Today, I saw a musical “Les Miserables” at Aichi Prefectural Art Theater. It lasted for about two hours and a half. The singers and the orchestra players were all foreigners (they say it is a London production). The musical was performed in English with Japanese subtitles.
I
paid 19,500 yen for the musical. That’s a lot of money. I hoped I would enjoy
as much as I paid. But alas. The performance made me ‘miserable.’
First,
I hardly understood the singers’ English. Probably, I understood less than 20
percent of the performance. To comprehend English songs was far more difficult than
English conversation because the simple utterance of a word or words takes a long,
long time.
Second,
the volume was so loud and noisy that I was afraid that my ears would be damaged.
I often put my fingers in the ear holes to protect ear drum injuries.
Third,
stage lights were so bright that they often blinded my eyes. Some of the lights
were aimed at the audience. They shot the lights at us, audience. I couldn’t
keep opening my eyes. I don’t understand the director’s intention to make the stage
lights too bright.
Fourth,
the Japanese subtitles were difficult to read, because the letters were so small
that I was not able to read them at all. So, I failed to understand the whole
story. Maybe my seat was on the third floor, from which the subtitle screens
were far away. My seat was S (special) seat, though. The letters should be twice
as large as the present size.
About
20 years ago, I saw a musical “Oliver” based on “Oliver Twist” written by
Charles Dickens. I enjoyed it very much. However, I did not enjoy “Les
Miserables” at all. It was a waste of money, time, and energy. To tell you the
truth, I felt pain in my heart at the latter part of the performance. I was unable
to breathe deeply. So, I tried to breathe slowly and steadily so that I would not
die of heart failure. Thank God, after the performance finished and when I went
out of the theater, I was alive and breathed normally.
I
should have gone to see my favorite Kabuki at Misono Theater where Musume
Dojoji is performed.
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