JQ Magazine: Nippon in New York – ‘Back to the Future‘ in Concert, ‘Witch Watch’, Yoko Kanno Live!
By JQ magazine editor Justin Tedaldi (CIR Kobe-shi, 2001-02). Justin has written about Japanese arts and entertainment for JETAA since 2005. For more of his articles, click here.
Stay warm this winter with some hot local events, from live showcases that will transport you to another time and place, a clutch of new anime screenings, and a live performance you won’t want to miss.
Back to the Future is a trademark and copyright of Universal Studios. Licensed by Universal Studios. All Rights Reserved.
March 19-22, 7:30 p.m.
Wu Tsai Theater, David Geffen Hall, 10 Lincoln Center Plaza
From $78
Recharge your flux capacitor, and get ready to celebrate the 40th anniversary of this 1.21-gigawatt blockbuster like you’ve never seen or heard it before! Join Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox), Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd), and a time-traveling DeLorean as the NY Phil under the direction of acclaimed Hollywood composer David Newman performs Alan Silvestri’s dazzling score while the film plays above on a giant hi-def screen. Plus, enjoy new music added especially for the occasion! Adds Silvestri in the program notes: “With a timeless film, and a timeless machine known as an orchestra, we can go anywhere.”
Courtesy of Bluenotejazz.com
March 18-23, 8:00 p.m. and 10:30 p.m.
Blue Note New York, 131 West Third Street
$35 bar area, $50 table seating
"Time Machine is an updated version of my production that featured Michael Brecker, Randy Brecker, Glenn Ferris, Alex Blake, John Abercrombie, Milcho Leviev and Lee Pastora. 50 years have “blown by” since then. I have rarely performed some of the music from that period. "Solarization", "Total Eclipse", "Bandits”, “Crescent Sun”, "Moon Germs” and “Sea of Tranquility” have barely seen the light of day in any of my productions so, I am now focused upon resurrecting them around music that the Total Eclipse portfolio has inspired me to create." - Billy Cobham
Born in Panama on May 16, 1944, and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Cobham got his first paid gig at the age of eight as a member of St. Catherine's Queensmen, a drum and bugle corps in St. Albans, Queens. He attended New York's renowned Fiorella H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and the Performing Arts, where he studied music theory and drum technique. While in the military from 1965 to 1968, Cobham played with the U.S. Army Band as percussionist. After his service, he played in Horace Silver's Band, performed with Stanley Turrentine and Shirley Scott, and recorded with George Benson. The song “Stratus” from 1973’s Spectrum, his debut album as a leader, appears in the video game Grand Theft Auto IV on the radio station Fusion FM, as well as being the main sample in the Massive Attack hit “Safe from Harm.”
The lineup of for this engagement consists of: Billy Cobham - drums; Will Lee - bass; Oz Ezzeldin - keyboards; Randy Brecker - trumpet; Marshall Gilkes - trombone; Brandon Wilkins - saxophone.
Vitagraph Films
March 14-20
Caligula: The Ultimate Cut in 35mm
Angelia New York, 18 West Houston Street
$17-$23
Constructed from over 90 hours of recently unearthed original camera negatives, Caligula: The Ultimate Cut presents a bold new vision of the infamous 1980 film. This unprecedented edit is composed entirely of never-before-seen footage, showcasing the complete performances of Malcolm McDowell, Helen Mirren, Peter O'Toole, and John Gielgud for the first time. Hailed as a groundbreaking cinematic resurrection, Caligula: The Ultimate Cut premiered as an official selection at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival and earned an honorable mention on the Los Angeles Times' Top Ten Films of 2024.
Haunted by the brutal murder of his family, the young and calculating Caligula (Malcolm McDowell) ruthlessly eliminates his scheming adoptive grandfather (Peter O'Toole) and, alongside his insatiable wife, Caesonia (Helen Mirren), seizes control of a crumbling Roman Empire—spiraling into a reign of unchecked excess, violence, and madness. Featuring John Gielgud and the lavish designs of Oscar-winning production designer Danilo Donati, this revelatory cut redefines Caligula for a new era.
01 Courtesy of 92ny.org
One of the great artists of the violin world, Midori returns to the 92NY stage with pianist Özgür Aydin for a recital of music at the heart of her artistry. She opens with the New York premiere of a new work by Che Buford inspired by spirituals, followed by Brahms’ beautiful Violin Sonata in G Major and Poulenc’s Violin Sonata, with its touches of Parisian character. Celebrating the 150th anniversary of his birth, the concert closes with a pair of pieces by Ravel, including one of Midori’s signature works, the fiery Tzigane, which she performed in her recital debut over 30 years ago and continues to make her own.
Program: CHE BUFORD Resonances of Spirit BRAHMS Sonata No. 1 in G Major, Op. 78 ----------- POULENC Sonata for Violin and Piano RAVEL Kaddish (arr. L. Garban) Tzigane
Moscow2020_01 © TAMUNADE-ANE
Monday, March 10, 7:30 p.m.
Japan Society, 333 East 47th Street
$21, $14 Japan Society members
In the wake of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, an aging mother and her adult hikikomori (shut-in) son struggle under the weight of isolation, time and memory. With a cataclysmic flash, the woman is in jeopardy, unable to find help in her haunted and absent son and invisible to passerby behind her property fence. Yet, in a torn and poisoned world, sometimes we do the most good by extending a hand over the fence towards what we can’t reach. Continuing our focus on female playwrights, Izumi Kasagi, whose play the far side of the moon was a prestigious Kishida Kunio Drama Award finalist, paints lives in shimmering watercolors in this moving modern meditation on old age and loneliness. Skye Kowaleski, NYC-based holistic artist and former co-director of the OBIE-award winning venue JACK, leads their local cast through this poetic work. Followed by an Artist Q&A.
Courtesy of Iconicreleasing.com
March 12, 16
Mobile Suit Gundam: Char’s Counterattack
Various theaters
Various prices
An Anime Expo Cinema Nights exclusive! Universal Century 0093. The previously missing Char Aznable has revived Neo Zeon and declared war against the Earth Federation government. The Londo Bell unit commanded by Bright Noa is forced to fight alone and unaided against the Neo Zeon forces, which have begun dropping asteroids onto the Earth. Among the Londo Bell members is Amuro Ray, Char’s longtime rival. But their valiant efforts are in vain as 5th Luna falls onto the planet. Sensing a further threat behind Char’s movements, Amuro heads for the Moon to collect the Nu Gundam, a mobile suit equipped with a psycho-frame. Waiting for him is its lead developer, Chan Agi. Meanwhile, Bright’s son Hathaway Noa meets a girl named Quess Paraya on his way into space, and is instantly attracted to her.
GKIDS
March 16-18
Various theaters
Various prices
Three-episode premiere of a magical new rom-com! Based on the Shonen Jump manga by Kenta Shinohara! Morihito Otogi, a high school student who comes from a lineage of ogres, enjoys a peaceful, ordinary life until his childhood friend, Nico, moves in with him. Nico is a witch-in-training, and chooses Morihito to be her familiar. While Nico is thrilled to reunite with her old friend and crush, Morihito is tasked with the perilous duty to protect her from a foretold calamity. Between the unpredictable chaos caused by Nico’s magic, and the awkwardness of sharing a home, their lives become a whirlwind of supernatural hijinks and threats. Puppy love meets magical mischief and danger in Witch Watch, the endlessly charming and riotously funny new anime series.
Based on the Weekly Shonen Jump manga by Kenta Shinohara (SKET Dance), get the first sneak peek of the upcoming anime with Witch Watch: Watch Party, a special theatrical premiere event featuring the first three episodes and exclusive interviews.
Courtesy of Thetownhall.org
Saturday, March 29, 8:00 p.m.
The Town Hall, 123 West 43rd Street
From $78.75
Legendary songwriter, composer, arranger and producer Yoko Kanno takes to The Town Hall stage with a full jazz concert of her most revered and personally beloved compositions. Joining Kanno in the hall that built bebop is multi-hyphenate artist Logan Richardson and his Blues People Big Bang. Lyricist and songwriter, arranger and music producer, Yoko Kanno has composed music for movies, TV dramas, TV commercials, animation, and video games. She has produced and written music for many artists as well. Her masterpieces include scores to the anime series Cowboy Bebop, Genesis of Aquarion, Macross Frontier, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, the film Our Little Sister, and the NHK historical TV drama Naotora: The Lady Warlord. She also composed the Great East Japan Earthquake (Fukushima) recovery support song, “Flowers Will Bloom - Hana wa Saku,” for which she created many different arrangements. In the first year of the new Reiwa Era, she composed the Japanese Emperor's enthronement celebration song, “Ray of Water,” and dedicated the performance to the Emperor and the Empress in front of the Imperial Palace. Most recently, she composed the music for two Netflix TV series: a live action version of Cowboy Bebop and The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House.
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