An Original Musical
-Y-
Workshop/Staged Reading
7-8 March 2026
Esorabako Performing Gallery & Café
Sung-through musical/Staged Reading
Book, Lyrics, and Directed by Noyu Ueda
Music, Lyrics, and Accompaniment by Elly Katayama
< Story >
—— Was it the "same" 50 years? ——
Summer 2001, Narita Airport. Having completed her undergraduate studies, Miki returns to the home country, the United States, harbouring anxieties about her new life. Meanwhile, Jin, who has drifted through university, finds Miki's unwavering strength dazzling. Miki, hoping that their friendship would endure, and Jin, dreaming of visiting America someday, bid each other farewell.
Tokyo, Berlin, New York, Buenos Aires—each time they reunited at an airport, the two “best friends” gradually drifted in different directions.
< What is Workshop?>
This production is modelled on workshops incorporated into the creative process for works on Broadway and the West End. Workshops provide opportunities to gather feedback from experts and audiences during the creative development phase, enabling creators to view their work objectively, and seek out producers and potential collaborators.
Following this, we shall gather your opinions and impressions through a Q&A session with Theatre Unit QD (Nobuhiro Ueda & Eri Katayama) and a questionnaire, followed by the staged reading.
We will refine the work based on the feedback received, and the full production is scheduled for early July 2026.
We'd love to invite those interested in the creative process of Theatre Unit QD, as well as musical theatre enthusiasts.
< Casts and Musicians >
A
Azusa Owada × Suzusa Nonomura
Mika (Piano)
B
Kurumi Tanaka × Kenken
Elly Katayama (Piano)
Ayumu Nishida (Cello) Sat. 7 March
Sainen (A.Sax) Sun. 8 March
Misako Higasa (MC)
< Venue >
Esorabako Performing Gallery & Café
*2 min walk from Edogawabashi Station (Yurakucho Line)/9 mins walk from Kagurazaka Station (Tozai Line)
< Schedule >
Sat. 7 March
12:00 A
15:30 B
19:00 A
Sun. 8 March
11:00 B
14:30 A
18:00 B
*Reception and doors open 30 minutes before the performance begins
*Estimated running time: 80 minutes + approximately 30 minutes for Q&A
< Creatives >
- Book, Lyrics, Director and Publicity Design: Noyu Ueda (Theatre Unit QD)
- Music, Lyrics, Rehearsal Pianist, and Voice Coach: Elly Katayama (Theatre Unit QD)
- Lighting: Akane Isoyama
- Sound: Soichiro Shi(v)azaki
- Stage Manager, General Affairs: Tamaki Adachi
- Assistant Director: Akari
- PR: Midori Yajima
- Front of the house: Reina Tobikawa
- Produced by: Theatre Unit QD
- Supported by: W Impact, Arts Council Tokyo [Startup Grant]
