Pay attention to the recurring musical motifs in “The Phantom of the Opera”! ~Shiki Theater Company Musical “The Phantom of the Opera”, Interview with Masayuki Sano who played the role of Phantom of the Opera and Sae Yamamoto who played the role of Christine

At the public rehearsal held prior to the interview, under the guidance of Yusuke Kitazawa, the production supervisor for ``The Phantom of the Opera,'' who had previously appeared in an interview with Magcal, we performed the play-within-a-play ``The Phantom of the Opera,'' which appears at the beginning of the story. The rehearsal scene for ``Hannibal'', ``Sink of Me'' sung by Christine, and ``The Point of No Return'' in which the Phantom of the Opera passionately sings about his love for Christine will be performed. When acting in the "Hannibal" scenes, Mr. Kitazawa gave careful acting guidance, such as, ``Let's show our frustration a little more and push back'', and many of the famous scenes were performed with overwhelming force just like the real thing. The press also held their breath.

In a joint interview held after the public rehearsal, Masayuki Sano, who played the role of the Phantom of the Opera, and Sae Yamamoto, who played the heroine Christine Daae, who participated in the rehearsal, spoke to the reporters. While answering questions, he frankly talked about his enthusiasm for the Yokohama performance of ``The Phantom of the Opera'' and the highlights of the work.

--Please tell us about the highlights and enthusiasm for the first Yokohama performance of "The Phantom of the Opera."

Sano: What I'm most looking forward to is playing the role of the Phantom at KAAT Kanagawa Arts Theater. The highlight of this work is the way composer Andrew Lloyd Webber creates the music. It will soon be 30 years since I worked on ``The Phantom of the Opera,'' but I still have new discoveries to make. In this performance, I hope to express the drama hidden in Lloyd Webber's music.

Yamamoto: I myself live in Kanagawa, and my theater company is also in Yokohama. I'm really looking forward to performing in my hometown of Yokohama. Mr. Sano mentioned the music, so I guess the highlight for me is the costumes. Since it is far from the audience seats, you may not be able to see the details, but the costumes of the ensemble are also very elaborate. The invisible fabric inside the skirt and the hats each have a different shape, so I would be happy if you could check that out.