ミュージカルを楽しむ方法 HOW TO ENJOY JAPANESE MUSICALS

ミュージカルを楽しむ方法　

　５月６日、中日劇場でミュージカル「エドウィン・ドルードの謎」を観てきた。日本の本格的なミュージカルを観たことがないので (ロンドンで「オリバー」をみたことがあるが）、歌やらダンスやら舞台劇やらで、最初はなじめなかったが、第２部から面白くなってきた。
　観客は３０歳前後の女性が多く、皆舞台の演技に歓声や笑い声をあげていた。何が面白いのやら、わたしはさっぱりわからなかったが、彼らは舞台俳優のことを知り尽くしているのだ。女房が劇場案内人から聞いたところによると、舞台俳優たち（山口祐一郎、壮一帆など）は宝塚出身者や劇団四季の俳優で、「オペラ座の怪人」などに出ているようだ。だから、舞台の俳優の動作や台詞が観客に歓声を上げさせるのは、別の舞台のパロディーを演じているからなのだ。舞台を楽しむためには、舞台俳優のバックグランドを知っていれば知っているほど面白くなる。幕が終わって、わたしの席の前に並んでいた若者４人が一斉に立ち上がってスタンディングオベイションをした。それぐらい彼らにとっては楽しかったのだ。
　考えてみると、これは歌舞伎鑑賞に似ている。贔屓の歌舞伎役者や有名な役者が出てきて、クライマックスになると「待ってました！」と声がかかる。歌舞伎通は舞台のことは何でも知っているのだ。わたしだって、先代の勘三郎、三津五郎、松緑、梅幸亡くなった団十郎のことは海老蔵のころから知っている。
　そうなんだ。私がミュージカルを楽しむには、もっと見て、俳優のバックグランドを知ることだと思った。

HOW TO ENJOY JAPANESE MUSICALS

 

I went to the Chunichi Theater with my wife to see a musical “The Mystery of Edwin Drood” (Japanese version) based on the Charles Dicken’s novel.

The audience were mostly women in their 30’s. They seemed to be enjoying the musical very much, laughing, shouting, and clapping their hands. I did not understand why they were so excited.

Actually, I did not enjoy the musical at first, partly because I had never seen a Japanese one before (I saw “Oliver” in London), and partly because the dances, the songs, the revised story, and the actors and actresses were foreign to me. I thought I would rather leave the theater. However, after the intermission, I began to enjoy it.

My wife told me what she heard from an usher during the break. She said, “Most of them come from the Takarazuka Dancing Team or the Gekidan Shiki Drama Company. The main characters are Yuichiro Yamaguchi and Kazuho Sou. They have recently performed in ‘Phantom of the Opera.’”

I realized that most of the audience knew many things about the actors and actresses. I thought the performers must have spoken similar phrases or showed similar actions from their previous plays like “Phantom of the Opera.” They must have performed the parodies, which entertained them.

It is natural that the more you know about the actors, the more you enjoy their performance. When the musical ended and the finale started, the four people sitting in front of my seat gave a standing ovation, clapping and waving their hands hard.

It is the same of Kabuki plays. When your favorite Kabuki actors appear on the stage, you applaud and sometimes encourage them by shouting, “The Best in Japan!” or “We’ve been waiting for you!” Kabuki fans know everything about them: their family backgrounds, their previous performances, their childhood lives. I know many things about the late Kanzaburo and his two sons, the late Shoroku and his big eyed son, and the late Danjuro and his son, Ebizo. I enjoy Kabuki plays all the more for the knowledge of their backgrounds.

   The knack of enjoying Japanese musicals is to know about the actors.

 

 

 



 

プリウスとご対面 GOOD-BYE, PRIUS

プリウスとご対面

 

今朝は１０時から天白警察に行って盗まれた懐かしのプリウスとご対面。わたしの車に相違なかった。ナンバープレートが取り換えられていたが、あとはどこも傷んでいない。確認後に指紋を取られ、調書をかかされ、いくつかの書類に印鑑を押して、一時間半もかかって、疲れてしまった。盗難保険金を貰ったから、あの車はわたしの手から離れて、保険会社の物。廃棄処分になる。

泥棒はいい気なもんだ。こちらがこんなに迷惑している事、全然感知してないのだから

GOOD-BYE, PRIUS

　My wife and I went to the Tenpaku Police Station to “meet” our beloved car. We confirmed that it was our car. It was intact except that the number plate had been replaced with a different one. After the confirmation, they took my wife’s and my fingerprints—all five fingers and our palms—asked us many questions, and finally I set my seal on each of the three interrogation documents. It took us about an hour and a half to finish all the procedures.

 We were very tired surrounded and interrogated by policemen for such a long time. Although they were polite, I felt like I was a criminal. Since I got the insurance money, I do not own the car. It will soon be scrapped. What a pity! Good-bye, Prius.

The thieves do not know how exhausted we have been both mentally and physically for the past six months. I hope they will be caught and punished severely.

 

プリウス発見される THE PRIUS HAS BEEN FOUND

プリウス発見

６カ月前に盗まれたプリウスが出てきた。２６日に天白警察から電話があり、「あなたの車が発見されたので、確認に署に来てください」と電話があった。塩釜口に長いこと放置してあったそうだ。もし私の車ならば、車のキーは暗証番号が書き換えられているから使えないし、ナンバープレートも変えられているから、道路を走れないので、レッカー車で移動することになるという。

もうとっくの昔にロシヤかカンボジアぐらいに売り飛ばされて走っていると思っていたのに、目と鼻の先に放置してあったとは。しかし、もう遅いのだ。新しい車を買うときに、保険金を保険会社から支払われ、そのときにプリウスの所有権を放棄してしまっている。せめてあと３カ月前に発見されれば新車を買わなくて済んだのに。

　車のデイーラーに相談したら、車は保険会社が引き取ることになるという。また引き取った車は即座にスクラップになるとのこと。女房はプリウスに愛着があり、「可愛そう」と言う。持ち主の私と盗難届を出した女房の二人が天白警察署に出頭することになった。出頭は５月２日。刑事の取り調べが一時間から一時間半もかかるらしい。

　なんで、盗られて苦労して、やっと忘れかけたのに、また苦労しなきゃならないのか。

 

 
THE PRIUS HAS BEEN FOUND

The police found my Prius which had been stolen from the parking lot of my apartment about six months ago. They found it at a coin-operated parking lot near Shiogama Subway Station.

The officer said, “Even if it were your car, you could not drive it because your key to the car would not work since the thief (thieves) had changed the code number for starting the engine. Also the number plate has been substituted with another one. It must be removed with a tow truck.”

　　I thought the car had already been exported to Russia or Cambodia or some other country and was running along a road, but it was found not in another country but in a place about a 20-minute drive from my house.
　　However, it is too late. I received the theft insurance money and abandoned my claim to the car. If they had found the car only three months before, I would not have bought a new car.
　　The car dealer told me that since the car belonged to the insurance company, it would be scrapped it after they got it. My wife, so attached to the car, said, “It’s a pity it had to be scrapped.”
　　My wife and I have to report to the police on May 2 for the confirmation. I have begun to forget about the car and healed the wounds after these six months and now, suddenly, I have to face the pitiful car. What a severe reality!

 

中国神韻舞踊 CHINESE SHUN YUN DANCE

　中国神韻舞踊
 

４月２０日、「神韻藝術團」の舞踊を見てきた。この舞踊団はニューヨークにある中国古典舞踊劇団だ。舞台では男女各２０人ぐらいのダンサーが、伝統衣装を着てオーケストラの演奏に合わせて古典舞踊や民族舞踊を披露した。舞台いっぱいのデジタルスクリーンを背景にした女性の古典舞踊は、竜宮城の乙姫達のようでうっとりした。
　最も印象的だったのは背景スクリーンのデジタル映像と舞台のダンサー達の一体感だ。最初、巨大スクリーンに描かれている月から、蜂の群れのようなものが飛び出してきたかと思ったら、それが２０人ぐらいの小さな天女に代わり、月から離れてどんどん舞台に近づいてきて、人間の大きさとなり、舞台に降り立った瞬間に舞台のダンサーとなって踊りだすのだ。
　ミュージカル「孫悟空」でも同じであった。最初、背景スクリーンに描かれた遥か彼方の大きな山（写真参照）の頂にいた小さな孫悟空が、ピョンピョンと低い山に飛んでくるたびに身体が大きくなっていき、舞台に近づき、ついに舞台に降り立つと、孫悟空のダンサーに変わるというものだ。

 

 

CHINESE SHUN YUN DANCE
 

I enjoyed the music and dance performed by Shun Yun Performing Arts, a classical Chinese dance and music company based in New York, at Aichi Arts Center on April 20. Dozens of dancers, both female and male, clad in classical or modern Chinese costumes, danced accompanied by a live orchestra. The women’s classical dances were especially enchanting with stunning digital stage backdrops.
　　The most impressive part of the performance was the perfect interaction of the dancers on the stage and the digital image on the backdrops. I was amazed to see dozens of tiny heavenly maidens coming down toward the stage from the moon in the backdrop. When they first appeared in the moon, they were tiny, but they gradually became larger and larger until finally they approached the stage. The moment they alighted onto the stage, they turned into the real dancers on the stage.
　　In another musical drama, The Monkey King, a legendary Chinese monkey, stands on the top of a distant mountain in the backdrop (as shown in the picture). The monkey jumps to lower mountains two or three times, becoming larger and larger and finally jumps onto the stage turning into the real stage dancer disguised as the monkey. I had never seen such a perfect collaboration between the image and the stage.

直島・豊島美術館 NAOSHIMA & TESHIMA ART MUSEUMS

直島・豊島美術館　

Open Field

 

Time Timeless No Time
 

 Teshima  Art Museum

 

３月２３日から２５日まで、瀬戸内海の直島、豊島、犬島、小豆島をアートの旅で訪れました。

直島の地中美術館で印象に残ったのは「オープン・フィールド」という幻の青いスクリーンです。てっきりこれ以上は先に行けないと思っていたのに、中に入れてびっくりポンでした。幻想的空間で、ああいう芸術作品ははじめて経験しました。また直方体の部屋に置かれた直径２．２メートルの大理石の球体の美術空間も心の落ち着く不思議な世界でした。球体の上の部分が天井に開けられた長方形の穴から差し込む光を反射していて、眺めていると心が落ち着きました。

特に心が落ち着いたのは豊島美術館の真っ白な楕円形のドーム空間です。はじめ、なんじゃこれは、と思ったのですが、なんと床にこぼれている水溜まりや水滴が芸術作品とは、驚きました。水が静かに床から湧き出て、蓮の葉の水滴の玉のようになって転がり、さらに大きな水滴と合流して、水たまりとなり、水琴窟のようなかすかな響きを立てて落下していく。なんて素敵な空間でしょう。私は床にあぐらをかいてしばし水の動きに見とれてました。瞑想というか。

犬島と小豆島にも行きましたが、外人が多くて、中国人、フランス人、台湾人、イギリス人、中国人、アラブ系の人、韓国人がいました。私はイギリス人と、日本語のできる台湾人と話しました。

今回は４０人の団体旅行でしたが、男性は私を入れて３人だけ、あと３７人は、おば（あ）ちゃんばかりでした。

NAOSHIMA & TESHIMA ART MUSEUMS

My wife and I visited Naoshima Island, Teshima Island, Inujima Island and Shodojima Island in the Seto Inland Sea to visit the art museums and artworks in the islands from March 23 to 25.
　　The artworks that impressed me in the Underground Art Museum in Naoshima Island were James Turrell’s “Open Field” and Walter De Maria’s “Time Timeless No Time.” The former is a fantastic blue screen (as shown above) on the top of steps into which you can, surprisingly enough, enter. In the space behind the screen is a magical fluorescent blue light where you see no shadows or hear no sounds.
　　The latter is a polished granite sphere of 2.2 meters in diameter situated at the top of steps in a large cubic room. The top of the giant granite ball reflects the light coming down through the rectangular opening in the ceiling. It was serene and soothing to look at the ball.
　　The most impressive artwork is the Teshima Art Museum, which is a simple white concrete pod shell, 60 meters long and 40 meters wide, devoid of any pillars. On the flat surface of the floor, as smooth as glass, you see drops of water traveling across it. They join other drops making them larger and finally they drop down through a tiny hole, one centimeter in diameter, making a fait, almost inaudible sound, similar to the sound suikinkutsu (underground water harp) in Japanese gardens. The slight tinkling sound was so peaceful and comfortable that I sat on the floor meditating for a while.
　　I saw a lot of foreigners in the islands such as Chinese, French, Taiwanese, British, Korean, Arabian people. The islands were more international than Nagoya.
　　The tourist group we joined consisted of 37 women, mostly elderly, and three men including me.


 

ちょっといい話１ 心は老いぬ YOUR HEART NEVER GETS OLD

ちょっといい話１

心は老いぬ

中日新聞（３月２２日付）に次のような内容のコラムがあった。
昨年９２歳で亡くなったアメリカ文学研究者、加島祥造さんによると、自宅の近くに樹齢３００年の桜の老木があり、その老木の花びらと自宅の庭に咲く若い桜の花びらを見比べたら、全然見分けが付かなかったそうだ。加島さん曰く「人間だって同じだ。花びらは人の生命力や精神力であり、年老いても同じ花びらを付けることができる。いくつになろうと心は老いぬ」
なんという人生の応援歌！

A PIECE OF GOOD NEWS 1

 

Your Heart Does Not Get Old

 

A column in the Chunichi Newspaper last week read:
　　According to Shozo Kashima, a scholar on the American literature, who died at the age of 92 last year, there was a 300-year old cherry tree near his house. He compared the cherry blossom petals of the old tree and those of the young cherry tree in his garden. He could not distinguish the old petals from the young ones. He said, “The same is true with human beings. Blossom petals are their vitality and spirit. However old you become, you can bear the same petals. It means your heart never gets old.
　　How encouraging!

 

変な電話がかかってきた A STRANGE TELEPHONE CALL

変な電話がかかってきた

昨日、電話が鳴って、受話器を取り上げると、いきなり「お宅、自転車盗まれてませんか」という中年女性の声。ええっ、今度は自転車か（昨年車を盗まれた）、と思って、「どちら様ですか」と尋ねると、金山にシルバーの新しい自転車が放置してあるという。最近シルバーの自転車を買ったばかりで、あわてて自転車を確認すると、盗まれていない。
「盗まれてませんが、どちら様ですか」と言うと、女性は名前を言わずに、放置してある自転車の登録番号は「１３あＸＸＸＸＸＸ」だと言う。どこに放置してあるのかと尋ねると「金山のマンションのそば」だと言う。マンション名を聞くと「○〇〇〇マンション」で、マンションと民家の間に放置してあるという。変な電話だと思いながら、とにかく自転車が盗まれていないから私のじゃないと言って電話を切った。
今日、金山に行って、「○〇〇〇マンション」を探したら、ちゃんとそのマンションがあり、シルバーの埃が被った自転車があった。これかなと思って登録番号を控えて交番に届けたら夕方電話があり、持ち主はその「○〇〇〇マンション」の住人だとのこと。
どうして、中年女性は放置自転車のことで、我が家に電話をかけてきたのだろう。新手の詐欺か？　女性の頭が変なのか？

A STRANGE TELEPHONE CALL

　　The other day, the telephone rang and I picked up the receiver.
　　“Has your bicycle been stolen?” a middle-aged woman said without introducing herself nor confirming who she was talking to.
　　“Again? This time, my bicycle?” I thought, for my car, a Prius, was stolen last October.
　　“Who is this, please?” I said.
　　“A new silver bicycle has long been left unattended in Kanayama,” she said without identifying herself.
　　I had recently bought a new silver bicycle. I hurried to the bicycle parking lot and found it there.
　　“My bicycle hasn’t been stolen. Who am I talking with, please,” I said.
　　“The registry number is 13-A-xxxxxxx. Isn’t that your bicycle?” she said.
　　I wondered why she called me. How did she set my telephone number? It couldn’t have been written on the bicycle body. Was the bicycle somehow connected with me?
　　“Where is the bicycle, anyway?” I asked.
　　“It’s near XXX Apartment House in Kanayama,” she said.
　　“That’s not my bicycle. Thanks,” I said and hung up.
　　Later I called the police and told them about the strange call and the registry number. Soon they called me back.
　　“The bicycle with the registry number is not stolen. The owner of the bicycle lives in that apartment house,” they said.
　　I still do not understand why she called me. Is it a new type of a scam? Or, maybe she was mad.