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Show Tht Salt Lake Tribune E13 Sunday, April 28, 1985 Kabuki actor joins long list of celebrated Japanese ancestors By John Burgess Washington Post Writer TOKYO The Kabuki actor known as Ebizo X had been preparing for April I for many years. He gave up cigarettes and alcohol. He spent days cloistered in a studio pacing through scenes from particular plays, fortifying his voice and exercising, sometimes with a teacher in attendance. On April 1 he took a new name. Danjuro XII, and joined a succession e of actors bearing that name who have reigned ever the flamboyant Kabuki stage since shortly after Its Inception in the cities of feudal Japan. Royal Ascension There has been no Danjuro since 1965. Theater devotees awaited the April 1 event like a royal ascension. For the past three centuries, the Danjuro name has been passed down among his family, the Horikoshi family, sometimes by blood line, sometimes by adoption of a promising understudy. Many theater people were talking about the stage's being artistically whole again, though a few dissenters questioned whether this man, now 38, really has the mettle for the name. But the more practical-mindeare looking at the publicity that the event generated around Japan. They hope it will help draw people back to Kabuki, an ancient institution that has taken a hammering in the 20th century and is enjoyed about as much as the average American enjoys Shakespeare. Schoolchildren are dutifully bused to Japan's national theater and other Kabuki stages In Tokyo. But few return on their own. Kabuki Broadcasts d On Sunday evenings fewer than 1 percent of the TV sets In the Tokyo region are tuned to Kabuki broadcast by public stations. A baseball game can draw 30 percent or more. For entertainment, I prefer something more lively, said Akeml Ilda, an employee at a Tokyo law firm. We have so much to choose from these days. She had heard about the Danjuro succession (the advertisements are everywhere), but it means nothing to me. The irony is that Kabuki, like Shakespeare's dramas, was, in the beginning, something everybody could enjoy, if they had the money. Backlash Its emergence as a distinct art form around the year 1600 is sometimes regarded as a backlash to the rigid conventions of Noh, Japans other major type of traditional theater. Celebrations larger-than-lif- The ascension was the focus of three months of special performances and celebrations In Kabuki theaters. u Danjuro and a troupe from the kabuki company will tour the United States to do it all over again, k run at the Kenincluding a nedy Center in Washington starting July 23. The Japanese praise Kabuki as a national treasure and spend about $10 million a year in taxes subsidizing it. But Its decline in popularity is often cited as another sign that values that made Japan great are slipping. Sho-chik- two-wee- S.L. Chamber honors four The Salt Lake Area Chamber of Commerce will honor four Utahns in May for outstanding contributions to the state's cultural arts legacy. broadcaster with KSL Radio and for her many years as an actress, theater, and speech instructor at the University of Utah. Richard P. Condie, Louise Hill Howe Malonee, Keith E. Montague, and JoAnn Ottley will receive Honors in the Arts" awards, announced Kevin Bischoff, chairman of the chambers Cultural Arts Committee. Montague, commercial art direce & Associates, tor of has provided tasteful and creative graphic design in newspapers, product and corporate brochures, magazines, and television for 30 years. dinner and reception are planned JoAnn Ottley, soprano, has performed with orchestras in Dallas, Portland, and Chicago, in addition to appearances with the Utah Symphony and the Utah Opera Company. She has also been a soloist in Europe, Scandinavia, and Canada. A May 8 honoring the 1985 recipients. Condie was conductor of the Mor- mon Tabernacle Choir from 1957 to 1974, directed weekly concerts over radio and television, toured with the choir, and garnered a Grammy" from the recording industry for one of his 49 choir recordings. Malonee is being honored for 17 years as producer, director, and Writer Rudy Anaya will speak Thursday Novelist and short story writer Rudy Anaya will be the keynote speaker at the annual Chicano Scholarship Banquet Thursday at 7 p.m. in the Panorama Room of the Olpin Union Building on the University of Utah campus. Anaya's books include the bestselling novels, Bless Me, Ultima and Tortuga. He currently teaches in the creative writing program at the University of New Mexico, Santa Fe. The public is invited to attend the banquet which is a scholarship fundraiser for Chicano students. Ten scholarships will be awarded this year. Cost is $25 per couple or $15 for singles and may be purchased at the door. For reservations, contact the Ethnic Studies Department at the U. Bailey-Montagu- Now in its fifth year, the "Honors in the Arts" program is being copied by several other cities as a way to honor contributing artists and supporters of the arts. NOW PLAYING AT 6 THEATRES! Kabuki' brilliantly colored costumes, Us revolving painted sets and action-packe(swordplay and vengeance figure prominently) filled to the brim large, wooden theaters that went up in Edo, as feudal Tokyo was known, and other cities. d A liant actor, specializing In aragoto," or vigorous-actioparts. He died in 1704, murdered on a stage in Edo by another actor. s plot-line- His son took the name and thus belines gan the line. (Other actor-family were also established and endure today, but the Danjuro name Is considered the most prestigious.) raucous nightlife revolved around the theaters, which in the beginning were sometimes fronts for prostitution. Brawls over actresses led authorities to ban women from the stage In 1629. casts remain the rule today.) Gray-haire- Gradually, Kabuki came of age. A vast repertoire of dramas was written. Elaborate make-uof which some techniques are kept secret by the actors manners of walking, gesturing and speaking evolved that took a lifetime of study to master. Audiences d He is at the prime of life. But already. he is preparing a successor, bis old son. Periodically, there are moves to reform Kabuki and make it more acearcessible. Japapse-languag- e phones are used in some theaters, because many of the actors' words are gibberish to ordinary people. an actor with the stage name Ichikawa Danjuro appeared. His biographies describe him as a man of letters, a playwright, a devout Buddhist and above all a bril Dlitt Theatr ANYTIME-A- PLITT THEATRES! LL b.lv.d be TH.TT happen .. Mntil happened to him. it i April 1 was a milestone for him too. He will take the name Shinoske, a stage name his father had during his climb to the top. S2.75 SENIOR CITIZENS it could really u Danjuro himself says he feels an obligation to convey the art to the next generation but can only do so much to popularize it. "The duty of the actor is not to enlighten, but to perform on the stage, he said. Here, too, there are elaborate conventions for what they can say. Theater operators, recognizing the atmosphere they add, often admit these people free. p h But other people feel the key is getting young people Involved early in life, making them learn the conventions, the characters and stories so that as adults they will enjoy them naturally. d gray-haire- Came of Age 1675 Young People Involved Kabuki audiences these days tend to bo and sprinkled with foreign tourists. But the old flavor is recalled by fans in the cheap seats who bellow ecstatic words of admiration at strategic moments. (All-mal- e Around Cheaper tickets, shorter programs and programs devoted to a single story. rather than the more common Interspersing of acts from separate dramas, have also been suggested n 'if '6, W fe'- - Terri Griffith is about to go where no woman has gone before. IND RIVER PRODUCTIONS larrinji ) IM S I AFFORD BIIOODTSIMP KID COLTER JEREMY SHAMOS presents! reilorol Photography IEN AITKEN fefulive Producer JOSEPH IGNAT ( rodwed b) fl 3 LR GARRIT Y and ROBERT THE BREAKFAST rarcsoBs. CLUB TOOAY AT N THE YEARS rONE EXCLUSIVE ENGAGEMENT! 484 2749 PAULEY SWAY 1121 am "MORE BIG LAUGHS THAN ANY FILM THIS YEAR." awyrsai . Hero BOUNTIFUfllMtJg 12:45. VOVIS Iroyei 1h Deri Gene Wilham Wod. GANNETT r 966A NEWSPAPERS '' ALBERT BROOKS JULIE HAGERTY 3:00, 5:15, 7:30. -- TOOAY AT 1:45. 3:20, 5 25, 7:30. . 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MOVIE Starring CHER ladyhawke(PG i3) , 2:45, 5:00, 7:20, 9:45 Just One OfTTie Guys" NrghtmBre On Elm Street (R) 12 00 3 50 . 7:40 v 7:20, 9:25 The CARE DEARS 363-626- 6 O BROS t 1:10, 3:10, 5:10, 7:10, 9:10 AT NIGHTLY AT w Hy SctTitf 03 SEEKING SUSRN -- Steuben 7:30, 9:30 DSPRfiTlY GSM Aifv 1:30, 3:30, 5:30, 7:30, 9:30 AT TODAY w.i:m.iui;i tumU m f WARNER 1 CajSS Mm OgMMMUUJJ HANN THEATRES DAILY Ml SOUTH VAN.1V iHSmiHuTf 0 P 11 ' ..f " thcathis CENTumtgtit; THE GOPT MUST EE Hilarious and wildly funny. 20.930 7 AnZMjjO-10- .V , A 13331; TODAY OF TEN BEST. Siskei LOST IN AMERICA irtJR0LLEYlN0RTHrTS TOOAY AT A1 m, 50, 3 45, 5:40, 7:35. 9 30 1 ?) !,) 980 30 940 STEREO' MOVING WlOUITIONS h X TOOAY AT 1 30. 3 30. 5 30. 7.30, 9 30 |
