How 'Memoirs of Amorous Gentlemen' musicalizes a story of artistic agency

The first American, English-language manga musical, adapted from Moyoco Anno’s graphic novel, features one of the last new scores by the late Duncan Sheik.

Summary

• The Memoirs of Amorous Gentlemen musical is adapted from the manga about a brothel worker who finds empowerment through writing
• It is one of the last shows with a score by Duncan Sheik (Spring Awakening), who died in September
• Book writer Leah Nanako Winkler, director/choreographer Rob Ashford, and Sophia Anne Caruso discuss their collaboration with each other and Sheik to tell a story of a woman's artistic agency and healing

“It’s an honor to sing these songs every night for him and see out his dream of making this production happen,” reflected actress Sophia Anne Caruso. She was speaking about the late Duncan Sheik, whose songs provide the emotional backbone for the new Off-Broadway musical Memoirs of Amorous Gentlemen.

For a theatre community still mourning the Grammy-nominated and Tony-winning Spring Awakening composer, who died suddenly at age 56 in September, Memoirs is both a celebration of his legacy and an ambitious new theatrical experience. The show is currently playing at the bespoke venue The Night Egg, a newly redesigned space within the former home of the long-running Sleep No More.

Memoirs is based on the graphic novel by Moyoco Anno, marking the first time a Japanese manga has been adapted into an English-language American musical. Set in 20th-century Paris, the story follows Colette (Caruso), a witty young dreamer working at a covert maison close, or brothel. Portrayed by Caruso (Broadway’s Beetlejuice), Colette finds her power by chronicling the private sorrows and fantasies of her eccentric clients. Through her writing, she slowly transforms from an object into an empowered observer.

Caruso, alongside the creative team, helped him shape the material. “Duncan and I worked together for over a decade,” the actress said. “So this isn’t the first thing we developed. We wrote songs together, and we were really good friends.”

The musical’s book is adapted by Leah Nanako Winkler (the in-development Crazy Rich Asians musical), with direction and choreography by Tony Award winner Rob Ashford (Thoroughly Modern Millie, The Wedding Singer). Winkler called Sheik a “genius” when reflecting on her time with the composer, and she noted that his music drives each moment when Colette writes.

Ashford echoed that the psychologically rich compositions uniquely suit the evocative source material: “The songs aren’t like book songs that we’re used to,” Ashford said. “They’re very emotional and wide-ranging. They allow you to use your own imagination inside the music.”

As Sheik’s songs underscores Colette’s moments of creation, Caruso uses the venue's unique in-the-round layout, with audiences on all sides of the Night Egg, to embody Colette’s shift in perspective. “There’s a ring that goes around the stage, and the more I become an observer, the more I utilize that space,” she said. “When I’m pacing around in the ring, writing, I think of that as my observation time.”

Winkler, who grew up in Japan and Kentucky reading manga, noted that Anno frequently centers controversial or unlikable women, which inspired her and Sheik's Memoirs adaptation. Colette’s story also involves a destructive attachment to her childhood love, Léon (Cory Jeacoma), but that's not the company's main focus. “This is not a love story,” Winkler said. “It is a story about a woman finding her artistic agency and the power within to heal herself.

“I thought that kind of story of female ambition would resonate a lot with New Yorkers, especially those who came from nothing and moved here to pursue their own ambitions,” she added. Ashford echoed that anyone can take away a key theme from Colette's story: "Those things in your life that you think can destroy you," he said, "can actually be the things that save you."

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Photo credit: Sophia Anne Caruso and the company of Memoirs of Amorous Gentlemen off Broadway. (Photos by Andy Henderson)