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Dead on account of dancing vampires
So, not only am I in Japan for Tanabata (and I have the Google!Japan logo to prove it), but I just saw my favourite musical in the world, with the one performer that a, I adore in every role on account of his voice making me melt, and b, that I was never expecting to see because, well, Japan.
Yuichirou Yamaguchi, live, is enough to make your brain melt with the first note. For most of the show, he's a Japanese demon, a bunraku puppet, inhuman and only moving when he chooses to. Then came Unstillbare, and the way he came out and leaned on a gravestone, suddenly human, broke my heart even before he sang. And he did sing, and it left me gasping for breath. The stage presence alone, and that voice!
(Yes, I did have my faithful Olympus gadget. And I wasn't the only one melting. We were on the balcony, among an all-female crowd, and we all gasped in unison. As![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
fyrie put it, that voice bypasses the brain altogether to lodge much lower.)
The new edition of Tanz is on the large main stage, and while they did keep some elements (like the Amazing Bat Lift of Doom), there are also new and extremely crafty sets. The library is the biggest ever, the large stage filled with books and scientific instruments. The staircases are a moving labyrinth, which makes for some very crafty scene changes. Instead of living portraits, they're hanging among the chorus, and the bathtub is shaped like a bat. Also, both bathtubs send up soap bubbles, which is just adorable.
The cast was amazing. Usually there's at least one performer who's under par, and even if it's someone like Rebecca or Magda or an unenthusiastic ensemble member, they're just that little smudge that stops the show from perfection. Not this time. Achiwa Satomi as Rebecca was strong and adorable, and ended up on top of the bed in Carpe Noctem as an ensemble vampire in the second act, while the ensemble ballet-danced their hearts out and proved just how bendy vampires can be ♥
Sylvia Grab was Magda, red-haired and feisty, a far cry from the abuse victim Magdas that annoy me. I love the choreography change that has her straddling Chagal in Tot zu Sein ist Komisch. The second-act scene had them doing the tango as well, and in the finale she was just all over the place in glee. Azaki Motomu as Chagal held his own very well and won my heart for the way he knocked Alfred over the head with the back end of the planks just before Eine Schoene Tochter. And Komada Hajime was an adorable Koukol - the intermission skit had him finding a sponge under the courtain, all for him :D
Alas, Masachika Ichimura (first Japanese Phantom) isn't Abronsius anymore, but Ishikawa Zen is a more than adequate replacement. He's the picture of the crazy commanding scientist, always hungry for crowd approval - I think he took something like five bows after Wahrheit, which acquired a veeery familiar revue choreography. And he had a bandaid on to show that he'd been hit on the head, and in general I wanted to pick him up and give him a cuddle.
Of the people who actually alternate, we had Ohtsuka Chichiro as Sarah and Izumi Yohei as Alfred. Chichiro is a perfect Sarah, strong and sweet and absolutely smitten on Yamaguchi (but then, who wouldn't be?), and commanding Alfred with a very, very firm hand. Yohei on the other hand...
I am not supposed to adore an Alfred. Not even if he has poofy hair and anime eyes. Mind you, he was just anime!Alfred - falling over, shaking, crawling, and those eyes! They moved like actors of their own, the perfect comic eyedarts and eyerolls. His "MEEP!" alone was worth the price of admission, and then we had him being completely seduced by Krolock in the first act, and rolling around with Sarah after he was bitten. And the finale, but that comes later.
Keigo Yoshino's Herbert, I adored from the very first photo I'd seen. And he's got even better. There was a cheek-pat from Krolock for Daddy's Little Princess, and then an attempt to pick up Alfred's luggage that was a very thin excuse for a butt-wriggle in poor Alfred's face. And then there was Wenn Liebe.
I do adore a Herbert who can do Wenn Liebe while wet and wearing nothing but a very transparent shirt and a g-string. Oh, and there was skipping and cartwheels and hissing and I may have squealed. I need to listen to the audio and find out whether I did it out loud.
Krolock, I have already described, but I'm still not over the fact that I. Saw. Him. Live. He's my absolute favourite Death, absolute favourite Phantom, top three for Rum Tum Tugger and Raoul, and now, I'm afraid, rivalling Steve and Lukasz and Geza for best. Krolock. Ever. The only thing that could use work is the cloak, but oh, the voice more than makes up for it.
And then came the finale.
I love the final song anyway. I love it even more when you have everyone in the audience clapping with it. And then there was not only Herbert and Magda, but also Alfred, Sarah, Chagal and Rebecca in full black vampire gear and makeup. Alfred clearly had a Herbert-makeover with fake nails, and Sarah was all over Herbert to the point of a dance routine that had them both bending over backwards and blowing kisses at each other. And to top it all off, at the end they unfurled a giant banner of Yamaguchi in full vampire regalia and fangs, sticking his tongue out.
(Bows were rather special as well, what with everyone and Krolock doing what can be only described as the vampire macarena. I want a DVD of this production just so I can learn this dance :D)
We're going back to Osaka tomorrow, via Nagoya and Cirque du Soleil (again, this time for free in 12,000 yen seats). I think I may have trouble sleeping long enough today. Falling asleep at Me and My Girl would be embarrassing.
Yuichirou Yamaguchi, live, is enough to make your brain melt with the first note. For most of the show, he's a Japanese demon, a bunraku puppet, inhuman and only moving when he chooses to. Then came Unstillbare, and the way he came out and leaned on a gravestone, suddenly human, broke my heart even before he sang. And he did sing, and it left me gasping for breath. The stage presence alone, and that voice!
(Yes, I did have my faithful Olympus gadget. And I wasn't the only one melting. We were on the balcony, among an all-female crowd, and we all gasped in unison. As
fyrie put it, that voice bypasses the brain altogether to lodge much lower.)The new edition of Tanz is on the large main stage, and while they did keep some elements (like the Amazing Bat Lift of Doom), there are also new and extremely crafty sets. The library is the biggest ever, the large stage filled with books and scientific instruments. The staircases are a moving labyrinth, which makes for some very crafty scene changes. Instead of living portraits, they're hanging among the chorus, and the bathtub is shaped like a bat. Also, both bathtubs send up soap bubbles, which is just adorable.
The cast was amazing. Usually there's at least one performer who's under par, and even if it's someone like Rebecca or Magda or an unenthusiastic ensemble member, they're just that little smudge that stops the show from perfection. Not this time. Achiwa Satomi as Rebecca was strong and adorable, and ended up on top of the bed in Carpe Noctem as an ensemble vampire in the second act, while the ensemble ballet-danced their hearts out and proved just how bendy vampires can be ♥
Sylvia Grab was Magda, red-haired and feisty, a far cry from the abuse victim Magdas that annoy me. I love the choreography change that has her straddling Chagal in Tot zu Sein ist Komisch. The second-act scene had them doing the tango as well, and in the finale she was just all over the place in glee. Azaki Motomu as Chagal held his own very well and won my heart for the way he knocked Alfred over the head with the back end of the planks just before Eine Schoene Tochter. And Komada Hajime was an adorable Koukol - the intermission skit had him finding a sponge under the courtain, all for him :D
Alas, Masachika Ichimura (first Japanese Phantom) isn't Abronsius anymore, but Ishikawa Zen is a more than adequate replacement. He's the picture of the crazy commanding scientist, always hungry for crowd approval - I think he took something like five bows after Wahrheit, which acquired a veeery familiar revue choreography. And he had a bandaid on to show that he'd been hit on the head, and in general I wanted to pick him up and give him a cuddle.
Of the people who actually alternate, we had Ohtsuka Chichiro as Sarah and Izumi Yohei as Alfred. Chichiro is a perfect Sarah, strong and sweet and absolutely smitten on Yamaguchi (but then, who wouldn't be?), and commanding Alfred with a very, very firm hand. Yohei on the other hand...
I am not supposed to adore an Alfred. Not even if he has poofy hair and anime eyes. Mind you, he was just anime!Alfred - falling over, shaking, crawling, and those eyes! They moved like actors of their own, the perfect comic eyedarts and eyerolls. His "MEEP!" alone was worth the price of admission, and then we had him being completely seduced by Krolock in the first act, and rolling around with Sarah after he was bitten. And the finale, but that comes later.
Keigo Yoshino's Herbert, I adored from the very first photo I'd seen. And he's got even better. There was a cheek-pat from Krolock for Daddy's Little Princess, and then an attempt to pick up Alfred's luggage that was a very thin excuse for a butt-wriggle in poor Alfred's face. And then there was Wenn Liebe.
I do adore a Herbert who can do Wenn Liebe while wet and wearing nothing but a very transparent shirt and a g-string. Oh, and there was skipping and cartwheels and hissing and I may have squealed. I need to listen to the audio and find out whether I did it out loud.
Krolock, I have already described, but I'm still not over the fact that I. Saw. Him. Live. He's my absolute favourite Death, absolute favourite Phantom, top three for Rum Tum Tugger and Raoul, and now, I'm afraid, rivalling Steve and Lukasz and Geza for best. Krolock. Ever. The only thing that could use work is the cloak, but oh, the voice more than makes up for it.
And then came the finale.
I love the final song anyway. I love it even more when you have everyone in the audience clapping with it. And then there was not only Herbert and Magda, but also Alfred, Sarah, Chagal and Rebecca in full black vampire gear and makeup. Alfred clearly had a Herbert-makeover with fake nails, and Sarah was all over Herbert to the point of a dance routine that had them both bending over backwards and blowing kisses at each other. And to top it all off, at the end they unfurled a giant banner of Yamaguchi in full vampire regalia and fangs, sticking his tongue out.
(Bows were rather special as well, what with everyone and Krolock doing what can be only described as the vampire macarena. I want a DVD of this production just so I can learn this dance :D)
We're going back to Osaka tomorrow, via Nagoya and Cirque du Soleil (again, this time for free in 12,000 yen seats). I think I may have trouble sleeping long enough today. Falling asleep at Me and My Girl would be embarrassing.
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And god, how much do I envy you! Yuichirou Yamaguchi LIVE! And Keigo Yoshino! I'm so happy to hear that he sounds even better than on the bootleg! The Tokyo version is one of my most favorite TdV interpretations and I'm glad to hear that it lived up to your expectations!
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Have a good flight back!
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And now I feel bad that I didn't warn you about Sarah and Herbert being all over each other in the DVD, because it's definitely there, and it broke my brain a little. (Then again, you know that the Herbert who lives in my head is the biggest woobie in the history of woobies and would probably make a slightly disgusted face at the sight of Keigo!Herbert. And probably say "You look as though you would be slightly sticky if I touched you." So you and I are not likely to agree on anybody but Wocial and Fetterle, it seems.) I think Alfred and Magda are doing the same thing at that moment in mirror position, but on the DVD they looked less like they were coming onto each other and more like they were just laughing and having a good time.
And I love Achiwa Satomi as Rebecca- she's basically the only Rebecca I've ever really noticed much or cared about. It helps that she has such a lovely strong voice. Plus, they actually let her get to be cute onstage, instead of making her just That Ugly Fat Chick Who Disappears Halfway Through Act I (which is something the German productions are increasingly guilty of).
I am so jealous of you and your ability to just jet off and see this show whenever you like.
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Having a career has its upsides ;) I may work 12-hour days sometimes when there's a big deal coming, but after 3 years I did save enough for the Japan trip. And living in Europe means that those weekend jaunts cost me just as much as the train ticket (19 euro to Germany, Austria and Hungary if I book early enough) and a hostel bed.
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(My college drama teacher, though, happens to run one of the biggest regional theater programs in the state, and he's seemed interested in using some of his connections to try to get the rights to do a kind of mini-replica-of-the-original-staging-Tanz in English for a while now. If that happens, I don't know if my first reaction will be to audition or scream and fangirl everyone who makes it in.)
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(I'm in the process of filking this whole show for an RP board- don't judge me- and I swear, I'm going to have to hodgepodge together all these different recordings to represent which length the filked songs should be at.)
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