希望を捨てるな！The Count of Montecristo / Amour de 99!! (II)

On Sunday the 17th, Monday the 18th and Sunday the 24th of March I went to watch  the new Cosmos troupe show, The Count of Montecristo / Amour de 99!!

I loved it so much! And I must say, I liked it more the second and third time. The first time I was a bit taken aback by the fact that they changed quite a bit the story compared to the novel. I understand it was necessary in order to turn a novel which is over a thousand pages long into a one hour and a half musical, though.

At any rate, the music is first class! The songs got stuck badly in my head, so now I am really looking forward to the DVD and CD!

WARNING: from here on there might be SPOILERS!

The first act, The Count of Montecristo, was a bit difficult to follow at first, but extremely well done. Not only the songs were great (one of the songs actually makes me want to cry every single time I listen to it), but the setting was also really really good. In particular, the scene in which Edmont Dantès is in prison, the stage is really awesome: there are two levels, and on the lower level you can see Dantès getting more and more desperate by the day, while on the upper level you see scenes of what happens in the lives of those who are free (Mercedes, Danglars, Fernand etc).

There were a few extremely dramatic scenes, but also a couple of really funny ones. The scenes in which appeared Bertuccio (Ozuki Toma) and the pirates were often the stress releaf. In particular, there is one scene with Bertuccio, Vampa and the pirates/smugglers which is really funny. I am not an expert of Japanese accents, but I have a feeling that the pirates speak with a Kyushu accent... which would make sense since I believe that Kyushu was an area with quite a lot of pirates in the past. And that was also funny. (I might be wrong though, so feel free to correct me!)

It goes without saying that Ouki Kaname was amasing in the role of the count: every time I see her on stage my admiration towards her increases. Not only is she extremely beautiful, but she's an excellent actress. Her singing might not be one of the best among the top stars, but she conveys such emotions that I get lost for words. She's the best ;)

I must say I was also really really pleased with Misaki Rion: her Mercedes was spot on. In several scenes she moved me to tears. Thumbs up for her! I'm ashamed to say I don't usually pay much attention to musumeyaku (unless they annoy me) but she was so good that I feel it's my duty to spear a few words for her. Just as I thought, I think that Kaname and her make a great combi.

Yumi Hiro, Ozuki Toma, Asaka Manato, Nanami Hiroki, Hasumi Yuuya... there are so many awesome actresses in the current cosmos troupe that I can't possibly talk about all of them. Honestly, great GREAT job sora gumi!!!

The second act, Amour de 99!!, was full of energy and interesting. It was a celebration of Takarazuka which followed its history. The actresses performed dances from several old shows.

Some of the dances were really amasing (there was one with blue costumes which I particularly loved, but I can't remember the name right now, and I don't have the program at hand... sorry).

The most notable part was probably the "pineapple queen" dance, in which Kaname wore the pineapple queen costume and showed her bare legs. She was awesome! I am always amased by the fact that she looks gorgeous both as a man and as a woman. 

I also really liked the tuxedo dance. It was actually very simple, with plain black tuxedos and red roses. I liked the fact that Kaname wore a tuxedo just like everybody else, with no rhinestones on it. It was really very very elegant. At the end of the dance Kaname gave the rose to one of the spectators... and I died of envy ;) every single time!

Another important part was probably a dance in which Ozuki Toma danced with Kaname dressed as a musumeyaku. I must say though that I don't think that Ozuki Toma pulls off the musumeyaku role too well. Somehow, I kept on seeing a man dressed as a woman on stage XD

On a side note, there is one scene in which Kaname has to take off a wig and a fake beard on stage. On the 18th, the beard got stuck and the mic fell off. I was impressed by her reaction: she didn't show any sort of emotion, she went on with her lines as if nothing had happened, and as soon as she could turn around so that the mic side of her face was hidden, she put it back on swiftly. She did so well, that my friends who were not looking through the opera glasses at that moment didn't even notice it. Congratulations Kaname, you really are a pro!

This is about it. Awesome show, definitely a must see. I'm glad I got to see it three times, and I wish I could watch it again. This show is really special to me, not only because I like it, not only because my beloved Ouki Kaname stars in it, but for one more reason... it's going to be my last Takarazuka show in quite some time. :(

Unfortunately, I had to leave Japan on Monday... so now I'm stuck in Europe and I'm missing Takarazuka (and plenty of other stuff) already. I wish I could have stayed, but I like to think of this as destiny: there must be a reason why I had to come back to Europe.

At any rate, even though I'm not in Japan any more, I will do my best to keep this blog updated with interesting news and curious facts.

Unfortunately I only have access to a rather bad Internet connection at the moment, so I cannot upload photos. I am really very sorry, but I don't have a choice. I hope to be able to get a better connection within a couple of months (which sounds like a hell of a long time...)

Thank you so much for reading my blog! :)

P.S. 希望を捨てるな！(don't throw away hope) is a line in one of The Count of Montecristo's songs. Since I was feeling down about having to leave Japan, it touched me deeply...
It also is sort of the message of the whole show :) Great, isn't it?

Takarazuka Stage Studio: Stage make-up service

As I have written in one of my previous posts, at the Takarazuka Grand Theatre in Takarazuka city it is possible to have the stage make-up done, wear Takarazuka costumes and have pictures taken.

Ever since I found out about it, I have always wanted to try it out... and I finally have! :D

It's necessary to get an appointment to do it, so when I went to watch Ocean's 11 I made an appointment for last Sunday.

There are quite a lot of costumes you can pick from, it was really hard to choose.

I went for the Finale Tuxedo (the typical tuxedo otokoyaku wear at the end of shows, with huge feathers on the back). I picked that one because I wanted otokoyaku clothes and I also wanted it to be as typical as possible.

If I get the chance again, I would also like to try Oscar (the white version with the cape) and Elisabeth. It is really really expensive, though, so I guess I'll wait.

The price depends on the size of the printed pictures and on whether you want any extras (stickers, mobile phone straps...). The cheapest set for just one costume and make-up is 11000 yen.

On the website it says it takes about 2 hours, but I believe it took me about 1 hour and a half... but then I had to wait for half an hour in order to pick up the printed pictures.

First thing they ask you to pick a costume, since the make-up is different depending on it, and a background for the photos (plain, the big and famous Takarazuka Grand Theatre stairs...)

Then, you are asked to take your clothes off and wear a sort of wide skirt and strapless top before starting with the make-up.

The make-up takes quite a while, but it is really interesting to see how it's done. You sit in front of a big mirror while they do it, so you can see the process. At first I was worried because it seemed a bit off, but it looked right after a few layers. It's really thick and quite complicated. I could hardly recognise myself after they finished! The only thing I didn't really like about the make-up is that I believe they painted my eyebrows at different heights, which was a bit weird. But it was amasing over all.

Once the make-up's done, they help you put the clothes on. I don't know how it's possible, but the clothes are size-free and seem to fit everybody perfectly. I was quite worried because I'm rather big for Japanese standards (172cm tall, thick boned and far from skinny), but there was no problem at all.

Up close the clothes did look slightly worn out, but they looked just as they should in the pictures, which is what matters.

After that, it's time for the pictures to be taken. With my costume, I could pick two accessories between a couple of shan-shan (the objects that 'Ziennes usually hold during the finale, often made of flowers and ribbons), a sparkly stick and a big feather fan: one for the whole-body picture and one for the close-up photo.

The process of taking the photos was also quite long and very interesting. They give you very precise directions as how to stand and position yourself and even move your feet and hands around a bit until you are exactly in the right pose. They take quite a lot of photos, so I was actually starting to get cramps in my hands... hahaha

Anyway, once that's done, you are asked to put your own clothes back on and then you're given various types of make-up removers and give you the time to put your own make-up back on.

Before you take your make-up off they take some head shots with your own camera. I didn't know that so I didn't bring mine. They took pictures with my iPod, but of course the quality is not the same... pity...

Of course they play Takarazuka music all the time.

All the employees were extremely kind.

It was an awesome experience and I honestly can't wait to do it again!

When you pick up the photos (usually the sets include two pictures, a full body one and a close-up one) they also give you a point card with your own picture on it. You get one point for every 1000 yen you spend at the Stage Studio. Once you reach 25 points you get a free strap and there's another present when you get at 50 points, but I don't know what it is.

The point card does not expire, which is great.

I know it's expensive, but I highly recommend this experience. Not only because it's exciting to wear the costume and the make-up of a loved character, but also because you somehow get to understand a bit more of what happens in the backstage.

It is possible to make an appointment on the phone, on the internet and directly at the Stage Studio counter.

I'm posting some of my pictures so you get an idea of what it's like. ;)

Ocean's 11

This year the Flower troupe is playing Ocean's 11, which was already played by the Star troupe in 2011/2012.

I went to watch it with some friends on February 17th. Honestly, I wasn't sure whether to go or not at first, since Ranju Tomu is not among my favourites, but then I decided that it was worth giving it a shot.

At first the plan was to buy standing tickets, but since they had not sold out all the seating tickets we could not do that. So we ended up buying B seats with a discount, which on one side was good, and besides, that's also a new experience.

I actually enjoyed the show very much. It was extremely funny and the songs were catchy.

I had never seen any show played by the current Flower troupe and I was impressed by some of the actresses.

I still don't particularly like Ranju Tomu, for some reason, but I was pleasantly surprised by Nozomi Futo, towards whom I felt an instinctive dislike but turned out to be an excellent actress. I don't particularly like her features, but her singing is high class and she played her role extremely well.

I also liked Harukaze Misato, Seto Kazuya and Taiga Rin (though she only played a small part, but I loved her voice!).

Overall, I think that most of them were excellent.

However, I was rather disappointed in Hanagata Hikaru: I felt that her singing wasn't very accurate and her voice wasn't powerful at all. I am no expert, though, so maybe that's just how I feel about it.

Ranno Hana is an excellent performer with a great voice, though she doesn't do as good as I expected in the high notes.

At any rate, it was a really enjoyable show and we all laughed like crazy. I'm glad I decided to give it a shot!

We also went to the Petit Museum, in which this time they had the Saint Exupéry / Conga! exhibition.

Unfortunately I haven't seen that show, but after seeing the costumes for Saint Exupéry I definitely want to watch it. The Little Prince costume is the cutest thing ever!

I don't feel as enthusiastic about Conga!, though. I have only seen some bits and pieces while at the Petit Museum, but I thought that the costumes were too over the top and the music... well, just not very appealing.

The museum was fun and we got to play around with some props. I think it is really worth it to go to the museum every time they get a new show. Seeing the costumes is always a great experience.

It was a great day all in all, and I can't wait  for the next show!