August 14, 2004
Shaken by New York Musical
I will not forget the experience I got today in New York.
I arrived at the New York JFK airport at seven in the morning. I took an airport shuttle to the city. The moment I got off the shuttle, I found New York surrounding 360 degree around me. Behind me were tall buildings. They were fifty-storied or seemingly even a hundred storied buildings. In front of me were gaudy advertisements moving and flushing on the wall. And that smell in the air… It was really the New York.
I joined Jun, Daiji, and Koko, who came for today from their internship places: Nevada, Florida, and Ohio. The New Yorkers, Funa and M.Y. joined us, too. They helped us a lot to enjoy New York. M.Y. arranged the Mets game in the evening. Funa gave us an introduction to multi-cultural dining in NY. He took us to an Afghanistan restaurant for lunch, a students’ restaurant for NY University for dinner, and an American-Japanese bar for midnight drinking. The bar served Japanese food arranged for Americans.
I enjoyed all of these. But the most unforgettable experience was the musical AIDA. It shook my heart in the magnitude that I had never experienced last 10 years. I am still in the middle of the shock wave. It will take me some time to find proper words to express such an unusual experience exactly. But I want to try it now, anyway.
I have many reasons to say AIDA is great. But if I limit myself in only one, it must be the story. The story contrasted tragic settings with love, hope and will. On one hand, the story was about tragedy. Wars, slavery, and conspiracy in ancient Egypt threw the lovers into disaster. Toward the end, the story became really tragic. On the other hand, the story was actually about love, hope, and will. The positive tone was clear even in the most tragic moment. This contrast gave me a strong impression. But you don’t know how moving AIDA is until you see it by yourself. For now, I like to mention some aspects.
The heroine, AIDA, was played by Deborah A. Cox. Her song was sometimes gentle, sometimes fierce, but always breathtaking. Daiji told me that her voice came from her professional experience as a singer. The background music was by Elton Jones, the world famous composer. The main theme and ancient drum part came one after another, making a kind of wave. This wave overwhelmed me. It is no wonder that Daiji obtained the soundtrack right after the show. Dance was gorgeous and stage effects made the last scene unforgettable.
I thank M.Y., Daiji, and Funa who arranged this great experience. If you have an opportunity to go to NY, I recommend you to go to a musical no matter what.
