The musical "Bagdad Cafe" stars Mari Hanazawa and brings the classic film back to life on stage

Musical on November 2, 2025Baghdad Cafehas opened at Theater Crea in Tokyo.
The original work of this work is the movie "Bagdad Cafe" made in 1987. It was released in Japan in 1989 and became a hot topic.
For this Japanese premiere, the music will be composed by Bob Telson, just like in the film, and the cast will include talented actors such as Mari Hanafusa, Kimiko Mori, Ryosei Konishi, and Ryo Matsuda.
This time, I participated in a press conference and dress rehearsal held on November 1st prior to the opening.

■Press conference

Q: I'd like you to tell us the points you want people to pay attention to.

Hanaso: Jasmine will be performing several types of magic, so I hope you will pay attention to that.

Mori: The magic will be performed towards the end, so you won't be able to see it unless you watch until the end!

Q: What are your thoughts on singing the songs from "Bagdad Cafe"?

Mori: I sing a wide range of genres, including R&B, and there are parts where I sing in a growling voice and do fake vocals.
After all, "Bagdad Cafe" has a wonderful masterpiece called "Calling You," which is the most difficult part. (Hanaso and I) were sitting next to each other during rehearsals, and we were both struggling with this the whole time. (Hanaso and I) will also be singing in harmony, so I hope everyone will enjoy listening to it.

Q: What do you think is attractive about Hanaso-san and Mori-san?

Koyama: There are too many to list, but one thing they both have in common is that, despite being frontrunners in musicals, they never give up on the hard work and are always willing to take on new challenges, like magic, which I find truly admirable. Another thing is that Brenda, played by Mori, runs a cafe by herself in the desert. A strong, positive, and energetic Brenda, she is a Brenda that only Mori could play, and Jasmine, played by Hanaso, is a stranger in the desert who is strange to everyone in town, but for some reason she is increasingly captivated by Jasmine's charm, and everyone's feelings about her change. This character is just like Hanaso, and she was that way even in the rehearsal room.

Q: This is your first time acting together, Hanaso-san and Mori-san. Have your impressions of each other changed since you first met and through rehearsals?

Hanaso: I've loved you ever since the first time I met you!

Mori: Me too! When I saw the musical "Elisabeth," I thought, "The real Elisabeth is here!?" Hanaso's performance as Elisabeth was so amazing...

Hanaso: We've had many conversations since we started rehearsing "Bagdad Cafe."

Mori: We talked a lot, and we had a "rice ball time" during practice, and I always made tamagoyaki for that.

Hanaso: That's right. Even though (Mori) Kumiko is busy, she always makes tamagoyaki for all the cast and staff! When we're in the rehearsal room, we sit next to each other so we can talk about all sorts of things, but once the show starts and we're in the dressing room...

Mori-san: We would have been separated. It would have been better if we were together.

Hanaso: (To Mori) I said, "I'll come over and play."

Q: What was the most difficult part?

Mori: The amount of dialogue and singing was incredible... I thought maybe they would adjust the amount, but it was all the same, so I had to rush to memorize it all in my head, which was quite a challenge.

Hanaso: It was the first time I tried speaking German. It's a southern dialect, and it's difficult to act if you're conscious of that. We practiced a lot, and on the last day of practice, our German teacher came, but he said, "I don't understand what you're saying" (laughs). As you practice more, you start to speak in your own style, little by little, rather than the things you were taught at the beginning...it's quite difficult.

Q: Finally, please give us a closing speech one by one.

Koyama: Both of you mentioned some highlights earlier, but it's a really fun film with lots to see, so I hope that many people will watch it and enjoy it.

Mori: It's a fun musical, a comedy, and it also has some mysterious elements, so I think there are a lot of issues that will make you think, but I think the most important thing is that everyone enjoys watching it, so I hope you will come to the theater.

Hanaso: The song "Friends" appears in the play many times in reprises. It's a truly wonderful piece that will make everyone who watches it feel that "friends are great" and that the bonds between people are real. There's a lot of magic in it, and I think it's a piece that will leave you feeling happy in your heart, so I hope everyone will come and see it.

Interviewed by Student Newspaper Online on July 1, 2025 by Yurie Watanabe, second-year student at Josai International University

A heartwarming desert musical! Your body and mind will be orange - A student's theater report

This was the first time that Mari Hanazawa (Jasmine), known for her outstanding performances in numerous musicals, including Elisabeth in "Elisabeth" and Marie Antoinette in "Marie Antoinette," and Kimiko Mori (Brenda), known for her roles as Deloris in "Sister Act" and Madame Thenardier in "Les Misérables," performed together. Not only did they have to memorize a large number of lines and acting roles, but this production, packed with new languages ​​and magic tricks, also strengthened the bond between the two. Hanazawa's vibrant and straightforward singing voice and Mori's deep voice, reverberating throughout the venue, were truly one-of-a-kind. Director Koyama's attention to detail was also evident in every production, from the cheerful music reminiscent of the American West to the melancholic desert night and the sometimes fragile human hearts. It was a truly captivating musical, and we, the audience, were enthralled, as if under a spell.
(Zhang Yina, second-year student at Sophia University)

As soon as the curtain opened, I noticed that the atmosphere instantly brightened up just by Kumiko Mori's presence. I felt that the whole stage was enlivened by her presence and energy.
Jasmine, played by Mari Hanazawa, is not calculated or artificial, but rather natural and has a mysterious charm that draws the people around her in. She is a type of person that is hard to find in real life, but Hanazawa's acting made her seem like a real person, without any sense of incongruity, which was very impressive.
There are several magic scenes in the second half of the play, but even when I watched closely I couldn't figure out the tricks at all, and I was very amazed at Hanaso's hard work and accumulated practice.
Furthermore, because Mori-san and Hanaso-san are both veterans in the musical world, I was captivated by their deep acting, which included sad scenes and the expression of delicate emotions.
The presence of the two of them interacting on stage was very warm and memorable.
(Yurie Watanabe, second-year student at Josai International University)

[Outline of performance]