Alright I was on the train back from New York so I figured I'd finally get around to posting a recap of my experience at the Saturday afternoon performance of Chicago. Since the run is complete now, I don't have to worry about spoiling anything for anyone. I haven't kept up with the posts on tumblr so probably anything I say has been talked about already but oh well I figured I'd give my perspective. Some of this will be about my personal experience, and some about the show itself. I'm breaking this into parts so you can easily skip over the parts you don't care to read about.
PT 1. THE TRAIN THERE
I've been going to school in the city for three years now, and yet I still managed to screw up on my subway ride up to Lincoln Center. I go to school on 23rd and 3rd and don't tend to hang out above 42nd St. I'm an east side girl who is used to using the 6 train for all intents and purposes. The 123 trains are something I rarely use. I don't tend to go to the west side, unless I'm going to the West Village, in which case I'll just walk. But I took a look at a subway map and saw that the 123 brings you right into Lincoln Center. Rather than walk all the way to 8th Ave in the 100 degree heat to get to the 123 train, I decided to grab an iced Almond Joy coffee from Dunkin and take the NQR up to 42nd and transfer to the 123 there. Which I did. I got off the N and hopped right into the 2. Seemed simple. Until my train zoomed past the 66th St station. Yeah. Turns out only the 1 train brings you into Lincoln Center. My bad. At least now I know. I got off at 72nd and waited another 10 mins for a 1 train. But from there on we were good. The subway station at 66th has a ramp right up into Lincoln Center.
PT 2. BEFORE THE SHOW
I got up the escalator into the patio area that is at the center of the surrounding theaters. I immediately saw the giant Tani banner hanging down in front of the David Koch Theater. I walked in front of it and stared in awe. By now that large coffee which I had guzzled down on the subway had taken effect and I was buzzing. The idea that this incredible woman would be performing before my eyes within the hour was an incredible thought. Snapping out of my daze for a moment, a group of girls asked me to take their picture in front of the banner. Of course I agreed. They asked me if I also liked her, pointing to the poster, to which I replied, "Tani is my life". Because, well, she might as well be. I've spent the past 4 years of my life utterly amazed by her talent. I took their photo, had them take one of me, and proceeded to find the group I was meeting up with to grab my ticket, talk to some awesome fellow fans for the first time. My group was made up of Ingrid, Corinne, B, and myself. I've never met another Zuka or Tani fan in real life before, so the idea of talking to you guys about things like Tani's Snoopy obsession or Mizu forgetting the gun in Elisabeth was pretty awesome for me. Thank you Corinne for the Dino soap - that was so sweet of you! After we all got our tickets and made a quick trip to the bathroom (and thank god we did, since the line was impossibly long during intermission), we waited outside the doors to the seating area of the theater itself. All of us were buzzing with excitement, me and B promising each other we would cry when we saw Tani and Mizu, respectively. Around 1:45, they finally opened up the doors and let us in. An old lady let me go ahead of her in line, which I thought was super sweet - thank you kind lady! There was this one super cranky female usher who just kinda screamed "Are there two of you? Here! Take two playbills!" and practically threw them at us. We sat in Row C, which is the third row on the left side of the theater. There was no orchestra pit, so we were incredibly close to the stage. While we waited for the show to begin, we flipped22 through the playbill and played some Pokemon Go. The playbill was disappointing. There was only one small half-page ad featuring Komu and Zunko in the entire thing. It was cool to read the cast Bios in English. For example, Tani's mentions her books, "Fashionable Paris" and "Journey with Opera & Sweets". It wasn't until I read the program that realized that Fred Casely was being played by Kaon Yuki (OG who recently played Prof. Tomoe in myu) and that Manami Sora was in it as well (OG who recently played Saphir in myu). I also was reminded about a couple of other OGs who I kept an eye out for. Finally it approaching 2:00 and the show was about to begin.
PT 3. THE PERFORMANCE (FIRST HALF)
The show opens up and I can already feel the grin glued onto my face. The cast eases into the stage little by little as the intro to All That Jazz plays. Let me take a moment to mention the awesome band/orchestra they had onstage. It was really cool to actually see them onstage and appreciate how equally important they are to the show. When they're down in the pit, you often forget how involved and essential they are to the performance. Someone mentioned that the set was nearly identical to that of the Broadway performance, so I'm assuming that they're also located up there in the Broadway version, but either way it's a cool idea that more shows should take advantage of. Of course it makes more sense in a show like Chicago for them to be up there, since much of the show takes place in jazz clubs. Anyways, eventually Mizu made her way onto the stage. It was surreal. My first thought was that she seemed smaller than I ever pictured her. I guess I always picture top stars to be incredibly tall (except for tiny Komu) but she seemed so much more petite! Another one of my first thoughts, as weird as it may seem, was that the little sparkly dress that she wears for the first part of the show is much thinner and flowier than it seemed in photos. I always pictured it as a thicker fabric - perhaps velvety for glittery sparkles. In reality thigh, it looks more like a thin crepe or mesh fabric with delicate glittery sparkles all over. It was soooo sparkly! Mizu looked like she was having the time of her life for the entire show. She kept smiling and it just seemed like she was having a blast. She was cute and funny and delivered the punchlines at all the right times. There was a point in the show where one of the members of the chorus slipped, and I'm not sure whether or not it was supposed to happen, but Mizu pulled her back up and it was really sweet. Something I thought that was interesting is that her singing (and to some extent her speaking) voice was not all that different than it was in Takarazuka. I always thought that their low voices were at least partially forced, but it seems that it's actually their comfortable range. It was the same thing with Tani too. Only, her speaking voice was much higher than it was in Zuka (but with the singing sounded nearly identical to when she was an otokoyaku). Not that I minded their low voices. On the contrary. It's sultry and actually fits the roles of Velma and Roxie really well. When Tani walked onstage though. Oh jeez. I just couldn't believe it. I kept pretending to fix my hair just so I could see my fingers in front of my eyes and realize I wasn't watching a screen - that she truly was right before my eyes. Tani, unlike Mizu, did not seem very short to me XD while Mizu also has extremely long and thin legs - Tani's legs are on another level. Now don't get the wrong idea when I talk about her legs lol I don't mean it like that. What I'm saying is just that they were insanely thin. Like it almost made me nervous. They were basically skin and bones. I'm sure that's just how they naturally are (lucky her) but boy they looked almost frail. Mizu's legs at least looked like they had a little bit of meat around them to keep her safe. And maybe it's just because of Tani's huge boobs, but her waist looked itty bitty. It honestly made me worried about her - I hope she's not overworking herself. I mean, we all know Tani eats well XD but I still worry about her. Tani was PERFECT as Roxie. She was able to pull off being cute, sexy, and cunning all at once. Something that Corinne mentioned afterwards that I didn't realize during the show is that she never winked! At least not that we noticed. But she did make a ton of cute faces and noises. When Mary Sunshine was singing she would stare in awe at her, being the opera lover she is. And she clapped excitedly for her at the end. I don't think that was scripted. I think that was just Tani. She was super funny too. Beyond that, her and Mizu played really well off of each other. Now let me get to Mariko. Now, I've seen very few Asaji Saki shows, but I know that she's basically a Zuka legend. And I can see why. She totally commands the stage and her acting is spectacular. She's such old school Zuka class and charm, and was able to portray the gold digging Billy Flinn to a T. The way the chorus surrounded her with feathers and love just seemed so appropriate - in fact, I'm sure many of them looked up to her when they were growing up and probably still do. So I'm sure it was an awesome experience for all of them. Perhaps the only negative thing I can say about the show, is the subtitles. Now, I love that they did that. It was super helpful and I wouldn't have caught a bunch of the funny moments without them, however, they were a bit of a nuisance. They were located above the stage, meaning you really couldn't watch what was happening and read them at the same time. I kind of wish they had the lines scrolling below the stage as well, or something like that. I know the music well, so I didn't have to read them for most of the songs, but I did during the speaking parts, and I felt I kinda missed out on actually watching the show cause I was constantly staring up at the subtitles. Something interesting that I noticed as well, was that the subtitles were faithful to the original lyrics, rather than having translated versions of the Japanese lyrics. Many of the lines differed from the English version, of course, in order for it to make sense in Japanese and still flow well with the music. But it would've been interesting to see those lyrics instead of the ones that most of us already know. Not a big deal though. Just a thought. The subtitles also screwed up a bunch of punchlines. The crowd would be laughing at somethings that wasn't said yet - either because they had two lines up at a time, or simply because Japanese sentences are structured differently. I'm sure it was fine, but it just felt a bit awkward and I wondered if it was distracting or weird for the actresses. I wanna also briefly discuss the Mary Sunshine thing. She's obviously a problematic character. I've never seen the original Broadway version, and she's not portrayed in the movie, but I have a feeling that this production handled it a little bit better than the average one would. Basically, Mary Sunshine was a cross-dressing character, and the only male actor in the entire show. When she throws off her disguise at the end, it's supposed to be comical, but it just felt awkward for me since it felt a little insensitive. The reason why I feel like it actually kind of worked in this production is simply because of the irony that lies in its all-female cast. But beyond all that, Mary Sunshine's actor was an incredible talent who received tremendous applause at the end. The crowd seemed to be having a good time for the entire show. They cheered each time an actress came on and clapped each time a number finished. I was so nervous that there wouldn't be a great response, since it seemed like a lot people in the theater were older folks who had no idea what they were getting themselves into. Who knows what they thought of it. Honestly, I really want to know. I hope they enjoyed it as much as all the fans did.
PT 4. INTERMISSION
Intermission was slotted as being 15 minutes but I can tell you right now that it definitely was not 15 minutes. Granted, my concept of time isn't the greatest, but it's not that bad. In all honestly, the intermission couldn't have been more than 5 minutes. We got up out of our seats, took a group photo in front of the Tani banner and went back to our seats. The chimes to get back to our seats started before we even got outside to the banner. So I'm not sure what was up with that. It was fine though, since I was anxious to keep watching.
PT 5. PERFORMANCE - SECOND HALF AND ENCORE
The second half of the show was just as fun and spectacular as the first. It was perhaps even more exciting for me in some respects, since it had Tani & Mizu singing together in what’s probably my favorite Chicago song, “Nowadays”. Seeing the two of them perform together was totally surreal. In front of the sparkling curtain, the equally sparkly personalities burst forth. You could see that they were putting every ounce of their heart and soul into it, especially since it was their final performance in the main cast. During the curtain call, thankfully, there was a lot of enthusiasm coming from the crowd. Once Tani and Mizu came out to bow together, I turned to my group and gave them a look signaling that we should stand up, and turned and saw a few people behind us standing. Once we stood up, more followed. They received a standing ovation and they looked thrilled, and I was beaming. I was just so proud of them. Any fan knows what I mean. Even when you’re just watching a DVD or something, you see your stars and you’re just so damn proud of them and what they’ve been able to achieve. After the curtain call, Tani, Mizu, and Mariko walked onto the outer platform of the stage and spoke to the audience. They explained that they were from Takarazuka, where they had all been male-role stars. They talked about how they were so thankful that we gave them to a chance to perform in our world of entertainment, that they wanted to share their world with us. And out came the feathery tutus, with some of the girls making their way down the aisles. One of them tickled this guy behind me (he was probably in his 30s) with her feathers and he was so startled it was hilarious. Then the curtain came up and there was Mariko in front of the glittering “Takarazuka Encore” sign. Dressed in, of course, a sequin suit, I couldn’t believe I was watching an all-star Zuka performance. I know that I might not ever have the chance to go to Japan and see an actual Takarazuka performance, so I’m so thankful to have this opportunity. Then Tani and Mizu came out in their lovely dresses and it totally felt like one of those Revues were Tani got to wore a dress and everyone’s like “whoa! girly tani and her boobs!” even though she played a female part in this show. It still felt like that in that environment with her and Mizu dancing with dashing otokoyaku Mariko. Zunko performed next, and I felt like she got an underwhelming applause. I think it had less to do with her though and more to do with the fact that there just wasn’t much of a break in the music to create an appropriate applause. You know, like, you’re sitting there wanting to clap and cheer and show your appreciation, but you also don’t want to interrupt the performance. So you wait for the right moment. But there really wasn’t a good moment when Zunko was performing, which I felt bad about. Wataru joined her and by that point I was like “oh my god how is this real how am I seeing all these legends”. By the time Taka and Komu came out I was like “nope, I’m dead. this can’t be real. they can’t all be here”. Their outfits were interesting, to say the least, I must say. Especially Taka’s. Hers had a little window for her belly - which was teensy and super toned and all I could think was dear lord how is this woman almost 50 years old??? She does not age. None of them age, but seriously, Taka is a vampire. But it was when they all came out in the finale that I finally lost it. I saw Tani in that glittering outfit and those top star feathers strapped to her back and I couldn’t believe how lucky I was. I know that I will never be able to see Tani perform as a top star in Takarazuka, I was too late for that, but this was pretty damn close. Having all these people in front of me that I never thought I’d have the chance to see, singing Sumire no Hana, it just felt like an absolute dream. I couldn’t help but tear up at that point. Once again, there was a standing ovation and thunderous applause. I will remember that afternoon for the rest of my life.
PT 6. AFTER THE SHOW
Well, after the show ended we were basically all in a state of shock. Eventually we were able to come back into the real world a walk out of the main amphitheater seating area. We heard someone say to another group of people near us that the cast was going to be coming out of the doors in front of us, the ones that led into the theater. That didn’t make much sense to us, but we decided to wait there for a little while anyways, until we figured out where the stage doors were. Eventually, we learned that they were around the side (which made much more sense XD) and we waited there for some time. Eventually, some chorus members came out and some Japanese fans took photos with them and asked for their autographs. We continued to wait, staring down at the stage door below us, waiting for a glimpse of anyone. Finally, Taka came out. Then someone called to her, and she went back inside for a minute or two (she was probably waiting for her car to be there so she could make her quick exit). Dressed in a black tank top and sweatpants, her hair looking flawless, she put on her sunglasses, clutching her two phones (one in a Moschino windex case, the other in a case shaped like pink lips - both totally bulky and unpractical - if you want to see what they look like you can check her instagram), she finally walked out. I remember putting my hand over my mouth in disbelief as she walked up the stairs right in front of me. There was a guy with a camera following her around - I’m assuming he was filming something for her fan club or something. She was surrounded by a few people that followed her to her white car, I can only assume that they were fan club members. She promptly got into the car and drove off. While I figured that there wouldn’t be any sort of chance to sign anything or something because of the strict rules of fan clubs and Japanese society in general, I was kind of shocked by just how little she acknowledged the presence of those watching her nearby. I wasn’t offended by it, and knew that that’s just how it is, but it was surprising nonetheless. Some more time passed, and I was wondering if anyone else would come out. I was honestly happy enough with just getting to see Taka. The first Zuka show I ever got to watch was Kiss to the Flames, and for that reason, Taka holds a special place in my heart. On top of that, I’m just a huge fan of hers, and she has got to be in my top 3 favorite OGs. So I was thankful enough for that. Suddenly, however, 3 figures passed through the stage doorway. It took a moment to process who they were and that they were actually there. Out came Marika in a white suit with lace detailing and clutching a red handbag, Mizu in a gorgeous multi-color stained glass-like dress, and Tani in a black ruffle crop top, red ruffled skirt, and black stilettos. All of them were smiling, and I could feel Mizu smiling right at me for sure. As they walked by, everyone took a step back, making a straight pathway for them to make their way out of the plaza. We all just watched in awe as they walked off into the distance. I didn’t know if I could speak, I was in such a state of shock. B and I cried and hugged, not being able to believe that our lovely ladies just walked by us, mere inches away. It was brief, but it was the experience of a lifetime and I’m so thankful to have had the chance to be a part of it.
Japan’s famous musical theater troupe, the Takarazuka Revue, delivered a gorgeous production of the Tony Award–winning musical. See the production this week only: http://bit.ly/1YnhGTg
Photos by Stephanie Berger - part II - ENCORE
Japan’s famous musical theater troupe, the Takarazuka Revue, delivered a gorgeous production of the Tony Award–winning musical. See the production this week only: http://bit.ly/1YnhGTg
Photos by Stephanie Berger
