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ekusudeiOne highly-biased review, coming up! ;)
The Dawn at Solferino / Carnevale: A Sleeping Dream
Snow Troupe 2010
Tokyo Theater, April 11th 11:30 AM
Leads: Mizu Natsuki & Aihara Mika
[ TakaWiki ] [ Sanspo Stage Graph ]
The Dawn at Solferino
Overall I didn't care for the musical show, and I'll tell you why. I enjoy talky productions, but I enjoy them because the dialogue is snappy, and because there is some over-arching mystery or spy drama going on. I don't enjoy talky productions with stale, repetitive dialogue, where the same four characters rehash the same arguments over and over and over. There was no mystery -- there wasn't even really any worry of how the show would end, since we all know Dunant succeeds. I suppose the "growth" of Aihara's character is supposed to be where the dramatic tension is, but I found her annoying, and, again, thanks to typical Ueda-Sensei dialogue, every time she opened her mouth she was just saying the same thing again and again. Not caring at all what happened to her sucks the small seeds of engagement out of the show.
Ah, you say, but what about the villains? Well, this show was really me watching Hamako to the exclusion of anyone else whenever she was on stage, since it was my last chance to see her live, so sometimes Otozuki Kei appeared on the peripheral of my glasses. And then I kind of had to stifle my snickers because her "fierce" faces were unintentionally hilarious. So the villains were indeed entertaining!
All of that said, despite Ueda-S's weak dialogue and ability to only write lyrics for two songs per show.... I adored the basis for the story. I think it was great to have something a little different -- bloody soldiers left and right. I honestly teared up several times from the sheer atmosphere that the actresses were able to generate (usually swiftly deflated by some mediocre line, but perhaps even more of a testament to their talent because they were able to do it).
The curtains were amazing. I loved the battle-scene painting, and I loved the map of the battleground at Solferino. There were only four (maybe five?) sets, but I really loved the detail that went into them as well -- the way they lit up the "glowing embers" in the after-battle scene, the way they blew in a side breeze to gently move the hanging laundry during the farewell scenes.... The tiny little battlement in the last scene that made me think of male compensation and snort to myself was just a bonus. ;)
It's a great show for otokoyaku spotting, as the majority of them play wounded soldiers and can be found hanging, draped over sacks or hobbling around the stage in most scenes. (It also took me an embarrassingly long time to spot Seshirun -- but she wears her belt very loose. Once I realized that, I could pick her out of all of the peroxide blonds without my opera glasses.)
Natori Rei's scene was one that made me tear up... except it went on for MUCH TOO LONG with no one saying anything new, and by the end I was kind of waving her off the stage. Ueda-Sensei, how can you have these brilliant ideas and then mangle them so horribly?
Misa Noeru was very good. It wasn't her best performance, and I think her playing a drunk for comic effect was a bit of a waste of her talents, but I took it back when I realized what Ueda-Sensei had done. Honestly, I think her character has possibly the most hidden depths, and Noeru plays them well.
Mizu Natsuki was noble and hot and noble. I suppose it was flat, but I'll admit I didn't notice because I really haven't had enough chances to see her on stage in the past six years, so I kind of drink her in whenever she's on stage. The scruffy 19th-century beard scene amused me much more than it should have.
They gave Ayabuki Mao the romantic role opposite the lead musumeyaku, and her character was certainly the tormented lover. I was glad for her, for the stage time and the solo, and the long dialogue bits with Aihara. But, honestly, I was tired so I slept through most of the dialogues between them, which consisted of: "I HATE AUSTRIANS." "You should have compassion." "I HATE AUSTRIANS." "You shoould have compassion." "I HATE AUSTRIANS." etc, etc, etc.
Actually, that sums up Aihara's dialogue with everyone.
I have to admit, Mirai Yuuki's character was kind of dull. T_T I can understand why the idea of playing uncles in fat-suits for however many years doesn't appeal to her. I can understand why she might have chosen to leave. But I LOVED her last scene♥
Otozuki Kei slapped Mizu, made funny faces, and shouted "Kakka!!" at Hamako a lot.
Ayana Oto was one of the injured soldiers lost in the shuffle, as was Sagiri Seina. The upperclassman injured soldiers all had personalities, though, and were definitely positioned behind the stars so that they'd be caught in the cameras. Daigo Seshiru was often in the center♥
I think it's a show that will appeal to Yukigumi fans on account of how well Ueda-Sensei was at giving everyone stage time, and giving fair time to Yumiko in her last show.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Carnevale: A Sleeping Dream
LOVED THE REVUE SHOW!!!!
Mizu danced a lot, which made me very, very happy. Hamako sang a lot of hauntingly lovely songs, which made me ecstatic.
In fact, Hamako was on stage nearly the entire time, decorating the apron stages, so I'm afraid I missed a lot of the revue, except out of the corner of my eye. She grinned, she made faces, she passed out and collected hats and capes and, of course (being a Mask Seller), masks♥
Yumiko got a lot of love in the revue, too, which made me happy.
Sagiri Seina had a rather huge part as Arlecchino, always coming in between scenes, and always causing mischief during the scenes. The other Commedia dell'arte characters also got a lot of stage time, although they weren't so central as Chigi.
Otozuki Kei looked very nice in a tuxedo, and I liked the run-away bride scene with her and Maihane Mimi and Chigi.
I loved the lush costumes and the very mobile sets of the colonnades. I loved the music. I enjoyed the comedic touch that ran through it all. And I really enjoyed what Inaba-Sensei did with the linedance -- the upperclassmen are all frozen in poses behind them. It preserves the tradition of the linedance, but allows you to opera-glass the lovely costumes and otokoyaku in the background. ;)
Best of all? I checked the DVD/CD pages -- no music or scene cuts! Inaba-Sensei's first grade for a Grand Theater production = A+
In summary: LOVED it, want Inaba-S for Tsukigumi instead of Nakamura. *pout*
The Dawn at Solferino / Carnevale: A Sleeping DreamSnow Troupe 2010
Tokyo Theater, April 11th 11:30 AM
Leads: Mizu Natsuki & Aihara Mika
[ TakaWiki ] [ Sanspo Stage Graph ]
The Dawn at Solferino
Overall I didn't care for the musical show, and I'll tell you why. I enjoy talky productions, but I enjoy them because the dialogue is snappy, and because there is some over-arching mystery or spy drama going on. I don't enjoy talky productions with stale, repetitive dialogue, where the same four characters rehash the same arguments over and over and over. There was no mystery -- there wasn't even really any worry of how the show would end, since we all know Dunant succeeds. I suppose the "growth" of Aihara's character is supposed to be where the dramatic tension is, but I found her annoying, and, again, thanks to typical Ueda-Sensei dialogue, every time she opened her mouth she was just saying the same thing again and again. Not caring at all what happened to her sucks the small seeds of engagement out of the show.
Ah, you say, but what about the villains? Well, this show was really me watching Hamako to the exclusion of anyone else whenever she was on stage, since it was my last chance to see her live, so sometimes Otozuki Kei appeared on the peripheral of my glasses. And then I kind of had to stifle my snickers because her "fierce" faces were unintentionally hilarious. So the villains were indeed entertaining!
All of that said, despite Ueda-S's weak dialogue and ability to only write lyrics for two songs per show.... I adored the basis for the story. I think it was great to have something a little different -- bloody soldiers left and right. I honestly teared up several times from the sheer atmosphere that the actresses were able to generate (usually swiftly deflated by some mediocre line, but perhaps even more of a testament to their talent because they were able to do it).
The curtains were amazing. I loved the battle-scene painting, and I loved the map of the battleground at Solferino. There were only four (maybe five?) sets, but I really loved the detail that went into them as well -- the way they lit up the "glowing embers" in the after-battle scene, the way they blew in a side breeze to gently move the hanging laundry during the farewell scenes.... The tiny little battlement in the last scene that made me think of male compensation and snort to myself was just a bonus. ;)
It's a great show for otokoyaku spotting, as the majority of them play wounded soldiers and can be found hanging, draped over sacks or hobbling around the stage in most scenes. (It also took me an embarrassingly long time to spot Seshirun -- but she wears her belt very loose. Once I realized that, I could pick her out of all of the peroxide blonds without my opera glasses.)
Natori Rei's scene was one that made me tear up... except it went on for MUCH TOO LONG with no one saying anything new, and by the end I was kind of waving her off the stage. Ueda-Sensei, how can you have these brilliant ideas and then mangle them so horribly?
Misa Noeru was very good. It wasn't her best performance, and I think her playing a drunk for comic effect was a bit of a waste of her talents, but I took it back when I realized what Ueda-Sensei had done. Honestly, I think her character has possibly the most hidden depths, and Noeru plays them well.
Mizu Natsuki was noble and hot and noble. I suppose it was flat, but I'll admit I didn't notice because I really haven't had enough chances to see her on stage in the past six years, so I kind of drink her in whenever she's on stage. The scruffy 19th-century beard scene amused me much more than it should have.
They gave Ayabuki Mao the romantic role opposite the lead musumeyaku, and her character was certainly the tormented lover. I was glad for her, for the stage time and the solo, and the long dialogue bits with Aihara. But, honestly, I was tired so I slept through most of the dialogues between them, which consisted of: "I HATE AUSTRIANS." "You should have compassion." "I HATE AUSTRIANS." "You shoould have compassion." "I HATE AUSTRIANS." etc, etc, etc.
Actually, that sums up Aihara's dialogue with everyone.
I have to admit, Mirai Yuuki's character was kind of dull. T_T I can understand why the idea of playing uncles in fat-suits for however many years doesn't appeal to her. I can understand why she might have chosen to leave. But I LOVED her last scene♥
Otozuki Kei slapped Mizu, made funny faces, and shouted "Kakka!!" at Hamako a lot.
Ayana Oto was one of the injured soldiers lost in the shuffle, as was Sagiri Seina. The upperclassman injured soldiers all had personalities, though, and were definitely positioned behind the stars so that they'd be caught in the cameras. Daigo Seshiru was often in the center♥
I think it's a show that will appeal to Yukigumi fans on account of how well Ueda-Sensei was at giving everyone stage time, and giving fair time to Yumiko in her last show.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Carnevale: A Sleeping Dream
LOVED THE REVUE SHOW!!!!
Mizu danced a lot, which made me very, very happy. Hamako sang a lot of hauntingly lovely songs, which made me ecstatic.
In fact, Hamako was on stage nearly the entire time, decorating the apron stages, so I'm afraid I missed a lot of the revue, except out of the corner of my eye. She grinned, she made faces, she passed out and collected hats and capes and, of course (being a Mask Seller), masks♥
Yumiko got a lot of love in the revue, too, which made me happy.
Sagiri Seina had a rather huge part as Arlecchino, always coming in between scenes, and always causing mischief during the scenes. The other Commedia dell'arte characters also got a lot of stage time, although they weren't so central as Chigi.
Otozuki Kei looked very nice in a tuxedo, and I liked the run-away bride scene with her and Maihane Mimi and Chigi.
I loved the lush costumes and the very mobile sets of the colonnades. I loved the music. I enjoyed the comedic touch that ran through it all. And I really enjoyed what Inaba-Sensei did with the linedance -- the upperclassmen are all frozen in poses behind them. It preserves the tradition of the linedance, but allows you to opera-glass the lovely costumes and otokoyaku in the background. ;)
Best of all? I checked the DVD/CD pages -- no music or scene cuts! Inaba-Sensei's first grade for a Grand Theater production = A+
In summary: LOVED it, want Inaba-S for Tsukigumi instead of Nakamura. *pout*
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no subject
Date: 2010-04-17 08:20 am (UTC)I think I've perfected the art of Not Listening to Dialogue. Not so good for my Japanese learning, but oh so effective during certain Takarazuka plays. ;)
Ah, you say, but what about the villains?
What villains? ;)
Natori Rei's scene was one that made me tear up... except it went on for MUCH TOO LONG
Word. I almost started to cry, except then I got bored. :/
no subject
Date: 2010-04-17 12:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-04-17 01:36 pm (UTC)You can say this because you're very unlikely to have anyone IN the line dance that you specifically wanted to watch. I, on the other hand, am very peeved whenever they toss out an "ikinari rockette" as I like to call them. We may not make up a majority of the audience, but there are some of us who actually WANT to watch the tiny underclassmen in their biggest moment of the whole show and don't appreciate them being "on again off again" like that.
...That came out suspiciously like a rant. Sorry. >.>;;; (Icon appropriateness at 100% though.)
But yeah. Solferino was a snooze-fest but I liked the revue a lot too. :)
no subject
Date: 2010-04-17 04:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-04-18 03:51 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-04-18 02:43 pm (UTC)