Utaemon VI: 1951 Name-Taking Ceremony and the Narikomaya Art

The shūmei of Nakamura Utaemon VI in 1951, spawning 5 months of performances in four different theatres, was one of the great events for kabuki after WWII. We take a look at the roles he played, and its significance for the Narikomaya onnagata art.

Almost all the photographs are from the actual performances, with the exception of those from the December program at the Minami-za, which I didn't have access to. The video performances are from 1954 (studio), May 1983 (Kabuki-za) and September 1980 (Kabuki-za).

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If you have more materials relating to Utaemon VI's shūmei or other early performance, please let me know! For that and any question, correction or suggestion, you can contact me at: [email protected]

#kabuki #歌舞伎 #japan

Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
02:39 April (Kabuki-za)
07:02 May (Kabuki-za)
10:48 June (Misono-za)
15:09 October (Osaka Kabuki-za)
16:47 December (Minami-za)