Roget/Rock On! (Snow Troupe 2010)
Tue, Sep. 21st, 2010 12:10 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
oyceter(ロジェ/ロック・オン！)
Or: My First Takarazuka, also known as "I Really Don't Need Another Obscure and Expensive Hobby"
Pre-show
Given varying circumstances, the only Takarazuka show I could make was the Saturday matinee, which was unfortunately sold out. Luckily, I found that they always reserve some tickets to sell the morning of the show. And since the hotel we stayed at was literally across the street from the theater (awesome!), I decided to line up at 9 for tickets. But after looking stuff up the day before, I found that apparently the show was the last run for two top stars (Mizu Natsuki and Aihara Mika), which did not mean that much to me but sounded like tickets wouldn't be so easy to get. I managed to drag myself out of bed at 8:00 and made it down by 8:15, and good thing I did, because there was already a line of people sitting by the ticket office and another group of people gathered across the street. I realized later that the people across the street were the people in assorted fan clubs.
It was terribly hot already, but very interesting watching assorted fan clubs showing up... each fan club wears the same scarf or cardigan or hat or something, and they lined themselves up in some order I couldn't figure out. Every so often, someone I presume was a star would get out and go to a particular fan club, shake some hands, take some gifts and say a few words. I have no idea if most of the stars were otoko-yaku or not; most had short hair and hats, but I have no idea if short hair is significant or if people just wear wigs to perform. The fans were amazingly organized and polite; every so often everyone would sit down, or stand up, and there was extremely little noise or fuss or pushing. When one fan club was done, they would get out of the way, and the fan clubs would rearrange themselves in another order.
A Takarazuka theater employee would also come out every so often to hand out free fans (excellent given the heat), tell people they were in line for the 11:30 show tickets, as opposed to the evening show, and to probably say stuff about about how one person could only buy one ticket. After more people lined up, the employees would tell people later in the line that they had x amount of seats and x amount of standing tickets, and if that person was likely to make the cut or not. Again, it was wonderfully orderly, particularly after the World Expo, where everyone basically tried to push their way forward in a three-and-a-half-hour line. Here, you could leave a newspaper or your bag in the line and go off to photograph the stars, use the bathroom, buy stuff from a convenience store, or etc. I am fairly sure I probably could have just left my stuff in line and eaten breakfast, although the signs discourage doing that.
When 10:00 rolled around and the ticket office finally opened, I just missed getting a seat and ended up with a tachimi (standing) ticket. Thankfully it was in the middle section! And very thankfully, the Tokyo Takarazuka theater actually has designated standing spots with a rail, so you don't have to push or anything.
Roget
The first half was an original Takarazuka musical, Roget. It's set after WWII and is about Roget Jardin, who has spent the last 20 years or so searching for the man who killed his family in front of his eyes. And then there is some stuff about him working with Interpol and the heroine, Leah Cohen, all of which was very confusing. I basically had no idea was going on, but everyone was dressed in pretty forties style clothing, with many, many fedoras. I approved! It's also clear that the show is all about Roget and his deep dark manpain—is it still manpain if the character is male but played by a woman?
Anyway, despite having absolutely no idea what was going on, I was completely sucked in by Mizu Natsuki's performance. She brooded and angsted and smouldered and pushed everyone away, and it was awesome. Normally I am not much for the manpain stories, especially ones in which the heroine has a tiny part (I felt bad for Aihara Mika, because she really had nearly nothing to do), but I am still thinking about all the gender politics involved with the gender bending and etc.
Also, there is a scene where everyone dances the tango, which is made extremely interesting by the all-female cast, since I usually think of tango as a dance that makes the lead act very alpha male and the follow act very femme fatale-y. And the Takarazuka dancers totally did that, which is awesome, because I want to see more same-sex ballroom dancing (*cough*SYTYCD*cough*). But yes, I feel it would be interesting on a different level if the Takarazuka members didn't specialize as musume-yaku and otoko-yaku, or if there were specialists and non-specialists? I am not sure. It is the same twitchiness I get with the uke/seme hard line in yaoi.
Roget spoilers (maybe? I didn't understand very much)
The best part for me was when Roget finally does find his family's murderer, and the murderer turns out to be a benevolent doctor who killed... because he was starving... and only needed money to buy some bread for his family! Or maybe it was for himself. I am writing this up too late after the fact AND I had no idea what anyone was saying. And yet, it is so impressive how much the emoting came across on stage; I was mesmerized by the entire scene despite also giggling happily to myself over the cliches. It is so much like manga! Roget even spares Schmidt while giving one final cry of extreme manpain to express just how much of a sacrifice it is!
Rock On!
I didn't realize not all the shows have a full hour-long revue until I watched my Scarlet Pimpernel DVD. This revue has very little to do with the musical preceding it, with the possible exception of many fedoras. Also, there are sequins. Lots and lots and lots of sequins. The strangest part were the musume-yaku chorus lines, in which they do a kicky line dance much like the Rockettes (or so I am guessing, as I've never seen the Rockettes). It's this dance that seems to have been choreographed specifically for the male viewer, all legs flashing and giving you a good view of (covered) crotch areas. It feels very choreographed and sexless in Takarazuka, where my general imperssion was that even though it is a majority-female audience and all female performers, the bulk of the audience's fascination is with the otoko-yaku and the otoko-yaku roles.
And finally, the stars come out with giant feathers attached to their backs! I also did not realize this was Takarazuka tradition until watching my other DVD.
General impressions
Some scattered impressions that didn't fit anywhere above:
- I was surprised and yet not by how the climactic romantic moment is always a kiss and nothing more suggestive; it reminds me a lot of Bollywood, only with even less suggestion. Frex, I am guessing most Takarazuka performances do not drench their performers so they can dance around with semi-transparent clothing. Also, the kiss always has the otoko-yaku dramatically swooping the musume-yaku back so you never see their lips actually touching.
- Given random comments I'd seen about Takarazuka, voice actors in anime, and the fact that when I speak Japanese, my voice goes an octave higher because my Japanese teachers (all female) would talk in very high-pitched voices, I was not expecting the musume-yaku to have such low voices. I actually had a hard time distinguishing Aihara Mika from Mizu Natsuki at times, since I was so far away it was hard to see whose mouth was moving. Even the big song for Leah/Aihara Mika was fairly low in pitch. I have no idea if this is typical or not; Marguerite in The Scarlet Pimpernel also has a much lower voice than I had expected, though that may also be influenced by the original Marguerite of the American musical, who also has a much throatier voice than most female leads in musicals do. Both exceptions to the rule? Or the norm?
- I couldn't tell any of the otoko-yaku apart given that a) I was so far away I could barely see their facial features, b) judging from the pictures, they wear really heavy makeup, and c) unlike anime, they would change clothes between scenes so I couldn't identify people by costume. I was extremely amused to find that I ended up id-ing them by hair style, a la almost all manga and anime I watch ever! Roget was more difficult, since most of the otoko-yaku had more modern and therefore less distinctive hairstyles, but I am guessing for the more historical musicals, there will be anime hair galore.
In conclusion, despite not understanding 90% of what was happening, I found that the acting was still compelling enough to draw me in. And of course trying to think about all the gender bending was extremely fun. I need to reread Jennifer Robertson in light of this, and though I understand her focus on the otoko-yaku—that seems to be where the majority of the fans' and the producers' energy is concentrated on—I'm really curious about the musume-yaku.
Links:
- Show information
- Pictures
Or: My First Takarazuka, also known as "I Really Don't Need Another Obscure and Expensive Hobby"
Pre-show
Given varying circumstances, the only Takarazuka show I could make was the Saturday matinee, which was unfortunately sold out. Luckily, I found that they always reserve some tickets to sell the morning of the show. And since the hotel we stayed at was literally across the street from the theater (awesome!), I decided to line up at 9 for tickets. But after looking stuff up the day before, I found that apparently the show was the last run for two top stars (Mizu Natsuki and Aihara Mika), which did not mean that much to me but sounded like tickets wouldn't be so easy to get. I managed to drag myself out of bed at 8:00 and made it down by 8:15, and good thing I did, because there was already a line of people sitting by the ticket office and another group of people gathered across the street. I realized later that the people across the street were the people in assorted fan clubs.
It was terribly hot already, but very interesting watching assorted fan clubs showing up... each fan club wears the same scarf or cardigan or hat or something, and they lined themselves up in some order I couldn't figure out. Every so often, someone I presume was a star would get out and go to a particular fan club, shake some hands, take some gifts and say a few words. I have no idea if most of the stars were otoko-yaku or not; most had short hair and hats, but I have no idea if short hair is significant or if people just wear wigs to perform. The fans were amazingly organized and polite; every so often everyone would sit down, or stand up, and there was extremely little noise or fuss or pushing. When one fan club was done, they would get out of the way, and the fan clubs would rearrange themselves in another order.
A Takarazuka theater employee would also come out every so often to hand out free fans (excellent given the heat), tell people they were in line for the 11:30 show tickets, as opposed to the evening show, and to probably say stuff about about how one person could only buy one ticket. After more people lined up, the employees would tell people later in the line that they had x amount of seats and x amount of standing tickets, and if that person was likely to make the cut or not. Again, it was wonderfully orderly, particularly after the World Expo, where everyone basically tried to push their way forward in a three-and-a-half-hour line. Here, you could leave a newspaper or your bag in the line and go off to photograph the stars, use the bathroom, buy stuff from a convenience store, or etc. I am fairly sure I probably could have just left my stuff in line and eaten breakfast, although the signs discourage doing that.
When 10:00 rolled around and the ticket office finally opened, I just missed getting a seat and ended up with a tachimi (standing) ticket. Thankfully it was in the middle section! And very thankfully, the Tokyo Takarazuka theater actually has designated standing spots with a rail, so you don't have to push or anything.
Roget
The first half was an original Takarazuka musical, Roget. It's set after WWII and is about Roget Jardin, who has spent the last 20 years or so searching for the man who killed his family in front of his eyes. And then there is some stuff about him working with Interpol and the heroine, Leah Cohen, all of which was very confusing. I basically had no idea was going on, but everyone was dressed in pretty forties style clothing, with many, many fedoras. I approved! It's also clear that the show is all about Roget and his deep dark manpain—is it still manpain if the character is male but played by a woman?
Anyway, despite having absolutely no idea what was going on, I was completely sucked in by Mizu Natsuki's performance. She brooded and angsted and smouldered and pushed everyone away, and it was awesome. Normally I am not much for the manpain stories, especially ones in which the heroine has a tiny part (I felt bad for Aihara Mika, because she really had nearly nothing to do), but I am still thinking about all the gender politics involved with the gender bending and etc.
Also, there is a scene where everyone dances the tango, which is made extremely interesting by the all-female cast, since I usually think of tango as a dance that makes the lead act very alpha male and the follow act very femme fatale-y. And the Takarazuka dancers totally did that, which is awesome, because I want to see more same-sex ballroom dancing (*cough*SYTYCD*cough*). But yes, I feel it would be interesting on a different level if the Takarazuka members didn't specialize as musume-yaku and otoko-yaku, or if there were specialists and non-specialists? I am not sure. It is the same twitchiness I get with the uke/seme hard line in yaoi.
Roget spoilers (maybe? I didn't understand very much)
The best part for me was when Roget finally does find his family's murderer, and the murderer turns out to be a benevolent doctor who killed... because he was starving... and only needed money to buy some bread for his family! Or maybe it was for himself. I am writing this up too late after the fact AND I had no idea what anyone was saying. And yet, it is so impressive how much the emoting came across on stage; I was mesmerized by the entire scene despite also giggling happily to myself over the cliches. It is so much like manga! Roget even spares Schmidt while giving one final cry of extreme manpain to express just how much of a sacrifice it is!
Rock On!
I didn't realize not all the shows have a full hour-long revue until I watched my Scarlet Pimpernel DVD. This revue has very little to do with the musical preceding it, with the possible exception of many fedoras. Also, there are sequins. Lots and lots and lots of sequins. The strangest part were the musume-yaku chorus lines, in which they do a kicky line dance much like the Rockettes (or so I am guessing, as I've never seen the Rockettes). It's this dance that seems to have been choreographed specifically for the male viewer, all legs flashing and giving you a good view of (covered) crotch areas. It feels very choreographed and sexless in Takarazuka, where my general imperssion was that even though it is a majority-female audience and all female performers, the bulk of the audience's fascination is with the otoko-yaku and the otoko-yaku roles.
And finally, the stars come out with giant feathers attached to their backs! I also did not realize this was Takarazuka tradition until watching my other DVD.
General impressions
Some scattered impressions that didn't fit anywhere above:
- I was surprised and yet not by how the climactic romantic moment is always a kiss and nothing more suggestive; it reminds me a lot of Bollywood, only with even less suggestion. Frex, I am guessing most Takarazuka performances do not drench their performers so they can dance around with semi-transparent clothing. Also, the kiss always has the otoko-yaku dramatically swooping the musume-yaku back so you never see their lips actually touching.
- Given random comments I'd seen about Takarazuka, voice actors in anime, and the fact that when I speak Japanese, my voice goes an octave higher because my Japanese teachers (all female) would talk in very high-pitched voices, I was not expecting the musume-yaku to have such low voices. I actually had a hard time distinguishing Aihara Mika from Mizu Natsuki at times, since I was so far away it was hard to see whose mouth was moving. Even the big song for Leah/Aihara Mika was fairly low in pitch. I have no idea if this is typical or not; Marguerite in The Scarlet Pimpernel also has a much lower voice than I had expected, though that may also be influenced by the original Marguerite of the American musical, who also has a much throatier voice than most female leads in musicals do. Both exceptions to the rule? Or the norm?
- I couldn't tell any of the otoko-yaku apart given that a) I was so far away I could barely see their facial features, b) judging from the pictures, they wear really heavy makeup, and c) unlike anime, they would change clothes between scenes so I couldn't identify people by costume. I was extremely amused to find that I ended up id-ing them by hair style, a la almost all manga and anime I watch ever! Roget was more difficult, since most of the otoko-yaku had more modern and therefore less distinctive hairstyles, but I am guessing for the more historical musicals, there will be anime hair galore.
In conclusion, despite not understanding 90% of what was happening, I found that the acting was still compelling enough to draw me in. And of course trying to think about all the gender bending was extremely fun. I need to reread Jennifer Robertson in light of this, and though I understand her focus on the otoko-yaku—that seems to be where the majority of the fans' and the producers' energy is concentrated on—I'm really curious about the musume-yaku.
Links:
- Show information
- Pictures
(no subject)
Thu, Sep. 23rd, 2010 01:20 am (UTC)(no subject)
Fri, Sep. 24th, 2010 06:10 am (UTC)