Takarazuka Journal

Mame has had another baby! :D This time it's a little boy they decided to name 'Aiku.' (Good thing her husband is well-known; since she decided to put her blog on pause while taking care of her family, I never would have heard the news otherwise. *grin*)

I'm not here! Just posting to saaaaaaay:

MAME HAD HER BABY GIRL THIS MORNING!

On Halloween, two days after the predicted birthdate. She is very pleased about the Halloween birthday♥ And all I can think is.... Two years ago it was Halloween and I was at her last Tea Party.

Wow, time flies.


PS -- Right, right, I forgot to mention. She married Myuji, whom you might possibly remember blew me away when I saw him in Jubilee two summers ago. When she mentioned that in passing a few journal entries ago, I was kinda like: 0_o !!!! Yay!

She also posted an off-stage photo in her blog the other day.


AND!

Another show scheduled for this summer (after "Stepping Out" in the spring). She's going to be in "Victor/Victoria", along with Kashi and Yumiko and a few other OGs. I have to admit I'm not thrilled about Kashi in the lead for this, because she doesn't fit my mental image at all, but... Well, for Hinata San I'll go see it. ;)

Mame has announced her next job!
She's going to be in a musical about tap dancing. :3

"Stepping Out"

Best part? The theater's in Kita-Senju. *g*


Her role is Dorothy, and from the small bits of info I can glean from the internet, she's a "naive but sincere housewife". XD

Oh, look, I'm skipping ahead because this is even less likely to all stay in my head than other things. ;)

Broadway Musical Live 2010
New National Theater, Tokyo
Nov. 14th

Cast (* = Takarazuka OG)

Male Singers	Female Singers	Chorus
Ishii Kazutaka Oka Kojiro Konishi Ryosei Sakamoto Kenji Toi Katsumi	Ayano Kanami * Shijo Rui * Shizuki Asato * Doi Yuko Hosaka Chizu	Ishii Masato Kojima Ryota Tamura Yuichi Yokozawa Kenji Sahane Yuna * Shuto Moemi Hinata San * Honda Ikuyo Makise Kai * Mizuki Mai * Yamada Yumiko

It was basically two and a half hours of non-stop, amazing singing, with a small fifteen minute intermission in the middle. It wasn't really advertised at all, despite the OGs in the cast, which is kind of unusual (usually they have fliers to former top star's OG things in the Tokyo Theater). I wouldn't have known about it if M hadn't posted about it. Originally it was scheduled for only one performance, but they added a second at 6:30, so I guess it must have sold out fairly quickly. To be quite honest, I think Kanamin basically blew everyone else out of the water, although Ruirui amazed me in being nearly as strong. I fell more than a bit in love with Sakamoto Kenji and Oka Kojiro.

There were only two disappointments. One was that in the tentative program they had posted online, they said someone would sing "Stars" (Les Mis), which I adore, but that got changed. The other I'll get to in its own time.

( I spent three hours on this. Why? XD )


Oh, yes, and there were a ton of OGs in the audience, to judge from all their blog posts, but I'm afraid the only person I spotted was a young Hanagumi otokoyaku and I'm still not sure who she was, other than that the Hanagumi fan ladies I was with recognized her and ran over to talk to her. (I spotted her as looking very much like an otokoyaku before they took off, but wasn't 100% sure.)

...I keep remembering things to add. Despite the disappointing performance, I still bought Zunko ♥senjafuda♥. I've never seen an OG selling senjafuda before. They're from Diana. Which reminds me that Wataru sent, like, three enormous bouquets. One to Zunko, one to one of the male actors (though I can't remember now which), and one to .... now I can't remember if it was Kanamin or Ruirui. Oops.

I've been remiss in sharing the Mame squee, and she's been filling her journal with all kinds of awesome this summer.

[Begin slightly creepy report?]

After Jubilee finished she went to her parents home to Osaka for the summer, and spent all her free time playing some computer fishing game and posting unflattering pictures of her family on her blog. XD

Then she went to cheer on the daughter of one of her supporters, who was having a recital, and posted the cutest Tanabata photo. (Being from Kansai, she was surprised to learn that some parts of Japan celebrate it in August, rather than July.)

Then she went to see Blue Man Group, which she had seen ten years or so ago during a trip abroad, but never in Japan, and has a photo of herself being hugged by a Blue Man. *grin*

Then back to Osaka, (managing to miss her train by going to the wrong platform *g*), and a very shibui photo of herself gazing out the shinkansen window.

AND THEN MAME IN A FIELD OF SUNFLOWERS! gfirbgikgbkj

She went to the Grand Theater to see the new "Exciter!!", managing to post the kind of curtain shot WE always post. *laughs* Looks like she was sitting about where I usually sit, too. ^^;; Really, Mame, B-seki?

She also went to see "New York Rhapsody" and support her classmate, Tomomin♥

She went to try some local folk dancing in Tokushima.

She went to her brother's wedding.

Aaaand, she announced a new show in December (in Tokyo, yay!): Climber vs Climber. She'll be playing the mama in a snack bar. XD

I love that rarely a post goes by without a nice, gratuitous, smiling Mame photo. No food photos. *laughs* Thank you, Mame!

Jubilee VIII ~Special Edition~
Buddhist Hall -- July 10th, 18:30

[ Official Web Site ]

Cast: Kanzaki Jun, Iori Naoka (OG), Tasai Shun (OG), Otomo Reika (OG), Hinata San (OG), Myuji, Miura Kouta, Kawamura Kazuna, Akane Koyuki, Satou Eiichi, Shimizu Atsuko, Sugiyama Nao, Tokuyama Taeko, Hikari, Kondou Kaita, Kondou Anmi, Fukushima Katsushige

It was a really, really short run --only four performances over two days-- and the cast was much smaller than the previous Jubilee. Despite all of that, they still put together a really great performance. I'm a bit torn over which I liked better.

( Read more... )

Tickets are expensive, but you get the feeling that the money is going directly to these people, and the warm feeling between the cast, and between the cast and the small audience is something special. If you ever get a chance, I highly recommend going to see Jubilee.


After that show, there was an After-Talk. Mame had told us about it ahead of time, so I was expecting it, and that's why I originally asked for a ticket to such a late performance. Mame was the MC and came out talking a mile-a-minute, as she does. Iori-san apparently can't understand her when she does that (or her own mother, either), she told the audience, so she was going to do her best to talk slowly. .... She did try. Through the magic of ...something, I can actually follow her even when she's talking like a humming bee♥

It was a cute talk. They all talked a bit about back-stage things and the rehearsals. And Iori-san talked about her daughter. Kanzaki-san seemed more relaxed than he was after raku in January. He called Mame the "Mood-Maker". *grin* Miuta talked about staring in some Korean drama which is coming to Japan soon.

I'm a bit sad Mame won't be in Jubilee IX next winter, but not tooooo sad, because I know what she is going to be in. But she hasn't posted it publicly yet, so please wait to find out! :D

Ever notice when you're really busy you end up writing lots and lots of short, pointless posts? It's like a procrastination mechanism to avoid the long one that you know is going to take 5-6 hours. (← Yes, I'm working on my Gu Bijin review, promise!)

So! Did a kind of blurry Shonichi phone post for Friday that I think doesn't need much more added.

So, then, last Saturday I went to double-iri♥ Masaki iri, where she continued to be in such a good mood that we were all giggling and happy (She was still dressing in the Chauvelin black, but I guess she decided to leave the attitude in the theater in Tokyo♥) Then I headed a few stops down the Hibiya Line and met up with Mame's fans for iri. And it was kind of awkward at first, but then someone broke the ice and we talked a bit. There were about ten people! And then Mame came, still dressing in otokoyaku-ish fashion, but with this cute little faux-fur cap (in JUNE? Really?). And she went down the line and talked and joked with everyone one at a time and did this staring-into-your-eye thing that flustered us even though we really shouldn't have been flustered because it was Mame. And then we did the duckling thing after her half-way to the theater. 0_o (← *So* still following Zuka rules.) And afterward I talked to a woman who remembered me from PariSora shinko! .... So it turned out I wasn't the only Masaki-kai member there. Eheh.

And then we all went out to tea with Mame's mother. Which was really funny, because Mame's fans are a pretty cool and down to earth bunch, but every once in a while they'd get a bit fangirly and her mom seemed to find it pretty amusing. We all pitched in to buy Mame a bouquet of sunflowers for raku♥ It was from them that I first heard that there would be a new Jubilee in July.

Then we went to the show! I was in the second row, off to the side of center block. This show was AWESOME. It would have been awesome even without Princess Mame, but that was a nice touch♥ Hot guys running around being all manly and a TON of battle scenes and... I wanted to see it a million times more when it finished, but it was sold out for the rest of the run. ;_; (← More on this show later.)

After the show I went back to Tokyo Theater for demachi♥ Masaki♥ All: I want to talk to you. I will talk to you. "Well.... I'm off then." (← Oh, Masaki. Ganbatte.) AND! We're with Kiriyan-kai for weekend demachi, along with Mirio-kai. It is so very, very weird looking across the street and seeing everyone else. ;_;

And, er, I will try not to let silly things get to me, but there is this one thing, and if it happens *again* next Saturday AND Sunday I might have to complain about it. Just once, I promise. ;)

And Gen came in to Tokyo to save me from the Sakura dormitory Saturday night♥ The toujitsuken line on Saturday morning actually hadn't been unusually long at all, but we got up early on Sunday anyway, just in case. We got there at 7:10-ish, and it was already at the 60-or-so people point.

Sunday adlibs were pretty funny! The morning show was a "hot-pink shirt and green pants and you can be a pro golfer", and the follow up I didn't quite catch, but it was something like "That's true, you'd never make it as a golfer."

I didn't go to the kashikiri, but the oyako told me about it. It was Hankyu Group kashikiri. Percy described a Hankyu tour-guide's costume (most of the folks coming to kashikiri come in tour groups), complete with little flag, and her follow up to the "kekko desu" was "That's true, no one would want to take a tour guided by you." (How mean, Percy! ;_; I'd take a Chauvelin Tour!)

Masaki's voice continues strong, although she's still not projecting as much as she used to in the past, as a precaution to get through the run, I think. Still, beautiful Masaki voice♥ (Although I heard someone grumbling that her speaking voice wasn't as gravely and sexy. *JENRAGESMASH*)

And apparently I was wrong about the set changes being a mistake, because they did the exact same things during the Sunday morning show. Just things they had to do because of the smaller Tokyo stage, I guess? Still strikes me as weird.

We spent a bit of Sunday after the show finding food. Then she went to Touko's concert. After demachi I realized that shoving my bag into a locker in a panic and Gen using her Pasmo because I had nothing left on mine and no change had not been a very smart thing to do, but she graciously came back and got my bag back out for me. XD

Oh my god, what? Some message board is saying something about the date for Rizu's ochakai changing to Saturday. Will remain calm as I haven't heard anything from her club. >:(

Next weekend is Armand~~~♥ My club keeps asking me to say "Armand". They really like how I say it for some reason, although I keep pointing out to them that I'm American, not French. ♥ Someone will say, "Have you heard JennyJenny say Arumando yet? No? It's so cool! JennyJenny, say 'Arumando' for her!" ^^;

So I feel a bit like Mame is going through the check-list of all the otokoyaku-to-mainstream-actress woes on the list of clichés. But she's also doing it in such an amusing way that I'm enthralled. Before it was how she always ended up dancing with male buyou movements, no matter how well she started out in the dance to begin with. Lately it has been costume-fitting and her bemoaning the fact that none of the women's clothing ever fits, and worrying about making her face look small enough, etc. But my favorite is her triumphant purchase of a pink phone, since a teacher in Music School told her pink would never suit her and she had to give it up, but now, she points out, she has both a pink phone AND she'll be playing a princess, so obviously the teacher didn't know anything. >:D

← Yes, you will never escape these. Mame amuses me too much.

This, THIS was one of the first things I saw when I woke up this morning and I wanted to post about it but I knew Lucia would kill me if I went to work without saying something about my weekend.

Mame has been posting every day in her new journal. And it is so very Mame-like♥

And she's growing out her hair and she went to Saaya's ochakai and then they went out and did karaoke together until the wee hours of the morning♥ Songs related to shows where they played husband-wife teams. Those two♥


~*~*~

And Touyan of course didn't forget to post today to congratulate the three underclassmen graduating from the Grand Theater. (fangirl)