Casablanca
Jan. 18th, 2010 06:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ekusudeiI've managed to develop a nasty cold and get some bad news, so this isn't going to be as chirpy or as long as it would have been last night. *scowls at the world*
Casablanca
Cosmos Troupe, 2009-10
Tokyo, January 17th, 11AM performance
Leads: Ozora Yuuhi & Nono Sumika
[ TakaWiki ] [ Sumire Style Stage Graph ]
In terms of movie vs musical, no, not going to compare them much. That would be entirely stupid, as they're entirely different mediums. But the dialogue is nearly word-for-word in most of the scenes corresponding to the movie, so if you have a favorite bit of dialogue, it's probably in there. But, in terms of fairness, I have to say Casablanca has been one of my favorite movies since I was a kid. If you don't enjoy Casablanca the movie (find it too boring or whatever), you probably won't be enamored of the musical. I very much enjoyed it.
I loved what they did with the sets, and particularly with the projection sets. I'll admit, the one thing that had me very worried was that the mood would be broken by a gigantic, fake-looking airplane cylinder in the middle of the stage, and I love how they managed to avoid that. Also, the sound effects for planes going by overhead, and shadow and light affects they used for those scenes were fun as well.
So far as the added scenes in Paris go, they weren't as jarring as I thought they might be (although I really wish they could have resisted the temptation to add cancan girls). However, the way they interpreted (reinterpreted?) the characters of Rick and Laszlo bothered me, and the more I think about it now, the more it bothers me. I'll get into this more when I talk about their characters.
The chorus and full cast numbers and choreography were fun, with the unfortunate exception of the opening number, which is one of those numbers that doesn't fit either the otokoyaku chorus or the musumeyaku chorus, and so ends up sounding flat and out of tune and just plain cacophonous. I was gritting my teeth in preparation for the rest of the chorus numbers, but I ended up really enjoying them, even the Pandora's Box one in the Paris flashbacks.
Well, this is unusual, but I watched this show for the leads, really, and only the leads. And I adored them both. Ozora Yuuhi is one of those otokoyaku who manages to wrap me up in the spell to such an extent that I forget she's a she, and that she's Yuuhi, and I love her for that. Her Rick was wonderful. I know some people think she's gotten a bit type-cast in the brooding roles lately, but I think she's also gotten much better at them (I'll admit, I laughed more than anything else at her Last Party over-the-top brooding). I really do think she works more on the acting than on being otokoyaku Ozora Yuuhi at times lately, which means she isn't broadcasting bucketfuls of charisma at the audience. This can be detrimental in the Revue, because people expect it, but she's so amazing to watch!
So far as the character of Rick, he's more sarcastic defeatist than angry cynic until he finally snaps at Ilsa about how many men she's been with since she left him. The thing that bothered me about his character in the Paris flashback is that they turned him into a Pacifist. This idealist gunrunner and freedom-fighter is suddenly a pacifist trying to save everyone from themselves by keeping the guns from them. That just jars with my own vision of what people were fighting for back then, and Rick's motivations too much for me.
I loved Yuuhi together with Nono Sumika when I saw Gin-chan (I know, I know, no one else liked this show), and I've really been looking forward to seeing them together again. Sumika didn't disappoint! Hm, Angela said she thought she was too clingy, unlike Ingrid's Ilsa, but I actually thought she played the spitting image of her (which might be to her detriment or not, depending on how you view people developing their own versions of things). I'd just re-watched the movie with Haruka while she was here at New Year's, so it still felt vivid in my mind, and I thought Sumika together with Yuuhi really seemed to be bringing Bogart and Ingrid to the stage. And she was crying when she sang her duet with Yuuhi after they've reconciled♥ I have a weak spot for actresses who can cry beautifully on stage, with the tears just seeming to sparkle all the way down their cheek. Yuuhi and Sumika were in their own little world, as Rick and Ilsa should be, and I just sat there with my heart feeling like it was about to swell out of my chest after it was all over. I think I can officially say I have a new favorite top combi again, which I haven't had since Shirahane Yuri retired.
Ranju Tomu played a good Laszlo, although honestly she doesn't have a huge amount of stage time. And, sadly, Tomu is on of those folks who I just don't appreciate when she's got her hair slicked back in a regent, so there was no Tomu lust until the mini-revue, despite her lovely voice. And, well, so far as Laszlo goes... maybe this is just an image I gave him myself, and I completely missed what the movie was going for, but I saw Laszlo as much more of the pacifist when I watched the movie. A quiet, well-spoken gentleman who is essential to organizing the resistance, but wasn't a fighter. He stoically survived and escaped from a death camp, but what he was famous for was for being a leader, and for printing his underground newspapers and such. In the musical Paris flashback, he whips the Parisians into a frenzy, gets them armed, and leads them to their deaths. :/ Rick has no respect for Laszlo, as he does in the movie, until Laszlo tells him to take Ilsa and run, which is just too abrupt for my taste. On the other hand, I liked how in the musical version Laszlo has another reason for wanting to get to America, other than just to survive and continue carrying out the fight. I liked the whole "the Americans have to be convinced to join the war effort" was threaded into the storyline.
Renault was always my favorite in the movie, because I've long had a huge crush on Claude Rains. Which leads me to complain about the fat suit, not because I object to a sanbante in a fat suit, but because Claude Rains was not fat! Renault wasn't even chubby! :( Still, Hokushou Kairi made a hilarious Renault, and her eyebrows appeared to have a life of their own. I love cynics. ... And I understand why they had to do it, but to not have the show end with Rick and Renault strolling off together in the misty night-! Oh, it broke my heart a little.
There wasn't any way to get around it, without dropping the character of Sam, but the blackface is still a huge embarrassment, I think. I'm so sad that it's Ban Akira's final role in Takarazuka. :/ Her makeup was actually exceptionally well done, but I couldn't really even look at her.
Isono Chihiro's Signor Ferrari was all hers. Not much of the original left there, but an entirely different and interesting Ferrari. (I admit to a bit of sadness that he was shined up until there wasn't anything dark left of him, but such is life.)
Amou Tamaki was the perfect Ugarte, as I thought she might be! Ahahah, loved it. (OK, I alsohad have a creepy crush on Peter Lorre, leave me alone.)
Yuumi Hiro looks hot in a mustache. But I felt really bad that her only number was that Nazi one that ends with them all saluting and shouting "Heil Hitler!" because I really couldn't applaud after that. It just felt... really uncomfortable for me. (I clapped hard during the parade to make up for it.)
I was pretty disappointed with how Koike decided to turn Annina Brandel (the young wife from Belgium) into such a Takarazuka role. I always thought the young woman who played her in the original movie had a kind of ethereal, childlike naivety about her, but I'm afraid she was rather shrill and hysterical in this version. Poor Alice. :(
And, um, I'm afraid that's it. No, wait, Harukaze Misato getting smacked by drunk Junya Chitose was really funny! And there was this one young otokoyaku who was always behind Yuuhi who had the most hilariously evil eyebrows (which looked even more evil because she had these high cheekbones and skeletally thin jawline) who could not smile, not if her life depended on it. It was pretty funny watching her grimace at the cancan dancers in Paris. *grin* Julie tells me it was Tenrei Mion, but I swear it didn't look much like other pictures I've seen of her. <-- *fails*
Oh, wait, no, one more. Leather coat and an eyepatch. Makes just about anyone instantly droolable. We need more of this, please.
The mini revue reminded me a bit of the one for Legend -- the scarf-tied-around-head (cannot remember English) maroon number especially. Ah, there was the hot Tomu I was longing for! But I loved the white dinnerjacket one better, I think. Tomochin was sizzling. And then Yuuhi came out with a bunch of musumeyaku and was so very Yuuhi♥ The linedance costumes were pretty! I was a bit disappointed with the pairdance though. I'm not sure if it was an off performance or what, but it looked better in rehearsal footage I've seen. And then the etoile (who has an amazing voice and is super-young) missed the last note and I think my eardrums shattered. T_T T_T Ouch.
Final vote: If you like the movie you'll probably enjoy the musical. If you like Yuuhi, Sumika, Tomu, or Micchan you'll probably enjoy the musical. If great set designs make you drool, you'll probably enjoy that, at least.
Casablanca Cosmos Troupe, 2009-10
Tokyo, January 17th, 11AM performance
Leads: Ozora Yuuhi & Nono Sumika
[ TakaWiki ] [ Sumire Style Stage Graph ]
In terms of movie vs musical, no, not going to compare them much. That would be entirely stupid, as they're entirely different mediums. But the dialogue is nearly word-for-word in most of the scenes corresponding to the movie, so if you have a favorite bit of dialogue, it's probably in there. But, in terms of fairness, I have to say Casablanca has been one of my favorite movies since I was a kid. If you don't enjoy Casablanca the movie (find it too boring or whatever), you probably won't be enamored of the musical. I very much enjoyed it.
I loved what they did with the sets, and particularly with the projection sets. I'll admit, the one thing that had me very worried was that the mood would be broken by a gigantic, fake-looking airplane cylinder in the middle of the stage, and I love how they managed to avoid that. Also, the sound effects for planes going by overhead, and shadow and light affects they used for those scenes were fun as well.
So far as the added scenes in Paris go, they weren't as jarring as I thought they might be (although I really wish they could have resisted the temptation to add cancan girls). However, the way they interpreted (reinterpreted?) the characters of Rick and Laszlo bothered me, and the more I think about it now, the more it bothers me. I'll get into this more when I talk about their characters.
The chorus and full cast numbers and choreography were fun, with the unfortunate exception of the opening number, which is one of those numbers that doesn't fit either the otokoyaku chorus or the musumeyaku chorus, and so ends up sounding flat and out of tune and just plain cacophonous. I was gritting my teeth in preparation for the rest of the chorus numbers, but I ended up really enjoying them, even the Pandora's Box one in the Paris flashbacks.
Well, this is unusual, but I watched this show for the leads, really, and only the leads. And I adored them both. Ozora Yuuhi is one of those otokoyaku who manages to wrap me up in the spell to such an extent that I forget she's a she, and that she's Yuuhi, and I love her for that. Her Rick was wonderful. I know some people think she's gotten a bit type-cast in the brooding roles lately, but I think she's also gotten much better at them (I'll admit, I laughed more than anything else at her Last Party over-the-top brooding). I really do think she works more on the acting than on being otokoyaku Ozora Yuuhi at times lately, which means she isn't broadcasting bucketfuls of charisma at the audience. This can be detrimental in the Revue, because people expect it, but she's so amazing to watch!
So far as the character of Rick, he's more sarcastic defeatist than angry cynic until he finally snaps at Ilsa about how many men she's been with since she left him. The thing that bothered me about his character in the Paris flashback is that they turned him into a Pacifist. This idealist gunrunner and freedom-fighter is suddenly a pacifist trying to save everyone from themselves by keeping the guns from them. That just jars with my own vision of what people were fighting for back then, and Rick's motivations too much for me.
I loved Yuuhi together with Nono Sumika when I saw Gin-chan (I know, I know, no one else liked this show), and I've really been looking forward to seeing them together again. Sumika didn't disappoint! Hm, Angela said she thought she was too clingy, unlike Ingrid's Ilsa, but I actually thought she played the spitting image of her (which might be to her detriment or not, depending on how you view people developing their own versions of things). I'd just re-watched the movie with Haruka while she was here at New Year's, so it still felt vivid in my mind, and I thought Sumika together with Yuuhi really seemed to be bringing Bogart and Ingrid to the stage. And she was crying when she sang her duet with Yuuhi after they've reconciled♥ I have a weak spot for actresses who can cry beautifully on stage, with the tears just seeming to sparkle all the way down their cheek. Yuuhi and Sumika were in their own little world, as Rick and Ilsa should be, and I just sat there with my heart feeling like it was about to swell out of my chest after it was all over. I think I can officially say I have a new favorite top combi again, which I haven't had since Shirahane Yuri retired.
Ranju Tomu played a good Laszlo, although honestly she doesn't have a huge amount of stage time. And, sadly, Tomu is on of those folks who I just don't appreciate when she's got her hair slicked back in a regent, so there was no Tomu lust until the mini-revue, despite her lovely voice. And, well, so far as Laszlo goes... maybe this is just an image I gave him myself, and I completely missed what the movie was going for, but I saw Laszlo as much more of the pacifist when I watched the movie. A quiet, well-spoken gentleman who is essential to organizing the resistance, but wasn't a fighter. He stoically survived and escaped from a death camp, but what he was famous for was for being a leader, and for printing his underground newspapers and such. In the musical Paris flashback, he whips the Parisians into a frenzy, gets them armed, and leads them to their deaths. :/ Rick has no respect for Laszlo, as he does in the movie, until Laszlo tells him to take Ilsa and run, which is just too abrupt for my taste. On the other hand, I liked how in the musical version Laszlo has another reason for wanting to get to America, other than just to survive and continue carrying out the fight. I liked the whole "the Americans have to be convinced to join the war effort" was threaded into the storyline.
Renault was always my favorite in the movie, because I've long had a huge crush on Claude Rains. Which leads me to complain about the fat suit, not because I object to a sanbante in a fat suit, but because Claude Rains was not fat! Renault wasn't even chubby! :( Still, Hokushou Kairi made a hilarious Renault, and her eyebrows appeared to have a life of their own. I love cynics. ... And I understand why they had to do it, but to not have the show end with Rick and Renault strolling off together in the misty night-! Oh, it broke my heart a little.
There wasn't any way to get around it, without dropping the character of Sam, but the blackface is still a huge embarrassment, I think. I'm so sad that it's Ban Akira's final role in Takarazuka. :/ Her makeup was actually exceptionally well done, but I couldn't really even look at her.
Isono Chihiro's Signor Ferrari was all hers. Not much of the original left there, but an entirely different and interesting Ferrari. (I admit to a bit of sadness that he was shined up until there wasn't anything dark left of him, but such is life.)
Amou Tamaki was the perfect Ugarte, as I thought she might be! Ahahah, loved it. (OK, I also
Yuumi Hiro looks hot in a mustache. But I felt really bad that her only number was that Nazi one that ends with them all saluting and shouting "Heil Hitler!" because I really couldn't applaud after that. It just felt... really uncomfortable for me. (I clapped hard during the parade to make up for it.)
I was pretty disappointed with how Koike decided to turn Annina Brandel (the young wife from Belgium) into such a Takarazuka role. I always thought the young woman who played her in the original movie had a kind of ethereal, childlike naivety about her, but I'm afraid she was rather shrill and hysterical in this version. Poor Alice. :(
And, um, I'm afraid that's it. No, wait, Harukaze Misato getting smacked by drunk Junya Chitose was really funny! And there was this one young otokoyaku who was always behind Yuuhi who had the most hilariously evil eyebrows (which looked even more evil because she had these high cheekbones and skeletally thin jawline) who could not smile, not if her life depended on it. It was pretty funny watching her grimace at the cancan dancers in Paris. *grin* Julie tells me it was Tenrei Mion, but I swear it didn't look much like other pictures I've seen of her. <-- *fails*
Oh, wait, no, one more. Leather coat and an eyepatch. Makes just about anyone instantly droolable. We need more of this, please.
The mini revue reminded me a bit of the one for Legend -- the scarf-tied-around-head (cannot remember English) maroon number especially. Ah, there was the hot Tomu I was longing for! But I loved the white dinnerjacket one better, I think. Tomochin was sizzling. And then Yuuhi came out with a bunch of musumeyaku and was so very Yuuhi♥ The linedance costumes were pretty! I was a bit disappointed with the pairdance though. I'm not sure if it was an off performance or what, but it looked better in rehearsal footage I've seen. And then the etoile (who has an amazing voice and is super-young) missed the last note and I think my eardrums shattered. T_T T_T Ouch.
Final vote: If you like the movie you'll probably enjoy the musical. If you like Yuuhi, Sumika, Tomu, or Micchan you'll probably enjoy the musical. If great set designs make you drool, you'll probably enjoy that, at least.
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