After eight years as artistic director for drama at the New National Theatre, Tokyo, Keiko Miyata, 60, is now tackling her final program there before passing the baton to 39-year-old Eriko Ogawa, who is set to become the theater's youngest-ever director in September. Rather than ...
Finding the drama without words
"Not everything can be explained in words. Everyone draws a different nuance from the word 'love,' for example," says 50-year-old Shuji Onodera. "Yet through dance I've discovered a special beauty beyond words." Onodera, a leading mime artist and director, is talking about the language of ...
Shun Oguri faces off with an artistic master in 'Red'
'If it's possible, I'd like to act live on stage at least once a year," says film and television star Shun Oguri following an intensive rehearsal at a small studio in central Tokyo. "And though I'm offered lots of opportunities to appear in major venues," ...
Maestro Taijiro Iimori will mark his NNTT debut with Wagner's 'Parsifal'
The New National Theatre, Tokyo, will open its 2014-15 season with "Parsifal," the last completed opera by German composer Richard Wagner (1813-83). While opera fans will no doubt be thrilled at the long-awaited performance of this piece at the theater, they can expect an ...
First female conductor at NNTT performs 'Madama Butterfly'
Japanese audiences, especially women, may have mixed feelings about Giacomo Puccini's opera "Madama Butterfly." However, they may become intrigued when they learn that a new production, which tells the story of a geisha abandoned by her U.S. Navy officer husband, is being staged under the ...
