Film / Reviews Feb 6, 2020
'Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku': A musical take on an otaku romance
by Mark Schilling
This film adaptation of a web comic by single-named artist Fujita has the central couple dancing and singing their way to love.
Stage Jan 17, 2020
To kill or not to kill: that is the question in 'Death Note: The Musical'
by Yukari Tanaka
A new version of "Death Note: The Musical" takes to the stage in Tokyo, with hopes of challenging people's perceptions of justice.
Stage Sep 17, 2019
Taking classic musical 'West Side Story' to new heights
by Nobuko Tanaka
Director David Saint brings West Side Story to IHI Stage Around Tokyo, with his ambitious and multi-stage production being run first with a Broadway cast and later with a Japanese cast
Film Aug 22, 2019
'Dance With Me': A homegrown Japanese musical has landed
by Mark Schilling
Genres never really die, but they often mutate into something different on foreign soil. John Ford's cowboys became Akira Kurosawa's samurai, and Kurosawa's samurai became Sergio Leone's serape-clad, cigarillo-chewing "The Man With No Name." And the list goes on. The same is true of that ...
Film / Reviews Aug 21, 2019
'Dance With Me': Short on laughs, but big on energy
by Mark Schilling
The Japanese film industry has made many musical films, but almost no Hollywood-style musicals. One reason why is Eizo Sugawa's "You Can Succeed, Too" (1964), a singing, dancing salaryman musical inspired by the Broadway hit "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying." Billed ...
Stage Jul 20, 2017
Five young dancers hope to steal the spotlight in Japan-made version of 'Billy Elliot'
by Nobuko Tanaka
When the call for auditions went out in November 2015, 1,346 boys sent in their head shots and resumes hoping to land what could be a life-changing role as the titular lead in a Japanese production of "Billy Elliot." The competition was fierce — around ...
Film | Wide Angle Feb 23, 2017
From the 'Queen of Boogie' to 'The Lion King,' Japanese audiences are always up for a good musical
by Kaori Shoji
Few Japanese will dispute that we are a nation of dedicated music fans and, though it may not seem like it at first, this goes for musicals, too. Shizuko Kasagi, widely revered as the "Queen of Boogie" was the first to perform at the reopened ...
Film / Reviews Feb 22, 2017
'La La Land': Sometimes we need a trip to la-la land
by Giovanni Fazio
La-la land: the mental state of someone who is not aware of what is really happening, and a nickname for the American entertainment industry centered on Los Angeles. These two meanings bleed into each other in director Damien Chazelle's multi-Oscar-nominated musical, "La La Land," ...
Stage Oct 15, 2015
Theater legend Harold Prince brings 'Prince of Broadway' to Japan for a world premiere
by Nobuko Tanaka
With a smile beaming from his face, Broadway legend Harold Prince enters the room I'm waiting in and cheerfully declares, "I'm not jet-lagged at all — they're just working me to death." Prince arrived in Tokyo only a few days earlier and is eager to ...
National Oct 28, 2014
Musical points to sinister nuclear implications
by Tomohiro Osaki
A recent court-themed musical staged in Tokyo was, to say the least, an audacious dig at the contentious state secrets law scheduled to take effect in December. Set several years after the law's passage last December, the musical, performed last week in Nakano Ward by ...
Events / Events In Tokyo Jan 24, 2013
South Korean dance show aims for the eyes, not the ears
by Nobuko Tanaka
South Korean entertainment is excelling in a lot of disciplines, and stage performance is one of them. Now a groundbreaking action-drawing show, "Hero," will take its turn trying to impress Japanese audiences. "Hero" embarks on a monthlong run at the Roppongi Blue Theater in Tokyo ...