Thoughts on my First Samurai Musical

Naka-san & Taka-san (myself) and Suke-san and Kaku-san:
In the show, we were comedic pairs and represented a lot of the show's comic relief. 

Just wrapped on the Samurai theatre show I was doing, Tange Sazen. It took me to the final show to feel like I finally nailed all the dialog, dancing, blocking, timing and humor, but I got it. What a fantastic experience. No doubt it was hard... but anything worth doing always is. When I first got the call for this, I had thought I was simply going to be a masked background ninja or something. I was shocked the first time I was saw the script and saw how prominent of a character I was playing; but after I understood the nature of the show, I got it. A lot of the humor was slapstick, and what could be funnier than an American black dude playing a Japanese person from 200 years ago. It would be like if someone in the states decided to make a comedy version of Shaft and then cast a Japanese guy who didn't speak English to play a pimp from the hood named "Honey Dip" or something. It was a pretty risky move for the director/producer, but it seemed to work well, and people absolutely loved it; and truth be told, so did I. 

I found out that one of the people I was acting alongside of was Ryosuke Sakamoto; the original Japanese "Red One" power ranger. Super honored. 

As strange as it may seem, the thing that I’m the most thankful for is the fact that I wasn’t treated any differently than any other cast or crew member. Generally, as a foreigner working here in Japan, you get used to always having additional assistance. There is always someone translating for you, or going the extra mile to help you to understand. Since 99% of us are working with a language barrier, I do think that attitude is actually a good thing- because quite frankly you do miss a lot. At the same time however, in this case, it was really refreshing that the director and cast just generally took the attitude “Meh, Chuck is fine. He’ll figure it out.” For myself that shows a large degree of trust, and it made me determined not to disappoint.

Among other things like caring for my wig and Kimono costume pieces, another challenge was having to learn how to wear a fundoshi. (Traditional Japanese men's underwear). This was easily the hardest thing to ask for help with, haha. 

There were times were I had to ask for extra help; needed extra repetitions, or had extra explanations, but more often than not, I was left to just figure it out...and I usually did. 

I’m not sure if this kind of work will continue beyond this... but I hope so. As an actor, it was an intense experience, but also a massive opportunity for personal and professional growth. In addition to having to learn the script, I also had to learn how to wear all the costumes, (which seriously upped my Kimono game), learn a ton about Japanese history and also learn a lot about how theatre in Japan works. 

Beyond that, I honestly could not have asked for a more wonderful, honest and hardworking cast and crew to do this with. I feel like I made a lot of good friendships that will last a long time. My only regret of the whole thing is that there’s no video of any of it, so the only people who got to see it are those that took the time to come. This show happens yearly however, so hopefully this or other opportunities like it will come around. Even if film and television pay better, I have always believed that the actor’s truest training ground is theatre, and this show certainly was just that.

The entire cast of 45 wonderful, talented and super-hardworking people.
Didn't get to know everyone, but I will miss them all.