Shochiku Eyes 20% Gain In Audience At New Kabuki Theater

TOKYO (Nikkei)--Shochiku Co. (9601) aims to draw 1.1 million patrons a year to its Kabuki-za theater slated to reopen after an overhaul April 2, up 20% from before the renovation.

The theater in Tokyo's Ginza district will offer subtitle-displaying devices and host events in a bid to attract new fans, President Junichi Sakomoto told a news conference Monday.

"Kabuki is as artistic as opera while having the mass appeal of musicals," Sakomoto said. Shochiku aims to nurture the new venue into a theater that can attract audiences as well as world-class opera houses do, he noted. Sakomoto also said performances will be held in such other cities as Kyoto and Osaka, with the goal of drawing 2 million attendees a year.

"I'd like to first focus on passing down the classics," renowned kabuki actor Nakamura Kichiemon said at the news conference. "But I'd also like to try works by newer playwrights."

(The Nikkei Business Daily, March 19 edition)

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