The Husband puppet (left) and Sam Simahk, as the Thief, in John LaChiusa's chamber musical See What I Wanna See, directed by Emilio Ramos.
Michael John LaChiusa’s chamber musical See What I Wanna See is receiving a rare revival at Theatre 154 with an Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) cast. Directed by Emilio Ramos, and based on three short stories of Japanese literary master Ryunosuke Akutagawa, it is a dark meditation on the subjective nature of truth.
It’s no accident that one of the stories LaChiusa draws on is “In the Grove,” the same tale that inspired Akira Kurosawa’s landmark film Rashomon. La Chiusa updates the action to 1951, just after the U.S. premiere, yet it is still a fragmented account of greed, rape, and murder from four conflicting viewpoints. Indeed, its splintered structure is mirrored in the other two stories: “Kesa and Morito,” and “The Dragon: The Old Potter’s Tale.” LaChiusa, of course, puts his own signature on the source material, reimagining them as two prologues and two fully developed tales.
Ann Sanders is the Medium in "R Shomon," LaChiusa's modernized version of Akira Kurosawa’s "In a Grove."
Here’s the story of La Chiusa’s version, “R Shomon,” in a nutshell: An owner of a taxi service has a pretty wife. A notorious Thief sees the Wife as she emerges from a movie theater featuring Rashomon and decides he must possess her. He manages to lure the Husband and the Wife to a grove in Central Park where cash is supposedly hidden. He ties up the Husband, rapes the Wife in front of him, then murders the husband. The Wife runs away. When the trial is held, the witnesses’ testimonies all differ. Suffice it to say, the truth has many versions.
In Act II, “Kesa and Morito” rewinds to feudal Japan. Morito, Kesa’s lover, tells of their final night together: Morito has plotted to kill Kesa by strangulation, and Kesa has planned to murder Morito with a gleaming, deadly knife. The tale ends with both lovers/killers in a death-dealing embrace.
The final one-acter, Gloryday, is set in the wake of 9/11, with a Priest named Michael describing his life to his supervisor:
Yes. I’ve put on the collar again. But no . . . I’m not celebrating Mass. Not . . . yet, Monsignor. Maybe, in time? My life, now, is like . . . a sentence in which every word seems to be missing a letter.
The Monsignor fades out as various confessors question the Priest about the horror of 9/11: There’s the memory of a missing body, trapped people in stairwells, the fire. The Priest’s Aunt Monica soon materializes on the scene, an Italian spitfire and dyed-in-the wool atheist. She bluntly sings about her lack of belief in God:
The greatest practical joke
Played on the common folk
Is God.
It’s not long before the Priest himself plays a prank, spreading the rumor that a miracle will occur and the tale ends with a twist that O. Henry would approve. Besides Monica, who is dying of an unknown disease, there are strikingly unusual characters: a CPA who now sleeps on a park bench with a homeless actor and a cocaine-addicted actress who hopes that the coming miracle in Central Park will change her life for the better.
Marina Kondo performs the flirtatious Wife in a rare revival of La Chiusa's 2005 musical, See What I Wanna See, at Theatre 154. Photographs by Thomas Brunot.
The cast is full of able Broadway veterans. Marina Kondo show her range as the demonic Kesa, the flirtatious Wife, and the drug-addicted Actress. Kelvin Moon Loh as both the betrayed Husband and unstable CPA adeptly portrays two successful men who ultimately suffer terrible disillusionments. Zachary Noah Piser is truly is in his wheelhouse as the prankster Priest. Ann Sanders brings the right spiritual intensity to her Medium and a genuine hard-boiled quality to her Aunt Monica. And the resourceful Sam Simahk memorably sings the catchy anthem, “There Will be a Miracle.”
Tom Lee’s Bunraku-style puppet work includes a puppet in a pin-striped suit, embodying the dreams and doomed life of the Husband as he watches the Wife performing in the nightclub in Act I. In addition, there are the shadow puppets that appear as a chorus for the main action, adding a rich dimension to the musical.
LaChiusa has the reputation of being a recondite composer and lyricist. But See What I Wanna See is refreshingly accessible. The jazzy titular song, belted out by Kondo as the Wife, has a clarion ring; the spooky melody “You’ll Go Away With Me,” sung by Simahk’s Thief, may well send chills down your spine.
This new iteration of See What I Wanna See is a fine new addition to Off-Broadway. Under the aegis of Out of the Box Theatrics, it reminds one of the very slippery nature of truth.
The Out of the Box Theatrics’ production of John LaChiusa’s See What I Wanna See at 154 Christopher St. Evening performances are at 7 p.m. Wednesday through Friday and on Monday; matinees are at 2 p.m. on Saturday and 3 p.m. on Sunday. For tickets and more information, visit ootbtheatrics.com/see-what-i-wanna-see.
Book, Music & Lyrics: Michael John LaChiusa
Direction: Emilio Ramos
Music direction: Adam Rothenberg
Lighting: Kat C. Zhou
Sets: Emmie Finckel
Choreography: Paul McGill
Puppets: Tom Lee & Chicago Puppet Studio
Costumes: Siena Zoë Allen
Japanese translations: Marina Kondo
