A Chorus Line in Japanese

I have always liked musicals and I still do. But the inhabitants of this city have better things to do, such as shopping or going to private karaoke boxes. Theatre was sort of out of the picture for a long time for me, until I got to Japan.

Though not in the original language(s), the Japanese have done somewhat an excellent job on musical theatre in their own language (or theatre in general, I'd like to see the Japanese version of The Woman in Black, the most horrifying play ever performed). A new version of A Chorus Line was made by the Shikki Theatre Company (Four Seasons Theatre Company in translation) this year and toured around Japan for the better part of 2006. It started peformance in Tokyo's Théâtre d'automne (don't ask me why they use French names) in late August and the run at Tokyo will end on November 12, 2006. I had to go see it. Although rather quite corny (and a lot of clichés) and outdated, this musical created by Michael Bennett in the 70's was the longest running musical show on Broadway, until the invasion of Andrew Lloyd Webber with jumping felines and poorly supported chandelier, to name a few. I had to see it because it's something out of the 70's (I have always thought myself as a kid of the 70's though I grew up in the 80's...) and I simply love the oudated corniness of the songs. I was singing along during the show but I kept forgetting words because what I was listening was all in Japanese. I understood one-third of what they were saying but it was enough to confuse me.

The actors were OK, not the best in Shikki Theatre Company. Some vocals were satisfying but the worst thing was, the actors were actually not at all that good-looking. Yes, I am one of those people but you see, theatre actors are divided into three categories: good-looking with talent, OK-looking with talent and comedians. For me, theatre actors are way better than those in the cinema so I generally don't even think about the "look" thing. However, when an actor has OK talent and is not really good-looking, well, you know what I am saying. After all, it's playing out a fictional story and people want to fantasize about fictional characters no matter what (even if it's Quasimodo in Notre-Dame de Paris; Garou was good-looking in a way).

Another thing about theatre in Japan (that I can't stand) is the reaction of the audience. I had never ever seen such a quiet audience bunch before. My friend who knows the country extremely well had previously warned me about it and asked me not to expect too much from the audience. But theatre is all about the interaction between those on and off-stage! Bon, je crois que j'étais le seul qui a eu des réactions. Même les applaudissements n'étaient pas assez enthousiastes...mais ils étaient souriants (sorry, switched to French). Yes, they were still happy about seeing the play, it's just that they didn't express much...Oh well, it's an experience. I'll try to clap harder next time and yell out "Bravo" if I feel like it...