His professional debut came as a member of a touring theater production for the Imagination Company, which visited schools in the Bay Area and performed short interactive plays for students. He later spent a summer studying at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. It was while taking an acting class at the University of California in Berkeley that Watanabe discovered his passion for performing, and soon after switched his major from English literature to the Dramatic Arts. Watanabe, whose career to date has been mostly on stage, was born in Los Angeles and raised in nearby Fullerton, CA. I think an Asian American actor is very lucky to play a character for whom he has great empathy in a story that is important to himself and his community." The more I learn about the experiences from the Nisei who were interned or those in the 100 th or 442 nd, the more I feel connected to my own history. "Being Japanese American, I'm very proud to have been a part of this production. Whether you can give £1 or £10, you’d be making a huge difference to our small team."I feel very connected to the stories of the men in ‘Only The Brave,'" says co-star Greg Watanabe. If you’ve enjoyed reading our site, we’d really appreciate it if you could donate to The Indiependent. This includes our ‘Writer of the Month’ awards, where we recognise the amazing work produced by our contributor team. We’re trying to raise £200 a month to help cover our operational costs. It might not bring anything really new to the genre, but if you enjoy World War stories, then you’ll probably have a good time watching this one. It’s a bit slow to get started, but it’s a lovely performance which is sure to leave you moved and entertained. Only The Brave is a good production which you will undoubtedly enjoy. These are not bad themes, let me be clear, but they’re not done in any new way here, where the focus is on the spectacle and character. There are some unique elements granted to it, through its genre, but the subject matter is rather run of the mill: sending young boys to die, how horrible it is for those they leave behind, and the difficulties faced by those having to kill each other. However, thematically, I didn’t find the show very different to other war stories that I’ve seen adapted for the stage. It’s very impressive, and adds to Only The Brave’s spectacle. I have to give a shout out to the endurance of the actors playing the soldiers who, in some scenes, have to simultaneously act, sing, dance, and do physical training all at once. Throughout the entire piece, the acting is very strong. This strand of the narrative holds a lot of the better songs, as well as some poignant imagery that draws the biggest gasps from the audience. There’s also a rather touching subplot about the friendship of two women in the french resistance, that I felt was one of the strongest elements of the play. There’s a strong theme toxic masculinity among the male characters running throughout (which I suppose is a sign of the times), but during the moments where the characters all soften and are open about their fears and doubts about the mission, you find yourself sympathising with them quite quickly. Only The Brave has songs that are fine in the moment but are really nothing special.Īside from these moments, the play does have some touching elements that I enjoyed. I found this to be less effective, and become a little silly – I’m usually a fan of musicals, so it saddens me that, in this production, there are no memorable numbers that’ll leave you humming them days later or adding to any playlists. This stylistic choice is often very effective there are certainly large showstopper numbers that are grandiose enough to capture the feeling of going off to war and the heat of battle, but they also employ a lot of sung dialogue in the first act (which lacks major events). The D-Day landings may seem a strange place to stage a musical, but this show is definitely more in line with an big-scale, operatic style musical ( Les Miserables is the obvious comparison in style, with the show even bringing in the show’s alum, Caroline Sheen and David Thaxton, who previously played Eponine and Enjolras). The show also follows the dangers faced by French resistance fighters providing intel, and the families and loved ones which the men leave behind back home. The story follows a platoon of men who are recruited for a dangerous mission to land in France, secure a bridge under enemy territory, and ensure safe transport for the Allied landings that are soon to follow. Only The Brave is set during the Second World War, just before the Allies’ D-Day landings in Normandy in 1944.
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