From the NME.
“The Age of the Samurai is about to begin…”
A modern theatre production inspired by the Queen album ‘A Night At The Opera’ will open in Japan next month with the band’s blessing.
Titled Q: A Night At The Kabuki, the show will feature all songs from the 1975 rock opus, and will be staged in Tokyo, Osaka and Kitakyushu.
The play is led by writer/director Hideki Noda of independent theatre company NODA•MAP. As Noda tells it, someone close to the band came to him with the idea to turn ‘A Night At The Opera’ into a play, two years before the success of the blockbuster Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody.
“Even though I was only half-convinced, I set about half-naked and sweating all over doing numerous workshops trying to put into words the inspiration I got from ‘A Night At The Opera’,” Noda said in a statement. “I then conveyed my ideas to that someone close to the band, and what do you know! I received a reply from Queen saying it was OK to go forward with the play.”
In a statement, Queen’s Brian May said he was “thrilled and honoured” to have his music soundtrack the production. “How wonderful to be a part of Japanese culture after all these years,” May said, “with what promises to be a new chapter in theatre history in this first year of the new Reiwa era.”
Set in medieval Japan, the show puts its own spin on Shakespeare’s Romeo And Juliet by re-imagining the tragedy’s ending: what would have happened if the star-crossed lovers had survived? Noda describes the play as “pretty unconventional in a weird kabuki way”.
Q: A Night At The Kabuki will premiere at the Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre on October 8. It will also be staged at the Shin Kabuki-za Theater in Osaka and the Kitakyushu Performing Arts Center in Kitakyushu, from October 19 to 27 and October 31 to November 4 respectively.
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- Queen - A Night At The Opera - 1st - VG - UK - vinyl LP - £50.00, $61.50, €59.00 (New Item) (arrived 21-Jan-2025 12:34)on January 21, 2025 at 3:16 pm
QUEEN A Night At The Opera (Classic 1975 UK first press 12-track LP with picture labels & 'BLAIRS' etched into the run-off area, their fourth studio album including the classic hit Bohemian Rhapsody, embossed gatefold picture sleeve with picture inner. The sleeve shows some obvious discolouring and a seam split to the inner, whilst the vinyl is clean & grades Excellent with only light signs of wear EMTC103) #Top 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time
- Queen - Jazz - 3rd - UK - vinyl LP - £25.00, $30.75, €29.50 (New Item) (arrived 17-Jan-2025 12:44)on January 21, 2025 at 3:16 pm
QUEEN Jazz (Late 70s / Early 80s UK 13-track vinyl LP, the seventh studio album by the British rock group, including the singles Bicycle Race, Fat Bottomed Girls & Don't Stop Me Now. Comes housed in a glossy non-embossed & non-barcoded gatefold sleeve with card picture inner. The sleeve has some minor wear to the edges, whilst the vinyl shows few cosmetic hairlines and paper scuffs, still remaining in Excellent condition EMA788)
- Queen - Kizuna + Bonus PVC Folder - Japanese - 2-LP vinyl set - £69.99, $86.09, €82.59 (New Item) (arrived 16-Jan-2025 12:59)on January 21, 2025 at 3:16 pm
QUEEN Kizuna (2024 Japanese Tower Records exclusive limited edition 16-track double album 2-LP pressed on 180-gram heavyweight black, half-speed mastered by Miles Showell at Abbey Road Studios. Kizuna compiles tracks recorded live in concert between 1979 and 1986, as voted for by Japanese fans. Housed inside a gatefold picture sleeve with English lyric printed inners, Japanese lyric insert and exclusive obi-strip. This edition also includes an official 'Not For Sale' custom printed multi-purpose 12" x 8½" PVC folder, available exclusively from Tower Records stores in Japan!) ***Limited to only 2000 copies***
- Queen - A Night At The Opera - 1st - EX - UK - vinyl LP - £150.00, $184.50, €177.00 (New Item) (arrived 16-Jan-2025 16:00)on January 21, 2025 at 3:16 pm
QUEEN A Night At The Opera (Classic 1975 UK first press 12-track LP with picture labels & 'BLAIRS' etched into the run-off area, their fourth studio album including the classic hit Bohemian Rhapsody, housed in the original embossed gatefold picture sleeve with the picture inner. The sleeve shows light foxing with a split to the inner and the vinyl appears barely played, overall an Excellent example EMTC103) #Top 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time
- Queen - Kizuna + Bonus PVC Folder - Japanese - 2-LP vinyl set - £69.99, $86.09, €82.59 (New Item) (arrived 16-Jan-2025 18:00)on January 21, 2025 at 3:16 pm
QUEEN Kizuna (2024 Japanese Tower Records exclusive limited edition 16-track double album 2-LP pressed on 180-gram heavyweight black, half-speed mastered by Miles Showell at Abbey Road Studios. Kizuna compiles tracks recorded live in concert between 1979 and 1986, as voted for by Japanese fans. Housed inside a gatefold picture sleeve with English lyric printed inners, Japanese lyric insert and exclusive obi-strip. This edition also includes an official 'Not For Sale' custom printed multi-purpose 12" x 8½" PVC folder, available exclusively from Tower Records stores in Japan!) ***Limited to only 2000 copies***
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