戸塚祥太 の ジョーダンバットが鳴っている No. 4 [ダ・ヴィンチ 2014.02]
JORDAN’S BAT IS RUMBLING
ジョーダンバットが鳴っている
by
Totsuka Shota
No. 4: The Legend of Johnny’s (ジャニーズ伝説)
Very personal essays from Totsuka Shota of Johnny’s acrobatic unit A.B.C-Z. While reflecting on events this book-lover searches for “links” in the books he has read.
The Legend of Johnny’s----the work attached to this grand title centers on the story of how Johnny & Associates first idol group, the Johnnys, went to America. (The Johnnys were Aoi Teruhiko-san, Nakatani Ryo-san, Iino Osami-san, and Hiromi Maie-san.) Of course groups like Four Leaves and Shonentai were active in Japan but even in America there are traces of Johnny’s groups, traces we lay bare through drama and musical performance.
In October 2013, A.B.C-Z threw ourselves body and soul into this piece. We were well aware that this was the work that would be performed on the 50th anniversary of the Nissay Theater* and there were many twists and turns before its completion.
The first production meeting was half a year before the show opened. At that time, the only thing to have been decided was that the work would share the overarching title of ABC座. As for our initial plan, the concept we were discussing would have had us zip through the story of A.B.C-Z up to this point, using original songs, with a musical revue at its core. However in the two years since our debut, there’d been no spectacular achievements or dramatic events. What would be the best way to create an engaging and entertaining play? Night after night, I turned this over in my head.
When we’re working on a play, no single person is the central focus. Even the staff-san are included in the brainstorming. If somebody has an awesome idea, then another idea is added to the mix. Once we’ve gathered everybody’s ideas, we’ll come to a consensus. And that’s how our production meeting went, ending with a rough outline of the show. A.B.C-Z would time travel back to the war era where we would meet a blind girl who had been raised in Kyoto and, for her sake, put on a “Kyoto”-themed show. However, moving forward, the more we talked about it, as we started to see the full outline of the piece, I felt uneasy. The time travel concept was completely the same as last year’s 『ABC座 星 (スター) 劇場』 (ABCZa Star Gekijou). If we continued on like this, would we surpass it? Something was wanting. I was just beginning this train of thought when President Johnny put forward a suggestion.
The Johnnys origin story, a tale of the original Johnnys. In 1966, an era when the act of going to America in and of itself was difficult, these four went on a quest. On their travels they came into contact with true show business and took singing and dancing lessons from a top coach. And then, by chance they met a capable producer who recognized their talent and with an American debut in mind, they did a recording session----.
President Johnny, the mastermind himself, was extraordinarily invested in this story and at first I was happy that he entrusted it to us. Yet I wondered if we could handle this kind of major role. Pressure weighed heavily on us but, on the other hand, I craved the challenge and I think the other members felt the same.
And that’s the way it went. The switch to the substantially modified story that would be Johnny’s Densetsu took place in August, two months before the opening of the production.
The script was completed in a great hurry. I was given an assortment of roles in the first act: the brother to a blind boy who establishes a bond with the original Johnny’s members; Bing Crosby, whom the members happened to meet on their American journey, and producer Barry De Vorzon, both legends of the American music world. That is to say, I was performing a number of roles but they were all support roles with no singing or dancing. Honestly, until I entered rehearsals, I was worried about how I would motivate myself.
However, once I actually began working on the roles, I could set my own pace for various scenes and because I was shouldering the forward motion of the story, I understood what was difficult and what was enjoyable. And in the end, I’m glad to have gotten this role. I wanted to bring my appearance and bearing as close as I could to the era so I cut my hair in a classic American style and I also paid close attention to the pronunciation of my English lines and so, in my own way, I worked very hard.
And just like that, the first day drew closer. But with all the ongoing changes, I didn’t fully memorize my lines until 2 days before the curtain rose. However, the curtain fell quietly on the first day show’s. There were no major mistakes or trouble and there were also no announcement of changes. I breathed a sigh of relief from the bottom of my heart.
The show is organized like this: The first act is the story of the Johnnys and the second act follows the path of the Four Leaves and Shonentai, connecting to the formation of A.B.C-Z.
Because we always want to challenge ourselves with something new, for the last showcase song we used an apparatus called “5Rings”. These are circular pipes or wheels that one person can ride inside, rotating it with his feet. An important point to note, however, is that you can’t use too much effort because however quickly you walk, that effort turns the wheel proportionally fast. And if you go too fast, your balance will collapse. During the first rehearsal I exerted my strength, turning the wheel faster and faster until I could no longer track the location of the floor. I crumbled and fell inside the wheel. On that occasion, my hand was caught between my back and the floor and I ended up with a bloody gouge on my middle finger.
How do we get an enchanting performance out of this anguishing trick? First, find the range of possible movements in the wheel. Then, figure out what will display well to the audience, decide on choreography, and practice, practice, practice along with the song. Once our bodies become accustomed to the wheel, everybody’s movements can be synchronized. The movements of the members enter my hazy field of vision and somehow we’re aligned. Our unity was the only thing imprinted in my subconscious mind. That moment when the five members aligned perfectly for the first time is “5Rings.”
I wrote the lyrics for the song of the same name. I began writing immediately, the same night the request came from the staff-san, and in two hours it was complete. That’s how it was, just one week before performances began, backed into a corner and working quickly. I followed a theme of “heart, craft, body, passion, harmony.”** Testing out lyrics on the members, the words fell into place naturally.
“Heart” is Hashimoto, “Craft” is Goseki, “Body” is Tsukada, “Passion” is me, and “Harmony” is Kawai. The words are the staff-san’s images of us but for some reason I get the meaning. Hashimoto has a forthright “heart” and Goseki a “craft” to be able do anything you ask him to with a composed face. Tsukada supports us with a macho “body” whose physical ability is a cut above, while it is Kawai who has the ability to pull the group tightly together, understanding us and bringing consensus with his “harmony.” And for me, who is deeply affected by things, “passion” is a perfect fit. I was the only one in my family born in “Aichi” provence. The letters simply left an impression on me*** but I’ve also felt that I was born in order to know passion. Within me are feelings I want to treasure but at the same time they’re something I want to think about.
We also wrote the script for The Legend of A.B.C-Z in the second act. Comedic skits and drama were the two elements we incorporated. Kawai did the comedy and I wrote the dramatic parts. The story of the time period we covered is from Hashimoto’s point of view but my and the other members’ points of view are also woven in.
Originally A.B.C had been active as a four person group and then, 5 years ago, Hashimoto was added and we became A.B.C-Z. The composition of the group could easily have ended up as four against one, the other four members versus Hashimoto. Certainly Hashimoto, who had been pushed headfirst in a completely different environment from what he was used to, was uneasy and the extent to which he lost his bearings is immeasurable. No one can put themselves in his place and I suspect there are parts of the story that only Hashimoto himself knows. But our environment also changed and each of the other members had our share of troubles. What stories couldn’t the person in question get people to understand, no matter how much effort he expended? If I was the audience, those are the parts I would want to see.
Even if this play is imperfect, we tried to tell the A.B.C-Z story with this script, and that feeling is stronger than everything else.
A month of performances ended peacefully and more than a sense of achievement, a feeling of “I want to tackle the next production!” is simmering to a boil. Walking in the footsteps of our respected sempai on stage, we vicariously shared their experiences. “We did things this way. How do you guys do it? I wonder if A.B.C-Z’s turn is next?” When our sempai said this, it weighed heavily on our shoulders. Maybe the question of whether we were already “too late?!” was thrust upon us but I could also strongly feel that I am truly a member of Johnny’s.
Circumstances are thrust upon me and I can look at it from all sorts of angles--what do I want to do, what can I do, what have I been asked to do--but I can always fight it out as my best self. Thinking along those lines, in Itoyama Akiko’s short story “The Funeral and Aurora” from her collection The Forgotten Waltz, is a passage related “great effort” that’s important to me. When the words were before my eyes, I felt like I could surpass the me of yesterday and it gave me a sense of positivity, to try my best day after day. And I was happy.
Actually, around the time the production meetings began I was mulling over an idea.
The time would be 50 years from now in the future, 2063. Four members of A.B.C-Z would already be six feet under and the one member left behind would have become an author. As his last work he wants to tell A.B.C-Z’s story and this is how the play would begin. Packed into the elderly author’s head are all the magnificent stories of A.B.C-Z’s career and my concept was to stage them.
The most important scene is the last one. The elderly author, from his study, would tell the audience about the lives of the other four and would then become garrulous. When the memories reached a climax, images from inside the play would be projected onto a pure white backdrop. And then the words telling of these amazing events would also be shown. As the future A.B.C-Z’s events are being enumerated, dramatic background music will swell to support the best parts. But as a pen drops to the floor, the elderly author’s breath ceases. Then, as he is hidden behind the writing paper on his desk, one surface of the room is lifted up, the paper is dropped to the floor, and the five members of A.B.C-Z are revealed. Suddenly, it’s show time.
Even at the production meeting nobody went for this idea. I’ve still some ways to go. I’m really embarrassed.
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This month’s linked book:
『忘れられたワルツ』 The Forgotten Waltz
絲山秋子 Itoyama Akiko
Yuzuru has heard about his dear elementary school teacher’s obituary. He takes to the highway, by himself, during a massive snowfall. He meets a cheerful woman in a parking lot. She’s moving aurora developing equipment in a tractor trailer truck-- “The Funeral and Aurora.” An ordinary day for a 40-something single woman who works as an engineer in a town near the Self Defense Forces training grounds-- “The Theory of Love as a Chore.” While writing on the disasters that bring unease and pain to people’s lives, Itoyama interlaces them with humor. This book is a collection of all sorts of types of story.
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The great effort it took to face forwards, the great effort needed to search for a decision, an estimation, it wasn't something I'd been blessed with. But if I turned inwards, renounced both victory and defeat, would great effort for my own sake bear fruit? Can’t I gain experience points? Life has come to an unexpected place, isn’t that what it means to be blessed?
(“The Funeral and Aurora” p. 67)
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A book store clerk’s personal experience, as written in Da Vinci: “If I could only read one thing this year and it was this book, I’d be cool with that. Ishiro Koutaro.” I was drawn in by the strength of that statement and purchased the book. My mother had read it before I did. I only began reading it on my 27th birthday. This was the first work I’ve read by Itoyama-san but I empathized with many parts in the story called “The Attack on Pearl Harbor.” And in “The God and Mashida Kijuro,” the problems posed by the god were quite interesting.
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NOTES:
*The first performance at the theater was on October 20, 1963.
** Tottsu is using five different kanji to represent the five members. They don’t have exact English translations but I tried my best to find a word with a similar shade of meaning. For those of you who are curious, the kanji are--in order of Hasshi, Gocchi, Tsuka-chan, Tottsu, and Fumikyun--心、技、体、愛、和
*** Tottsu is making a play on the Japanese spelling of 愛知県, which has the kanji for “passion” and “to know” His situation is the same as somebody born in a place like Valentine, Texas.