was an exploration of Tanizaki’s oft-staged novelette of the same name along with his famous essay “In Praise of Shadows”「陰翳礼賛」, both published in 1933. I’ve never been interested in seeing the play in the past nor had I seen any of the five film versions. This time, though, the director was Simon McBurney of Theatre de Complicité, who often works at this theater. I’ve been a fan of his physical style of theater for many years, including his intriguing version of the Murakami novel Elephant Vanishes 2-3 years ago. I waited too long to get tickets, as usual, but managed to get a 3F seat (fortunately in the center) on a weekday matinee. As it happens, the shows on this day had English subtitles, which turned out to be very fortunate. Over the weekend, I read the story, which is only 85 pages or so. It is a viciously cruel tale, but I can see where it lends itself to dramatization. With McBurney at the helm and the essay as part of the mix, I knew this was not going to be a straightforward telling. And I was right. Continue reading
sekenbanashi 