Art transcends cultural boundaries, they say. OK, but still I’m caught off guard when I see this poster from a Japanese production of Annie アニー, the Broadway musical. Annie’s red hair – her most famous feature – is, shall we say, not very common among the general public in Japan.
According to Wikipedia (and the production’s website), the Japanese production of Annie was first performed in Japan in 1978 and has been running continually in Japan since 1986 (with the exception of a two-year COVID-19 pandemic hiatus). It appears that Nippon TV 日本テレビ has been the sponsor for the length of this run, a fact important enough that Nippon TV includes the 1986 start of the Annie run on their English corporate history page.
Interested? It’s currently being staged at the New National Theater, Tokyo 新国立劇場 中劇場, just north of Hatsudai Station (map), two stops from Shibuya Station. Get your tickets here…if you dare!
See also:
the tokyo files archives 東京ファイル 