Stage names:
Nakamura Kanzaburô XI
Nakamura Denkurô III
Nakamura Denzô II
Line number: JÛICHIDAIME (XI)
Existence: 1766 ~ 4 August 1829
Connections:
Great-great-grandfather: Nakamura Kanzaburô I
Great-grandfather: Nakamura Kankurô I
Grandfather: Nakamura Kanzaburô VI
Father: Ichikawa Yaozô II
Father-in-law: Nakamura Kanzaburô VIII
Sons: Nakamura Kanzaburô XII, Nakamura Katsujûrô II
Son-in-law: Nakamura Denkurô IV
Grandsons: Nakamura Kanzaburô XIII, Nakamura Jusaburô II
Great-grandson: Nakamura Akashi V (Kanzaburô XV)
Great-great-granddaughter: Nakamura Fujiko (Kanzaburô XVI)
Career:
1766: born in Edo. He is the son of Ichikawa Yaozô II.
1773: he receives the name of Nakamura Denzô II.
June 1777: Nakamura Denzô II takes the name of Nakamura Denkurô III.
July 1777: his father Ichikawa Yaozô II dies.
November 1777: Nakamura Kanzaburô VIII dies.
July 1785: Nakamura Kanzaburô IX dies.
April 1787: Nakamura Kanzaburô X, who became zamoto in June 1786, runs away because of the Nakamuraza debt; Denkurô gets married with Okiku, the daughter of late Nakamura Kanzaburô VIII, takes the name of Nakamura Kanzaburô XI and becomes the new manager of a theater in turmoil.
Fall 1793: the debt-burden Nakamuraza goes bankrupt; Kanzaburô gives the license for Kabuki performances to the Miyakoza, his hikae yagura.
November 1797: the Nakamuraza reopens.
August 1799: his son-in-law Nakamura Denkurô IV dies.
4 November 1802: a fire breaks out in Edo in the district of Naniwa-chô and destroys the Nakamuraza.
13 November 1806: a fire breaks out from the shop of the hair-dresser Tomokurô in the district of Nihombashi Fukiya-chô. It spreads and burns the Nakamuraza to ashes, killing many members of the audience.
1 January 1809: a fire breaks out in the district of Nihombashi Sanai-chô and destroys the Nakamuraza.
May 1810: Nakamura Kanzaburô X dies.
29 November 1813: a fire breaks out in the district of Takasago-chô and destroys the Nakamuraza.
12 January 1817: a fire breaks out in the district of Norimono-chô and destroys the Nakamuraza.
July 1825: premiere at the Nakamuraza of Tsuruya Namboku IV's ghost play "Tôkaidô Yotsuya Kaidan" [casting]; the performance is a big comercial success.
8 December 1825: a fire breaks out in the puppet theater Yûkiza, district of Fukiya-chô, and destroys the Nakamuraza.
3 January 1827: a fire breaks out from the third floor of the Ichimuraza and destroys the Nakamuraza.
21 March 1829: a fire breaks out from the shop of Owariya Tokuemon, in the district of Kanda Sakuma-chô. It spreads and destroys the Nakamuraza.
4 August 1829: Kanzaburô dies.
Comments:
Nakamura Kanzaburô XI was an actor up to 1787 and became the zamoto of the Nakamuraza. He managed his theater for 38 seasons but often had hard times to keep the Nakamuraza up and running because of the heavy burden of the theater debts and several fires, which burnt his theater to ashes. He had to close his business from Fall 1793 to Fall 1797.
Nakamura Denkurô III in a print made by Utagawa Toyokuni III (1862~1863)
The Nakamura Kanzaburô line of actors and theater managers