Producer Makoto Deguchi (Blueman Group: Tubes) announced that TRIP OF LOVE, a Broadway bound dance musical inspired by and set to the hit songs of the 1960’s, will play an unprecendented world premiere, pre-Broadway engagement in Osaka, Japan. Created, directed and choreographed by James Walski, TRIP OF LOVE will begin previews on April 4, 2008 at The Theatre Brava! in Osaka Business Park with generous support from the city of Osaka and promotional support from Yomiuri Television, Mainichi Broadcasting System, Pia Ticketing Agency, The Jikei Group and Yokoso! Japan’s “Visit Japan Campaign”, which is supported by The Japan National Tourist Organization. Opening Day is set for April 14, 2008.
With an eye toward Broadway, TRIP OF LOVE makes its world premiere in Osaka, a city known as the gourmet food capital of Japan, for an audience with an insatiable appetite for American culture. “Osaka is a city on the brink of becoming the next entertainment capital in Japan and I couldn’t be more proud to debut TRIP OF LOVE there with the bountiful support from the city of Osaka and the promotional support from the local media and ticket agencies,” says producer Makoto Deguchi of the unorthodox decision to have the pre-Broadway engagement in Japan.
This original, larger-than-life musical revue covers numerous aspects of the decade. It celebrates the times through a variety of characters that lead very different lives. These characters play a catalyst to the development of one unsuspecting young girl by the name of Caroline. She is a youthful girl of today whom soon after arriving to the theater is pulled into a mysterious world that catapults here into a journey through the 1960s.
The production will feature scenic design by Yomiuri Theater Award winner Shusaku Futamura and James Walski and costume design by Tony Award Winner Gregg Barnes (Legally Blonde, The Drowsy Chaperone).