The title of Hideki Noda¡¯s new play is ¡°Q: A Night At The Kabuki.¡± The ¡°Q¡± refers to British rock band Queen, while ¡°A Night At The Kabuki¡± riffs off that band¡¯s hit 1975 album, ¡°A Night at the Opera.¡± However, the title¡¯s nod to Japanese culture strongly suggests ¡°Q¡± is no straightforward spinoff from ¡°Bohemian Rhapsody,¡± last year¡¯s Oscar-winning biopic powered by the disc¡¯s best-known song of the same name.
So, is Noda, an internationally acclaimed playwright, director and actor, about to thrust Queen¡¯s enduringly charismatic vocalist, the late Freddie Mercury, into the kimono-clad world of traditional Japanese theater? Or will ¡°Q¡± be a some novel kind of jukebox musical?
In a surprising comment about this upcoming work at Ikebukuro¡¯s Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre, where he is artistic director, Noda previously said that ¡°Q¡± is ¡°a development of ¡®Romeo and Juliet.¡¯¡±
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