We first heard about this tour of Japan from Lee during his chat with the Loose Women on 14 December 2010. It was billed on the promoter's website as "A special Christmas Concert of musical numbers, presented by the world-renowned maestro, Tomomi Nishimoto! From solemn Adagios to popular musical gems, performing numerous orchestral masterpieces!"The performers were announced as: "Top Stars from the musical world come to showcase their talents as special guests! The first is new sensation Lee Mead, discovered by Andrew Lloyd Webber on a BBC audition program. He has since been in high demand throughout London, and is now performing in Wicked as Fiyero. The second, Sojung Lee, was the first Korean to star on Broadway as Miss Saigon. She has also starred in several Disney musicals. The orchestra is the Sinfonietta Cracovia from Poland.
Ten dates were scheduled originally, however the final date of the tour, which was to have been at the Iwaki Performing Arts Center on Sunday 18 December, had to be cancelled due to earthquake damage to the venue. Happily it was replaced with a second Tokyo date and a further two dates were later added bringing the total to twelve - full details below.
TOUR SCHEDULE
03 Dec - Civic Cultural Centre Muse, Tokorozawa04 Dec - Suntory Hall, Minato-ku, Tokyo
05 Dec - Shunan City Bunka Centre, Yamaguchi
06 Dec - Mihara Performing Arts Centre "Popolo", Hiroshima
08 Dec - Aichi Prefectural Arts Theatre, Nagoya
09 Dec - The Symphony Hall, Osaka
10 Dec - Alpha Anabuki Hall, Kagawa
11 Dec - Minato Mirai Hall, Yokohama
13 Dec - Prefectural Hall, Iwate
15 Dec - Sapporo Concert Hall Kitara, Sapporo
17 Dec - City Cultural Hall, Aomori
18 Dec - Opera City Concert Hall, Tokyo
I have included on a separate page the full programme which was published on the promoter's website at the end of the tour.
The responses of people attending the concerts was wonderful and the Samon Promotion staff blog has also shared some thoughts and photos from the tour. Some of the photos I include below (click on any photo to access the full Gallery) but for a translation of the accompanying captions, can I point you to this great blog from noahrosso. But by far the best 'report' of the tour comes from Lee himself, in his own inimitable style, via his video blogs and photographs.
Lee's photos are included in a new gallery on his website, while the videos can be found either via Lee's website, or direct on his YouTube channel where there are one or two additional videos. Most of the vlogs were captured with the aid of his friend, Phill Tarling, and they offer a fascinating insight into life both behind the scenes and on the road. Then there is Blog 31, filmed from the wings, which captures Lee's performance of Music of the Night...
And finally, a couple of photos tweeted by Lee during the tour, which don't feature in the Japan Tour Gallery on his website ('latte art' and 'Santa!') and two gorgeous photos from Aya taken during the post-concert signing session after the final concert in Tokyo:
Lee's full concert schedule (including past appearances) can be found at - CONCERT DATESLast updated: 9 April 2017