언제나 말로 표현하기 어려울 만큼의 사랑과 응원 덕분에 이번 작품도 잘 끝났어. 늘 고맙고 감사한 마음 잊지않을게.
You always give so much love and support that it’s hard to express in words, but thanks to that this work ended well too. I will never forget my gratitude and thankfulness.
I didn’t get to see Leo arrive today because I was busyㅠㅠ But he was cute when he left (despite him wearing a hat and walking fast combined with no light). He was being careful to look at everyone when he passed by, and I love that. Plus his Instagram post was so sweet! (This is a very non-Leo post, so you’ve been warned.)
I ended up bringing a notebook with me today, so I might remember more about Act 1. Act 2 however may be another story;;
Spoilers abound (and it probably won’t make much sense if you haven’t seen the play because it is all out of order;;)
One of the best things about seeing plays/musicals multiple times is seeing the actors meld deeper into their parts and become more comfortable with the play, their role, and one another. Not even two weeks since opening night, you can already see this improvement. Also, when you have parts double or triple cast, like this one, you get an added layer of intrigue(?) Not only does each actor bring a new perspective to a character, but they affect the actors around them and how they play off each other. It probably seems obvious that the actor in a role changes how the role is played, but I feel like that is easy to forget when you only see one cast. (I think it’s great how everyone kept their own characterization as well because seeing others play the part could influence your interpretation of a scene or the entire character. That’s what separates the pros from the fish(??) I guess.)
This brings me to Ock Joohyun. I first saw her in Mata last year and fell in love. I liked her so much that I worried I wouldn’t like Sophie, but then she brought an entirely different charm to the character making choosing between them impossible. This year we have Cha Jiyeon with her own charm, but Joohyun stole my heart already. I have so much to say about her Mata, I don’t even know where to begin. It may be silly, but my jaw literally dropped a little when I saw how she handled her cigarette. Having been around theatre and having worked with fake cigarettes, I can tell you that it can be awkward to know how to hold and play with one *coughleocough* (I’ll grant that he already improved with that though). It wasn’t just the cigarette though, that’s just what got me paying attention. All of her stage business brought her character to life.
Not only was how she handled the props and filled her space, just her playfulness in general is so charming. As an audience member, I don’t know how you can leave the theatre without falling for her. (Not only with Mata either. Every role she plays, she brings her personal charm onto the stage with her.) Her playfulness is where Mata’s confidence seems to stem from, but it also creates this amazing chemistry with all the other actors around her who can’t help but react to her.
My last specifically Joohyun note is that her line interpretation is to die for. Part of it is she always enunciates very clearly, but it’s also clear that she knows — is — Margaret. She brings her character’s playfulness to her line delivery and also something of her Mata from last year. It’s as if she slipped back into the “body” of Mata, but put on another outfit. She managed to bring some of what made her a charming Mata Hari last year into her new Mata. (Her “I chased them away” when she first meets Armand was such a throwbackㅠㅠ)
Speaking of bringing in elements from last year, it’s fun to see the scenes that were mentioned in conversation brought to the stage. (Have I mentioned that?) But it almost feels like a little secret among those who knew the 2016 version. I wonder what it would be like to see only this one without having the comparison. Actually, an acquaintance mentioned it is a shame how Katherine (Ladoux’s wife) has practically disappeared. I agree and can’t help missing her song to persuade Ladoux to throw Mata under the bus, as it were. However, if I put myself in the shoes of someone who only saw the new version, would I even care that Katherine fades into the background?
I don’t know if it is a matter of chemistry with Joohyun and having acted with her last year, but I thought Narae as Anna did so much better than the first night I saw her?? Perhaps Mata being more playful brings the same out in Anna, but their banter made them feel more like a mother and daughter. Funnily enough, Mata sometimes felt like the mother in their relationship. When Mata makes Anna kiss her forehead after fighting, and when Mata protects Anna after being arrested, Mata seems more like the mother figure. In a way, that made their relationship even more relatable for me because sometimes I feel like the mother with my mom, haha. That kind of mother-daughter relationship can become fluid once the “daughter” is old enough.
I also like the contrast between Anna joking with Mata and her snap into a distant, non-feeling servant-character when Ladoux enters the dressing room. This really emphasized her dependence on Mata and her role in life as a background character. (Honestly, Anna is arguably the most tragic character in the play. She lived her life through someone else, whose life also was pretty darn tough, and then has to live on after the person she cared for most is killed. I literally teared up a bit just thinking of this. Anna’s life would make a great spin-off book like those fairy tales told from an unexpected character’s perspective.)
The way Armand (Leo) just throws out super depressing facts about himself and his past makes his character even more tragic. He’s already accepted his position in life (and death). He grew up used to being beaten, saw most of his pilot buddies die, figures he won’t see the end of the war, and as baby Armand would run out and watch the puppet show when his parents fought. Yet all of this he reveals as if saying he used to run on the track team. Experiencing all of that and still living each day makes me think that without all those outside factors, he may have turned out more like the sweet Armand of the 2016 version of the play.
Armand’s life view goes right along with the new version of the crash song (If You Fall). Last year I remember thinking that it was dumb of the men to be so excited and ready to go die, but this year with the tone of the play, placement of the scene, and Armand’s characterization it has a different feel. Armand has already seen his friends die around him for a year, so even though he knows his mission is suicide, he seems to have realized and accepted it’s his time to die as well. However, being a soldier he has to help his subordinates get over their fear and just do their duty because they have to follow orders anyway, so they may as well do it courageously.
This is all so out of order chronologically;; Jumping back to the hotel scene in Lyon (this is the name in English, yes?), I loved how Joohyun handled the marionette and talked about her past. When Armand says that the two of them are so different, she responds, saying they aren’t that different, by moving the marionette as if it were her then Armand moves like a puppet when he replies. As Mata— Margaret—tells the story of her past, she cradles the doll as if it were her Louisa (or is it Louise;;). This is one of those times that Mata feels paradoxically both childlike and motherly.
The hotel scene really highlights the chemistry between Ock Joohyun and Leo, but honestly all of their scenes together are a joy to watch because you can see how comfortable they are together. They seem completely at ease with each other, and their teasing is just super fun. It may be that Leo just got more comfortable in his role in general, but the way he hugged Mata in the hotel was much more like a person actually would hug another person without being an awkward kid about it. My last note about them is that the way they sing together is...what’s another way to say super fun? Leo definitely is one of those kids who likes harmonizing with others, so when the two of them sang together, there was that added element. (I’m 99% sure that’s not how he and Jiyeon sang together.) This vocal chemistry(?) was very apparent when they sang C’est Le Vie out on Mata’s rooftop.
Another thing about Joohyun’s Mata that I liked was how she showed her inner nervousness (and feelings in general) to the audience. In particular, during the German general’s party, we saw her nervousness about her mission and being a spy when a spy was announced to be at the party. The other time she did this (showing inner emotions) was when she got off the train in Berlin to go see Armand in the hospital. I nearly laughed at her slouching and lowering her voice so as to not seem like Mata Hari.
Skipping forward again, one thing I liked about Ladoux’s song lamenting his actions prior to the court scene (All That We Had To Do) last year was that because Ladoux was such a bad guy, the song really showed that he knew he had gone too far. It served to show he wasn’t all bad. However, in the new version we already know that, so the song is perhaps not as revealing.
As for the court scene itself, or rather Mata’s dance break during it, Joohyun’s space work made the meaning of dance to her obvious. (It may be cheating because I saw an explanation she gave about the scene, but her actions were so clear that I think it would have been apparent anyway.) It was as if Louisa had become dance for her as well as her source of inner strength. Watching Mata then (and later when she cradled the last bouquet of flowers Anna brought her) made me think of Margaret as a mother. Somehow, until seeing the play this time, I had never really given that much thought to Mata as a mother. Yes, she had a child, but it mostly felt like she had just buried that part of her deep inside. This time, her motherliness was a constant part of her, even having lost her child.
I don’t know if it was the actors or me, but it was as if my ears and eyes were open to the story and drinking it in. Because I was so focused, I thought I wouldn’t cry (as if the emotional part of me was blocked by my absorption of the story). My eyes teared up a little a couple times, but I was fine. However, when Mata cried at Armand’s death, emotion took back over and a few tears escaped. (Honestly, how can you not cry when Ock Joohyun does though?) And Mata’s “One Last Time” is so heartbreaking, especially the kiss she blows when she is finally shotㅠㅠㅠㅠ Actually, that’s one thing about the last version it was a same to see go. I was talking to a friend, and she mentioned this as well. Not having the circular aspect of the play, opening and closing with the firing squad scene.
170210 Singing Battle (노래 싸움 승부) Ep. 16 Opening - One Day More (내일로) from Les Misérables [VIXX’s Leo & other musical actors]
They did that! They actually did THAT!! They really want me dead even before I watch tonight’s episode ;AAAA;
I already did a lengthy dying spazz post on Leo x Les Misérables so I’ll try to keep this short. HE FREAKING DID MARIUS’ PART AND JAVERT’S TOGETHER WITH JO KWON AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH
I really need someone to cast Jung Taekwoon in the next Korea staging of Les Mis, REALLY NEED!! PLS. SOMEONE MAKE THIS REAL
I CAN’T WAIT TO WATCH THIS TONIGHT!!!! DON’T FORGET!!! 8:30 PM KST ON KBS2!!
언제나 친누나처럼 선생님처럼 안아주고 가르쳐주시는 우리누나. 초연부터 재연 누나랑 막공까지 너무 즐겁고 행복했어요. 늘 고맙고 감사해!!
My noona who always teaches me like a real older sister, like a teacher. From the premiere to the last performance together for the encore, I had so much fun and was so happy. I’m always thankful and grateful!!
언제나 말로 표현하기 어려울 만큼의 사랑과 응원 덕분에 이번 작품도 잘 끝났어. 늘 고맙고 감사한 마음 잊지않을게.
You always give so much love and support that it’s hard to express in words, but thanks to that this work ended well too. I will never forget my gratitude and thankfulness.
Video:
Leo: 1-2-3!
*St★rlights sing ‘My Light’*
★: Taekrmand, we love you! Let’s be together for a long time!
[씬플예고] #씬플레이빌 8월호의 커버 모델들은 촬영장에 마련된 볼풀장에서 아이처럼 좋아했는데요. 그 현장 미리 공개합니다!!
곧 씬플 8월호에서 만나요 🌟🌟
#빅스 #vixx #레오 #켄 #택르망 #켄릿 #마타하리 #햄릿
[scenePLnotice] The cover models for the August issue of #scenePLAYBILL liked the ball pool on the set as if they were kids. We’re showing you in advance!!
See you in the August issue of scenePL 🌟🌟
After the last performance of the musical 「Mata Hari」, Leo left a message for Japanese Starlights. 「Today, the last performance of my musical ended without incident. I received a lot of support from Japan this time as well, so thank you so much. Thank you always.」
다시 만난 #택르망 반가웠어 💕
마지막 비행을 함께해준 별빛 고마워요 😘
-
#택르망_평생_약속할게_같은_길을_걷겠다고
#VIXX #LEO #마타하리 #아르망
It was nice to see you again #Taekrmand 💕
Thank you to the Starlights who were together for the last flight 😘
-
#Taekrmand_I_Promise_ToWalk_TheSameRoad_MyWholeLife
#VIXX #LEO #MataHari #Armand
