Okada Masaki Monogatari

遅ればせながら、岡田将生のお誕生日のMVを作りました。お見てくださってありがといございます！ I understand it might be considered late to make an MV to celebrate Okada Masaki’s 30th birthday, and I have made two posts already in relation to his birthday (one is about the Bracken Moor review and the other is about my recollection on being there for his birthday – though he doesn’t know I was there). But, one only has one chance of being 30, and since this is Masaki, I thought it’s better late than never. Hence this MV. It’s using one of my most favourite Japanese songs Hanamizuki, sung beautifully by Taiwanese-Japanese Yō Hitoto (who also penned the lyrics). Music by Mashiko Tatsurō and piano by Takebe Satoshi. I sourced the music from this YouTube video and I modified the translation also based on that video. I actually heard this song again after years of absence when I was having dinner with Benio-san after watching the soiree during Masaki's birthday, hence the nostalgia. I’d like to acknowledge the many pho...

The Hamlet 2019 stage in Bunkamura Shibuya Tokyo (source: Nagashima Keizō ), because I don't have a photo of the Bracken Moor stage... In the light of the minimum curtain calls I witnessed during the Bracken Moor soiree on 16 August 2019, I wrote this curtain call courtesy. The English version is after the Japanese version. My gratitude to Wisteria-san for translating the English version to Japanese. Wisteriaさん、翻訳するのことは誠に感謝しています… 先週、私にとって最後の『ブラッケン・ムーア』夜公演で、怒りが爆発してしまいました。ツイッターにも、自分のブログの『ブラッケン・ムーア』レビューにもそのことを吐き出してしまいました。理由は簡単です。何人か（たまたまでしょうが年配の方々でした）がカーテンコール中に劇場から出ようとし、そのためにその夜公演のカーテンコールは前日鑑賞した2回の公演のように4回のカーテンコールは行われず3回のみになったからです。怒りを爆発させてしまったことについては、もっと感情をうまくコントロールすべきだったとちょっと後悔しています。でも、私の怒りは正当なものだったと思っています。 なぜカーテンコールが重要なのか、もう少し説明させてください。カーテンコールの最中に席を立つ人をもう見なくてすむようになるかもしれないという期待を込めて。少なくとも、どうしても席を立たなければならないのは、見苦しい事態になる前にトイレに行かなくちゃというような場合であって、カーテンコールの作法を知らずに席を立つのではないように。 端的に言って、あなたが今見終わった演劇には、監督、キャスト全員、メークアップ・アーティスト、衣装デザイナーなど制作チーム全員の総力が注がれています。舞台演劇やミュージカルは、エンドクレジット中に席を立って...

Okada Masaki by Tomita Nozomi ( Entertainment Station ) I finally finished translating a July 2019 interview of Okada Masaki for the Bracken Moor stage play. The interview is rather long, thus I'm very happy I finished translating it. Enjoy! 日本語の分は英語の後で。  Okada Masaki’s new theatre frontier “Bracken Moor: the Ghost of the Wasteland”. As his love for the beloved theatre continues, what is his acting path from here on? 3 July 2019 Entertainment Station Wednesday, 14 August is the Japanese premiere of the suspense drama “Bracken Moor - The Ghost of the Wasteland” (hereafter “Bracken Moor”), written by the British playwright Alexi Kay Campbell, the winner of the Laurence Olivier Award. The play will be performed at the Theater Creation with previews from Friday, 2 August  to Sunday, 4 August 2019. This time, the Japanese version will be directed by Kamimura Satoshi from the Literary Theatre. He is a director who has attracted attention as he won the Best Director Aw...

Okada Masaki in front of birthday wishes from his fans (source:  Toho Stage ). Mine is circled with two hearts... I’m back in my home in Australia now, but I still carry Tokyo within my heart. Specifically, I still carry Ginza in my heart. The Ginza where Okada Masaki celebrated his 30th birthday with us, his fans. Thus, this post, a reminiscence, if you will, of the beautiful day and night where we celebrated Masaki’s birthday with him. I still remember that night; a humid clear sky with strong wind. Just like tonight, the moon was very visible that night, patiently accompanying us as we fans lined up outside the Theatre Creation back stage door to see Okada Masaki. To wish him happy birthday. I didn’t realise until later, but it was full moon during Masaki’s birthday. A beautiful full moon that I was so lucky to witness in the midst of Tokyo, of all cities. The moon was still there, smiling, as Masaki came out of the stage door after we waited for almost 40 min or so....

Update 1 Sept 2019: Since Bracken Moor has wrapped up successfully in Osaka today (1 September 2019), I can release the spoilers now.  Scroll down to the end for the spoilers. The real-life "Bracken Moor" posters outside Theatre Creation on 15 August 2019 Below are my impressions after watching "Bracken Moor" twice in Tokyo during Okada Masaki's birthday. It does not spoil the end per se, but I will update the post with the most important spoilers after the Osaka show ends on 1 September. Oh, and Happy Birthday, Masaki! Stay happy and healthy, and thank you for the light within you! If “Hamlet” swept my feet away with its burning passion, “Bracken Moor” is a slowly burning amber that eventually warms my heart in the middle of an emotional winter. If “Hamlet” is about revenge, “Bracken Moor” is about healing. I think that’s my conclusion after watching two Bracken Moor (BM henceforth) shows on Okada Masaki’s birthday yesterday (15 August 2019). ...