• ピピン (Pippin), 9/3/22 (Sat)

This is a reproduction of Diane Paulus’ imaginative Broadway revival of a few years back with a mix of Japanese actors and foreign acrobats. The Paulus rendering was a big success in both its touring version and the Japanese adaptation two years ago, so it’s no surprise to see it revived. The leading player is again played by half-black pop singer Crystal Kay, thus keeping the basic idea of a black lead. (The role in the first Japanese production years ago was taken by Suzuki Papaya, a comedian whose only black connection is his trademark afro wig.) They’ve also managed, intentionally or not, to find another performer with foreign blood for the title role, with the half-Spanish Shirota Yu replaced by the Japan-raised Burmese musical actor Morisaki Win. An American woman reviewing the Kay-Shirota version marveled that biracial performers were cast in both of the main roles, seeing this as an earth-shattering sign of growing diversity in Japan. She seems unaware of the many popular mixed-race or mixed-nationality performers that have appeared on Japanese stages over the years, such as Kusakari Masao, Miyazawa Rie, Okada Masumi and so on; the majority of the cast in a production of Rent some years back was half-Japanese. Japanese don’t make a big deal of it, and I wish Americans in particular would follow their lead.

The production still looks great. Paulus has managed to take a creaky show that was known mainly for Bob Fosse’s iconic staging and give it a new take that reinvigorates it. It’s still a relic of the flower-power generation, but it plays beautifully. Continue reading →