Part of that World

A week or two ago, I had the amazing opportunity to go see The Little Mermaid at Gekidan Shiki. Unlike Lion King, this was my first time seeing it, as I have seen neither the Japanese nor the English version. The Little Mermaid is a little bit different than other Disney musicals because after it closed on Broadway in 2009, it was given major transformational changes in order to improve the telling of the story and popularity of the show. Because of this, the costumes and sets were changed to make swimming come to life through the magic of flying, and Ursula’s song “I Want the Good Times Back” was changed to “Daddy’s little Angels”, a song that describes Ursula’s childhood and gives more insight into how and why she became evil.

Ursula at Gekidan Shiki

Broadway’s Ariel

Gekidan Shiki’s Ariel

Seeing this show for myself was absolutely incredible! The shows starts out with the “Overture”, in which the curtains opened displaying Ariel swimming and exploring the sea, and gradually various fish and merfolk came out as well. It felt like the movie coming to life. Whenever merfolk or fish came out, whether they were standing on top of the stage or flying through the air, they constantly moved their body in a swimming motion, so it looked the they were actually in the ocean.

Additionally, people dressed in sea-life costumes, such as sea cucumber costumes and other sea plants were very interesting. The way they moved made them look very realistic, and like other seafolk, their body moved with the waves as well. It looked very realistic on stage, and it was the little details like this that really drew my attention.

Although I’ve listened to the soundtrack as well as analyzed the Japanese lyrics, seeing it in person was a completely different experience. In watching as an audience member, I noticed some of the subtle differences I discuss in my research paper, such as how Ariel says “海の底もいいところ”(It is good below the sea). This is in complete contrast to what Ariel says in the English version, in which she says “it’s like my life was wrong,” implying she is unhappy with her life under the sea. However, I don’t think most Japanese audience members would notice these.

Also, personally, this show was the most challenging musical I have seen. Usually, being a theatre lover, I love looking for the small details in the musical. However, for this musical, it was hard to do this the entire time because I really had to listen very closely to the words to try to understand. I had translated the songs beforehand for my research project, so I understand the songs completely. However, this musical had many spoken scenes in which I had to listen closely to try to understand. It was difficult of course, but it was a nice challenge and nonetheless enjoyable to watch.

Watching the musical in full- the songs, dances, acting, and everything- made me want to be a part of that world. Everything was incredible, and getting to work with both Japanese and foreign staff to put on this production sounds like such an amazing experience to be a part of. I hope someday, my Japanese can get to a level where I would be able to be a part of a production like this. Until that day comes, I will keep practicing hard in both the fields of Japanese and theatre so that someday I can be a part of something like this. As the Japanese say, がんばります！

Until next time, またね！