hsjhoshi | Inoue Mizuki - J Movie Magazine

I saw myself in the role of a dream chaser.

The highly acclaimed British musical 'Loserville' is to be staged for the first time in Japan.
The production follows a high school student living in the town of 'Loserville', which gets its name from the word 'underdog', as he works hard to fulfil his dreams. We interviewed Inoue Mizuki, who will be playing the main character Michael Dork. He is usually active as the leader of HiHi Jets, a unit within Johnny's Jr. but made his acting debut at the age of 10. Inoue has steadily built up his experience, with his first starring role in a film due to be released this year, and is now just looking forward to performing. We asked Inoue about his thoughts as he prepares to take on the challenge of starring in a musical.

I want to make the audience feel cheerful and happy.

How is the preparation for the musical 'Loserville' going?

I had a short singing lesson the other day. Tomorrow I will have another singing rehearsal. I like singing and I enjoy it, but I haven't been taking vocal lessons regularly. So I feel that I am spending time in a meaningful way now.

Do you sing differently in the musical compared to the songs you normally sing?

The truth is, I like singing, but I don't know much about it. So I can't tell the difference in the way I sing (laughs). From a professional's point of view, I think I'm probably too inexperienced, so I'd like to try to sing according to my trainer's advice first.

That kind of responsiveness is outstanding, isn't it?

Not at all... (laughs). I just want to approach the songs with an upfront attitude. I usually sing ballads in Johnny's theatre performances, but this time we are using songs from the debut album of the rock band Son of Dork, so there are a lot of pop-rock tunes. So it's very new for me to 'sing in a lively way'. Even in the short amount of time I spent in the lessons, I had new sensations and realisations. For example, when I sing, I'm told I use embellishments a lot, but I've never really thought about that. Although it is true that when I played karaoke, which has a scoring function, I thought I was getting marked for embellishing a lot (laughs). But I didn't really know what embellishing was, and that's where I learned it from. The trainer advised me to consciously create a place where I could put my embellishments. According to my trainer, sometimes it's better to put my embellishments in because it makes me more emotional, and sometimes it's better not to put my embellishments in because it makes it harder to hear what is being communicated. So I think that if I can learn to control my embellishments, my singing ability will improve.

When you read the script, what kind of young man did you feel Michael Dork, who you play, was?

I thought he was a very human young man. He can be timid or bold when it comes to the events in the story. He is a lovable character with many sides to him. Michael is also a high school student and a computer otaku who is working on the development of a new technology that had not been adopted by the world at the time. He loves what he does, no matter how people look at him! I thought it was cool and manly of him to follow through with his feelings. It's still early in the rehearsal period, but I keep thinking about the audience. Of course, I'm happy with all the feedback I get, but what I want to be conscious of when I play Michael is that I want to play Michael in such a way that when you leave the theatre, you leave with a positive, happy and joyful feeling.

That's wonderful. In the British version, where the first performance took place, there seemed to be quite a bit of dancing. Will you also be dancing?

I hear there is! I asked the staff about it and they said there was a lot of dancing. I just found out about it now myself... (laughs).

The show is packed with all your favourite things: singing, dancing and acting, right?

Yes, it is. But I'm constantly anxious. Above everything else, it's my first time performing in a stage production or musical outside of Johnny's, so I'm desperate to absorb as many things as I can from everyone involved.

What are you most anxious about, by the way?

Communication. I'm aware that my communication skills are lacking (laughs), so it's reassuring to be playing best friends with another Johnny's Jr member, 7 MEN Samurai's Motodaka Katsuki. However, I don't go out together with Motodaka. We usually just say hello to each other. Plus, we both have members in our groups who take the initiative to talk to each other. So, like me, Motodaka doesn't seem to be the type to initiate conversation, but now that we are working together, I hope we can help each other through friendly rivalry. I hope that this show will be an opportunity for people to get to know me and my group better. I'm sure there will be people who will come to see the show who don't know that I'm a member of an idol group that uses roller skates as a speciality.

I am now looking forward to the musical. By the way, you were very active over the New Year holidays as well.

On New Year's Eve, I performed in "Johnny's Countdown 2022 to 2023" at Tokyo Dome, and on New Year's Day, "JOHNNYS World Next Stage" started at the Imperial Theatre in Tokyo. The current production is directed by Higashiyama Noriyuki, Domoto Koichi and Inohara Yoshihiko, and I think it is a completely different production from the previous ones. In the process, every time the curtain rises, I am keenly aware that it is not an easy performance to deliver. I think it's the same with this production of Loserville, and I'd like to take care of my health and overcome the pressure of being on stage, while at the same time savouring the joy of performing. In any case, I will do my best to live up to your expectations, so please come to the theatre if you have the chance!