"My Neighbor Totoro" Stage adaptation to be staged by RSC; Tom Morton-Smith adapting script to English
Posted: 5/21/22 at 12:10am
I hope that this encourages Frank Wildhorn to get his two anime musicals staged in the West; they’re written in English and then translated to Japanese for the market that commissioned them.
Posted: 7/17/23 at 5:48pm
KevinKlawitter said: "Full cast announced"
Looks like this got fantastic reviews and is set to return to London later this year. Did anyone see it?
Posted: 4/23/24 at 11:11pm
I’ve rarely been as bored in my life as I was watching this.
Posted: 4/23/24 at 11:15pm
Jordan Catalano said: "I’ve rarely been as bored in my life as I was watching this."
Just curious if you know the original film and, if so, how it compares. I love the movie so much that I so hope the play would win me over.
Posted: 4/23/24 at 11:15pm
Having not seen the film, I went in blind and whilst the puppetry was well done, I couldnt abide the rest of it and left at the interval. It was SO slow. That first half was longer than the original film was. The GL seems a very small stage considering the size of it at the Barbican
Posted: 4/23/24 at 11:19pm
I don’t know the film. In the shows defense, kids were mesmerized (for a lot of it) and adults, too. But a common criticism I heard was that it is entirely too long at around 2:45, I believe. It just goes on and on and on and on…
Posted: 4/24/24 at 8:24am
The stage show is available to watch on (HBO) Max. I’m assuming it’s the same production?
Posted: 4/24/24 at 8:43am
TheQuibbler said: "The stage show is available to watch on (HBO) Max. I’m assuming it’s the same production?"
I believe you are mistaken - the proshot of Spirited Away: Live on Stage is streaming on Max (I have it on Blu-Ray... been meaning to watch it). As far as I know, Totoro hasn't been filmed yet.
Posted: 4/24/24 at 8:48am
Jordan Catalano said: "I don’t know the film. In the shows defense, kids were mesmerized (for a lot of it) and adults, too. But a common criticism I heard was that it is entirely too long at around 2:45, I believe. It just goes on and on and on and on…"
The film is only 86 minutes, which helps (the film itself is also slow but not in a bad way, it’s more slice of life and dreamy) - I’m surprised they added over an hour of runtime.
Posted: 4/24/24 at 9:30am
KevinKlawitter said: "TheQuibbler said: "The stage show is available to watch on (HBO) Max. I’m assuming it’s the same production?"
I believe you are mistaken - the proshot ofSpirited Away: Live on Stageis streaming on Max (I have it on Blu-Ray... been meaning to watch it). As far as I know,Totoro hasn't been filmed yet."
Yes, thank you! I recently watched all of Miyazaki’s films in short succession so I got my Ghiblis mixed up.
Posted: 4/24/24 at 9:55am
Kad said: "Jordan Catalano said: "I don’t know the film. In the shows defense, kids were mesmerized (for a lot of it) and adults, too. But a common criticism I heard was that it is entirely too long at around 2:45, I believe. It just goes on and on and on and on…"
The film is only 86 minutes, which helps (the film itself is also slow but not in a bad way, it’s more slice of life and dreamy) - I’m surprised they added over an hour of runtime."
And I think I said right after that if this were 90 mins straight through, I probably would have really enjoyed it. But as it was it was like watching paint dry.
Posted: 4/24/24 at 2:34pm
I also found it a little boring and won’t be returning to see it. Between War Horse, Life of Pi, King Kong, Totoro, the clips I’ve seen of the ITW revival (or even the UK Terry G production I did see with the giant baby as the giant) think the novelty of this kind of stage craft is starting to wear thin for me.
Updated On: 4/24/24 at 02:34 PM
Posted: 10/23/25 at 3:48pm
'My Neighbor Totoro' Extends London West End Run, Unveils New Imagery
https://variety.com/2025/theater/news/my-neighbor-totoro-extends-london-west-end-run-new-imagery-1236559484/
Posted: 10/24/25 at 10:04am
binau said: "Between War Horse, Life of Pi, King Kong, Totoro, the clips I’ve seen of the ITW revival (or even the UK Terry G production I did see with the giant baby as the giant)think the novelty of this kind of stage craft is starting to wear thin for me."
You mean… puppetry? The literally millennia-old artform of puppetry?
