Jazzy Fairies/Revue of Dreams

[ekusudei]

Well, today is the last day of February. Yesterday I glanced at the calendar and knew what that meant-- it meant that I had to watch Jazzy Fairies/Revue of Dreams. After all, Jan/Feb of my Yuuhi calendar is from Revue of Dreams, and how can I rip off that page without having seen the show? (Of course, going by this logic, Revue Densetsu needs to appear at my door within the next 8 hours, or the Mizu calendar will remain frozen as well, but we'll ignore that.)

Jazzy Fairies

Sumire Stage Graph

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Err... Hankyu, what crack were you smoking? Who approved this show? I got so very, very excited during the opening dance number, and then... no more cool Irish dancing? That was it? But I'll get back to this later.

Patrick Gael (Candidate for the House of Representatives): Sena Jun
Shannon McNeil (Fairy tale author): Ayano Kanami
Walter Coughlin (Maverick gunman): Kiriya Hiromu
Timothy Callahan (Gossip writer): Ozora Yuuhi
Dan McGovern (Tammany boss): Ritsu Tomomi
Sarah Fitzgerald (Patrick's secretary): Natsukawa Yura
Oberon (King of the fairies): Kouki Subaru
Mick O'Brien (Policeman): Tsukifune Sarara
Pixie (A mischievous fairy): Hokushou Kairi
Rosie Wilcox (Chorus girl): Shirosaki Ai

Summary from the Official Hankyu English Site:
(With a few additions by yours truly.)

In 1920, in the United States of America, a publication party is being held in a luxury hotel in New York for Shannon McNeil who has made her debut as a fairy tale author. Congressional candidate Patrick Gael comes to the hotel to celebrate the start of his election campaign. An immigrant from Ireland, he has the support of influential political and business personalities including President Wilson, an Irish-American. He is said to be sure of election.

Patrick approaches Shannon who is standing alone in the hotel courtyard. While young, both of them were in a foster home in a small village in Ireland. In the courtyard, they talk about their childhood memories. The village people where they were brought up had a legend. In this legend, there was a fairy island called Suaimhneas somewhere in the Atlantic far away from Ireland, and all the villagers believed in fairies. For a while after being put into the orphanage at a very young age, Shannon would sob all the time, and it was Patrick who comforted her by telling her tales about fairies everyday. Shannon has now compiled such tales into a book. Shannon and Patrick still believe in fairies and are quite sure that fairies are also in New York. As soon as they take out the King of the Fairies' gem which they had found in the wood of the fairies in their childhood, they hear a voice coming from nowhere. The voice declares he is King Oberon of the Fairies. Seven fairies shortly appear. They have come all the way to America in search of the gem.

All of a sudden, a gun goes off. The fairies immediately disappear. Someone has shot dead one of Patrick's supporters, the New York City Police Commissioner. While the hotel guests flee in panic, Walter Coughlin approaches Patrick and Shannon. Walter was raised together with Patrick and Shannon in the same orphanage. He lets out a defiant smile and goes away leaving them behind. Shortly afterward, policeman Mick O'Brien stands before Walter who was hit and wounded by somebody. Mick was also a friend of Walter's at the orphanage. Walter becomes tense. Mick then tells him that he has come to help him. Timothy Callahan who was also brought up in the same orphanage learns about the commissioner's assassination. He is now a gossip writer who often extorts money from people in exchange for not writing about them. He decides to nose out any information with which he may use to get some money.

On the next day, Shannon visits Patrick's campaign office with Rosie. Dan McGovern, an important supporter of Patrick, enters the office soon afterward. Displeased with the office Patrick opened in a warehouse at the port, he asks Patrick in an arrogant tone to move it to somewhere more appropriate. Many immigrants set foot in America at the port from where they set off far and wide across the land. Patrick considers the port to be the starting point for immigrants. He wants to start his campaign from that same point. Patrick sticks to his choice of location of the office while McGovern insists that it should be moved to somewhere else.

At the port overlooking the Hudson, Patrick talks to Shannon of the days just after they arrived in America. Patrick, Shannon, Timothy, Walter and Mick, all five of them who were raised in the same orphanage, came over aboard the same immigrant ship and each started a new life. Patrick's dream is to become president in America where it is not entirely impossible for an Irish orphan to realize his dream. Shannon in love with Patrick since her childhood hopes his dream will come true. Soon after she wishes him success in becoming president, she abruptly falls unconscious.

Patrick carries Shannon back into her room, where she regains consciousness. He embraces her and tells her to lie quietly. Although he wants to stay with her, his office awaiting him calls with a message that he should return. He leaves her room saying that he will be back soon. Shannon realizes that he has not been honest about her health. She had not fallen unconscious from overwork. She calls out to the fairies and asks them to tell her the true name of her disease. As fairies are incapable of lying, they confess that she has leukemia. She has at maximum 12 months to live. After the shock is gone, she is determined to live her remaining life for Patrick.

After parting from McGovern, Patrick continues his campaign with his campaigners in spite of obstructions from McGovern's followers. Dan has sent the corrupt police force to trash Patrick's headquarters, but they're interrupted by Timothy and Timothy's photographer. After all, it'll make a great news headline. They slink off, chastised by a furious Mick as they go out. He learns that Shannon cannot be found anywhere. She has left and is campaigning for him in a part of town controlled by Dan, unaware that he is no longer supporting Patrick. One of Dan's workers warns Shannon, but is also so touched by her determination that he and many of his friends decide to join Patrick's supporters in the campaign office, despite the threat to their jobs. Also while in the park, Shannon meets Walter and tells him the truth about her illness and how long she has left.

As Patrick has no family, Shannon is like a sister or a part of himself. He rushes out of the office in search of her although he is at the height of his election campaign. Mick rushes in to warn him that Walter is out to kill him, but Patrick is determined to go alone to find Shannon. The others rush after him, worried about his safety. Timothy shrugs and follows, deciding to throw in his lot with his old friends.

Patrick finds Shannon in Central Park. He suggests that she should register her existence in his memory, declaring that he loves her. Walter then turns up again. He has been hired by McGovern to kill Patrick. Timothy and Mick then arrive to stop Walter from shooting Patrick. Now, the five orphans brought up in the same orphanage meet again in Central Park.

SPOILERS

Walter, knowing how long Shannon has left and terribly torn, is finally talked down by a song. All five orphans are reunited again and sing and dance with the fairies. But the extra effort on top of everything else is too much for Shannon, and she collapses. Patrick holds her and tells everyone to keep dancing, as Shannon would have wanted it that way. The remaining four orphans, however, can't bring themselves to celebrate anymore. Still, they're determined to continue on and to keep Shannon's memory alive with the things they do.

What I thought:

The plot was ridiculous, and the fairies were really, really annoying. Really annoying. The only time I liked them at all was during the scene where they admitted to Shannon that she was ill. Whoever thought up their costumes should be fired. Immediately. The dancing in the opening scene was amazing, and it was a nice long number, but that was the only traditional Irish dance number in the whole show, and I was expecting more. The songs were so-so. That ear-splitting "Omae wa sugoi!" song broke my eardrums. I did love Kanami's solo after she found out she was ill. That was lovely, actually, if depressing as hell.

That said, this is Tsukigumi, and it's impossible for them to put on a bad show. Ritsu Tomomi and Asako's scene where they find themselves at odds had me a little sniffly, where Dan admits that Patrick is the son he never had... but he's going to send a hitman after him anyway, because this is politics. Asako's character, Patrick, was disappointingly flat, as most white hats tend to be. Noble, caring, a total gentleman. Urk. Nope. The two best characters in this play were undoubtably Yuuhi's Timothy and Kiriyan's Walter. Timothy was so delightfully low, black-mailing everyone in sight, but then a total softie when it came to helping out Patrick and Shannon. And Walter was so cool and gruff, snarling at Mick even as Mick saved him from being caught and got him a doctor and lectured at him so adorably. (Oh, man, I so want Mick and Walter slash. Yep, I do.) Sarara's Mick was a cute character, and that long leather coat combined with the police cap killed me quite dead, but I wish she'd had a little more screen time. ;_; Sarara~

Revue of Dreams

YAY! This is my Tsukigumi! Asako just lights up like a light bulb when she's on stage -- her charisma is really scary, actually, it's so intense. But everyone else just soaked it up and re-radiated it and whoah! *fans self* And although princesslucia has turned me into quite the current Hanagumi fan, there's nothing like seeing "your" troupe in action, where you can pick out even the lowliest rugrats in the shadows by name. And my baby 'sienne are all grown up and leaving the nest! *sniffles over Hokushou, Ayana, and Mano* Morie (Aoki Izumo) was so cute! I just wanted to pinch her cheeks, which I always want to do.

I haven't seen such tight dancing in a Takarazuka show in a really long time. Everyone snapped their moves out in gorgeous synchronism. Which makes sense, as this was sub-billed as a "dancing revue" (is there any other kind? ;p) Anyway, color me impressed. My favorites were definitely "Dreaming of the Future" (I wish all spacemen had to wear those outfits!) and "Dreams in a Desert," but I enjoyed them all. There was so much Yuuhi love. Aaaand Sarara love! Yay! I'm so very glad that they sent off their beloved daughter (son?) with such fanfare.

Scene Expl. from English Hankyu Site:

Act 1 : Prologue
Scene 1-4 : Prologue A-D
Man of Prologue S sings the opening of the revue in front of a setting where letters on a board read REVUE OF DREAMS.
Prologue Man S (Jun Sena)
Prologue Woman S(Kanami Ayano)
Prologue Men A(Hiromu Kiriya, Yuhi Ozora, Sarara Tsukifune, Kairi Hokusho)

Act 2 : American Dream
Scene 5 : American Dream (New York)
In front of an image of the city of New York, Urban Young Man A and several dancers sing their wishes of dancing one day on grand stages.
Urban Young Man A(Hiromu Kiriya)

Scene 6 : American Dream (Show Stage)
Before a setting inspiring the streets of New York, gorgeous dance numbers roll out on such a stage as Urban Young Man A and the dancers dream of.
Urban Young Man A (Male Dancer A)(Hiromu Kiriya)
Show Girl A(Ai Shirosaki)

Act 3 : Forever Dream
Scene 7-9 : Forever Dream A-C
Feeling loved by somebody, young man Forever goes on walking forward expecting a bright future.
Forever(Jun Sena)
Love(Kanami Ayano)
Lover(Yuhi Ozora)

Act 4 : Dreaming of the Future
All the members of the Moon Troupe perform fabulous dance numbers dreaming of a bright future within a setting reminiscent of a vast universe.

Scene 10-13 : Dreaming of the Future A-D
Spaceman S(Jun Sena)
Spacewoman S(Kanami Ayano)
Spacemen A(Hiromu Kiriya, Yuhi Ozora, Sarara Tsukifune)

Act 5 : Dreams in a Desert
Scene 14 : Dreams in a Desert (Sand)
Sand Woman dances imitating sand whirling in the wind in a boundless expanse of the desert.
Sand Woman S(Kanami Ayano)

Scene 15 : Dreams in a Desert
(Travelers)
The travelers go on in the desert.
Traveler S(Jun Sena)
Sand Woman S(Kanami Ayano)

Scene 16 : Dreams in a Desert
Sand storms obstruct the travelers from time to time. They continue traveling forward fighting the forces of nature. In the course of the trip, they make a companion of nature and continue walking.
Traveler S(Jun Sena)
Sand Woman S(Kanami Ayano)

Act 6 : Finale I
Scene 17 : Finale A
Takarazuka's Rocket Boys and Rocket Girls perform a routine of precision dances.
Rocket Boy(Kaito Seijo)

Scene 18 : Finale B
Gentlewomen perform a series of dance numbers.
Gentlewoman S(Kanami Ayano)

Act 7 : Finale II
Scene 19: Finale C
Players of male roles dance in front of the grand staircase.
Gentleman S(Jun Sena)
Gentlemen A (Hiromu Kiriya, Yuhi Ozora)

Scene 20 : Finale D
Players of male roles and those of female roles dance together.
Gentlemen A(Hiromu Kiriya, Yuhi Ozora)

Scene 21 : Finale E
A gentleman and a gentlewoman dance a duet.
Gentleman of Duet(Jun Sena)
Gentlewoman of Duet(Kanami Ayano)

Act 8 : Parade
Scene 22 : Parade
Every performer marches in parade.
Gentleman of Parade S(Jun Sena)
Gentlewoman of Parade S(Kanami Ayano)
Gentlemen of Parade A(Hiromu Kiriya, Yuhi Ozora)
(And all other Perfomers)


So this is a tough call. If you're a Tsuki fan, then you need it, of course. I think the revue makes it worth it, but even the revue wasn't really spectacular -- it was the seito who gave it all the sparkle.