The title of Hideki Noda's new play is "Q: A Night At The Kabuki." The "Q" refers to British rock band Queen, while "A Night At The Kabuki" riffs off that band's hit 1975 album, "A Night at the Opera." However, the title's nod to Japanese culture strongly suggests "Q" is no straightforward spinoff from "Bohemian Rhapsody," last year's Oscar-winning biopic powered by the disc's best-known song of the same name.
So, is Noda, an internationally acclaimed playwright, director and actor, about to thrust Queen's enduringly charismatic vocalist, the late Freddie Mercury, into the kimono-clad world of traditional Japanese theater? Or will "Q" be a some novel kind of jukebox musical?
In a surprising comment about this upcoming work at Ikebukuro's Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre, where he is artistic director, Noda previously said that "Q" is "a development of 'Romeo and Juliet.'"