親友の愛娘ちゃんが、ミュージカルの主役を務めるということで、次女と観劇に。
舞台は1899年のニューヨーク。「Newsies」(新聞配達少年たち)が、
夢や葛藤を抱えながら、ストライキを通じて自分たちの権利を勝ち取っていく。
大手新聞社の理不尽な値上げに対して、労働環境の改善を求めて立ち上がる実話ベースの物語。
日本でのコンサート出演中で会場に来られない親友に代わって、ステージママの気持ちで客席に。
様々な年代や人種の子供たちの中で、一際目立つ美形の彼女が主役のジャックを演じる。
ディズニーのミュージカルでも有名なこの作品では、まだ17歳の少年ジャックが、
他の少年たちを率いて大人と対等に闘い、最後はまた新しい土地へと旅立っていく。
ジャックが新しい夢と希望を抱いて「サンタフェ」をソロで歌うシーンでは、
子どもたちが巣立っていく姿を重ねて、思わず涙しそうになった。
競争の激しい役者という世界で生き残ること。
今日も世界中のあちこちでこんなシーンが誕生しているのだなと思う。
My best friend’s lovely daughter was starring in a musical, so I went to see the show with my second daughter.
The story is set in New York in 1899. The “Newsies” (newspaper delivery boys)
struggle with their dreams and conflicts as they fight for their rights through a strike.
It’s a story based on real events, in which they rise up against a major newspaper company’s unreasonable price hikes to demand better working conditions.
Since my best friend was performing in her opera concert in Japan and couldn’t make it to the venue, I took my seat in the audience with the heart of a stage mom.
Amid children of various ages and ethnicities, she—a strikingly beautiful girl who stood out from the crowd—played the lead role of Jack.
In this production, famous for its Disney musical adaptation, 17-year-old Jack
leads the other boys in a fight against adults on equal footing, and in the end, sets off for a new land.
In the scene where Jack sings “Santa Fe” as a solo, filled with new dreams and hopes,
I couldn’t help but feel teary-eyed as I saw it as a metaphor for children spreading their wings and leaving the nest.
Surviving in the fiercely competitive world of acting.
It makes me realize that scenes like this are unfolding all over the world, even today.
