Thanks to Weibo (credit as tagged), I see a lot of photos from Matsumoto Jun’s butai (stage play) with the strange title of Ah Wild Field. Did something get lost in translation? Or should there be an exclamation mark (with all due respect Jay Chou) at the end of the title = Ah Wild Field! Or should it be Ah! Wild Field…

MatsuJun plays a boxer and according to reports, he has lost 5kg during rehearsals alone.

The butai’s director, Yukio Ninagawa, also praised Matsujun for pushing himself too hard beyond his idol image.

“The reason I appoint idols to my stages is because they make the effort.”

Among the idols who have worked with Ninagawa-san are Ninomiya Kazunari, Oguri Shun and Ikuta Toma.

Ninagawa-san said MatsuJun is more hungry than regular stage actors and has asked him to train him more. To prepare for his role, MatsuJun has also been going to a boxing gym since March. Severe.

He looks like a yanki here.

(I have those geta, I prefer the flip-flops than the clogs that are usually worn by women.)

Tickets have been reportedly sold out and as a bonus to fans, I read in some tweets that MatsuJun enters from the audience in act 1 and exits to the audience too.

Koide Keisuke (Nodame Cantabile, ROOKIES, Surely Someday), who plays MatsuJun’s rival in the play, has the privilege to hit the DoS. That ain’t an easy task especially if you watch this. Even Arashi members themselves are scared of hitting Domyouji.

On opening night, there were five curtain calls.

On the second night, three curtain calls and a standing ovation.

And according to a tweet by hard-working Arashi fangirl @yamakazeo672, a fan screamed when MatsuJun entered the stage. Oops. Though I wouldn’t have been surprised if there was some flailing over this scene.

Anyway… I know that stage plays hone an actors’ ability more. The discipline is different and the pressure is greater than doing a film or drama where you can have another take. In stage plays, there are no take twos. So it’s all for the good of an actor to be trained under this intense atmosphere.

But… Jun-kun, when are you going to do another movie or drama?

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