Your humble blogmeister poses with the poster art for The Fantasticks in Nakatsugawa.
Tonight (December 11) marked the end of this particular run of The Fantasticks in Japan. After traveling all over Japan (including Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, and Kyushu), the stage musical ended its run in my town of Nakatsugawa. Suffice it to say, I made sure to be there!
A photo from the 1971 production of The Fantasticks. Even 41 years later, Takarada-san was excellent as El Gallo!
For sale at the event were a couple of CDs, including a 1964 recording of Annie Get Your Gun (which, naturally, starred Mr. Takarada) and a slick program booklet, which featured some great photos from the '71 run of The Fantasticks. Looking through them, I was surprised to see Hideyo (King Kong Escapes, Godzilla's Revenge) Amamoto among the '71 cast! I snapped these up in a hurry.
Swag from the performance!
The play was an absolute delight. However, I must say that the absolute highlight was when Takarada-san called my name from the stage. After the performance wrapped, Takarada-san thanked the cast and crew and then introduced some folks from the audience, in whose company I was surprised to find myself! Once I stood up and waved to him, Takarada-san mentioned the school I work for (!) and, well, basically left me in amazement. As the theater was emptying, Mr. Takarada's assistant brought our group (including Michael Field) backstage for this meeting. Good times!
Yours truly, Michael Field, Mike's friend Tom, and Takarada-san pose backstage for the obligatory photos!
Takarada-san signed all of our program books, discussed his next production, and just proved once again how much he cares about his fans. Takarada-san never ceases to amaze me!
Although The Fantasticks was the first stage play I've seen in Japan, I certainly hope it isn't the last. And if it stars Akira Takarada, I'll do whatever necessary to attend. Arigato gozaimasu, Takarada-sama!
He's back! Akira Takarada takes the stage once again in Nakatsugawa, Gifu, Japan.
Saturday, October 20, held the 90th anniversary celebration for Nakatsu Commercial High School in Nakatsugawa. Among the festivities, famed Toho actor Akira Takarada was invited as a guest of honor. His stay was brief. Takarada-san came from Tokyo and back on the same day, mere hours apart! Mr. Takarada once again sang the theme song to Toho's The Green Mountains (1957), video of which is at the bottom.
Behind the scenes at the Nakatsugawa Bunka Kaikan: Toho star Akira Takarada poses with local fans in his dressing room.
September 13, 2012, saw Akira Takarada return to Nakatsugawa, Gifu, to introduce his 1957 film The Green Mountains (produced by Toho Studios) to a packed house at the Nakatsugawa Bunka Kaikan. Co-starring Akira Kubo, Takashi Shimura, Yoshibumi Tajima, Sachio Sakai, and other familiar faces from Toho, it was filmed in Nakatsugawa by director Shue Matsubayashi (The Last War, 1961).
A poster announcing the Green Mountains screening in Nakatsugawa.
First, a confession. I didn't think very many people would show up. In retrospect, I'm not sure why. I guess I must have figured that, since it was basically just a screening of an old movie in the middle of the week, not many people would show up. Suffice it to say, I was shocked when I saw the line waiting to get inside stretch on for what seemed like miles. Just how many people came? You can see for yourself.
When I say it was a packed house, this is what I mean! You could hardly find an empty chair in the Nakatsugawa Bunka Kaikan.
Just before the film screened, Mr. Takarada took the stage to share his memories of the film. Although it was made 55 years ago, Mr. Takarada regaled the audience with his stories. At the end of his presentation, Mr. Takarada was joined by a chorus who participated in the singing of the film's theme song.
Mr. Takarada, always joyful, cracks a smile while recalling the good old days.
Mr. Takarada shares a laugh with one of the chorus singers.
After the song concluded, the film began. For about the first 10 minutes, the print looked like a low-resolution YouTube video that someone had blown up to fit a theater screen. It was almost impossible to enjoy the movie. Then, without warning, the picture quality improved by leaps and bounds, and it remained that way until the end. It was an enjoyable movie, but what made it a fascinating cultural experience was the audience participation, so to speak. Whenever a familiar location was seen in the background of a given shot, the audience would begin commenting on it in unison, creating a roar that quickly swept the theater. I've never before experienced that in a theater in my life.
The highlight of the event happened at the after-party in a restaurant called Annie Hall. At one point, Mr. Takarada asked me to stand up. He then introduced me to the crowd, talked about G-FEST, etc. It was quite overwhelming to be talked up in such a way by one of my childhood idols. Mr. Takarada also asked me to address the audience (in Japanese, no less!), which I did my best to do.
All in all, it was quite an evening.
Video of Mr. Takarada singing with the chorus can be watched below:
Akira Takarada and Brett, about to enjoy a traditional Japanese dinner.
I got the surprise of the year when I had a phone conversation with Akira Takarada(Godzilla '54, Monster Zero, King Kong Escapes) the other day. He told me he was coming to Nakatsugawa, Gifu, to film a drama for NHK. What's so special about Nakatsugawa, you ask?
Well, it's where I live.
Mr. Takarada sits next to his former acting student (and current co-star) Yuuki Chiho.
I can't remember the last time my luck was this good! I met up with Mr. Takarada in downtown Nakatsugawa, and we went to a nearby restaurant with the rest of the cast and crew for dinner.
Much to my surprise (there's that word again!), Mr. Takarada introduced me to everyone in attendance. Suffice it to say, it was a little overwhelming!
They usually don't get celebrities in Nakatsugawa! Mr. Takarada mingles with the locals.
Mr. Takarada and I spoke about many topics, and I came away from the evening with a lot of hope for the future. If a fraction of what we talked about comes to pass, 2012 will prove to be quite a year!
That's all, folks! Goodnight from Nakatsugawa!
It's not every day that the Godzilla series' biggest star drops by your town, which made this particular meeting all the more special. With 2011 almost at an end, I can't wait for 2012 to arrive, which promises to be an even more exciting year than this one!
