Dream of Takarazuka: 33 ~ Pei-san

[ekusudei]

[ Dream of Takarazuka table of contents ]

33 ~*~ Pei-san

The four years that I spent under Top Pei-san (Takashio Tomoe) were enjoyable, with many memorable performances, but I think the one where Pei-san trained me best was "The Great Detective is All Alone."

By training, I mean on stage she taught me to deal with smiling.

"The Great Detective is All Alone" is, as you know, a musical with a comedic touch, based on a novel by Akagawa Jirou of the same name.

Pei-san is naturally a comedic actress, and making the audience laugh and enjoy a comedy is her forte. However, it's not only the audience that she makes laugh, but also the other actresses. I learned a huge lesson from her because of this.

* * *

My role was a nihilistic type who was a former doctor attacked by an incurable disease who was now a member of a gang. There is a point where I join forces with the young protagonist Pei-san played to destroy the evil gang, and we appeared on stage together throughout the show. Because of this, my days of cruel trials continued.

* * *

First of all, my greatest weak point was how Pei-san's eyes invited me to smile.

How can I describe them? So much larger than anyone else's eyes, and she had this way of looking up at you that made her eyes speak more than her mouth ever could.

"Hey now, smile!" her eyes seemed to say.

Also, we'd come face to face... and although in the end I'd be able to get used to it, then we'd meet again the next time and all I'd need to do was imagine those eyes waiting and everything from my nose to my mouth would collapse.

It's a type of conditioned reflex, I suppose.

But I am NOT Pavlov's dog (Ah, I wrote something a bit advanced. The intellectualism snuck in..... Pavlov was a gentleman who used dogs to conduct experiments to learn the truth about conditioned reflexes. Or so I remember from science class.....), I'm a wonderful stage performer.

So I can't just go carelessly smiling every time.

Which is how I learned the technique of evading eyes.

I can't help it, if I see her, or if my imagination gets away from me. I have to obey the laws of nature.

In other words, I will definitely and clearly smile.

So I learned the splendid trick of looking towards the back for a second, getting it over with, getting my face back under control, and turning back to the front.

Even now I use this trick when there's a time on stage that I can't resist smiling. Acting tricks are a life-saver.

* * *

Also, Pei-san's head is a treasure chest of gags and adlibs.

An ordinary person like me could never coolly come up with the whoppers she does.

Who could come up with radio calisthenics in the middle of a gang fight?

Pei-san could both come up with the idea and make it happen.

Takashio Tomoe is an amazing person.

If anyone else were to suddenly begin radio calisthenics, you'd think it was silly and wonder what was going on and draw back, but when Pei-san does it, in the middle of a gun fight, you agree that her character is probably just the type of person who would do radio calisthenics.

Watching Pei-san coolly doing her radio calisthenics, the audience laughed hard, and the rest of us up on stage couldn't do anything but endure the stomach shaking and smiles we held in.