Dietrich: The Epic Report (Part 2/2)
This is the part where I try to string together my muddled throughts on the show. I hope it will not prove too electic!
To start with: I greatly enjoyed the show! Well, it was Taka-Hana together on stage, so I was bound to! But it had its good points and its bad points, of course, so I'll try to give it some sort of fair review.
In the unlikely event that you missed it, I posted a synopsis of the plot in Part 1.
For lack of a better order, I shall proceed by character and actor and then add some thoughts at the end.
Marlene Dietrich / Wao Yoka
Taka-chan's Marlene was beautiful, elegant and quite tragic at times. She played her with a great deal of dignity, so that Marlene came across as a strong woman who held her head up high and owned her decisions, but also with a lot of heart. Whether she was showing her emotions (crying on her mother's shoulder) or hiding them, the audience really felt for her. One bit that always got me was when her teenage daughter challenges her about her support for the US army and runs out saying she hates her. Marlene obviously realises that this is partly due to teenage rebellion, but one can see how the words must have stung her as she quietly turns back to Jean.
One critique I have about the character as a whole, though this may be due mainly to the script, is that I found her to be a little whitewashed. I know comparatively little of the real Marlene Dietrich, but she was by all accounts quite a hard woman. This show was intended to depict Marlene's private life, so it makes sense that we should see a sentimental side that does not exist in her public image. However, Taka-chan's Marlene seems positively angelic. She is kind, loving, brave and stalwart - perhaps tinged with a little bit of actress's ego and affectation, but this is balanced by her humility and gratitude towards her mother. It was almost Takarazuka-esque. It just seemed a rather...naïve portrayal of Marlene Dietrich's life.
This is not to say that the character was dehumanised or remote, though. We identified with her through her dilemmas, being torn between patriotism and her political views, between her loyalty to her husband and her love for Jean Gabin. She frequently had doubts, but she stuck to her path and eventually had to deal with the consequences of her actions - losing both her mother and Jean, and coming up against her countrymen's antagonism. This made the character very human indeed and Taka-chan played her from the heart, so it was easy to connect with her and feel Marlene's emotions.
Of course, Taka-chan is always Taka-chan; she does have a few unique acting habits which seem to span across all her characters and give her away instantly. As with Velma. But her fans love her for it. :D
Looks
She was absolutely gorgeous. The blonde hair suited her far better than I expected, thanks in great part to the beautiful wigs of golden hair. (See the pictures I linked to in Part 1 for evidence of this. :) )
Her costumes were all nice, varied, and, apart possibly from her army slacks, were all convincingly period. She wore some lovely feminine clothes, including a pink skirt suit, the ridiculous outfit (top hat, short skirt, stockings and suspenders) from “The Blue Angel”, a lovely elegant blue full-body trouser...thing. But she also donned a khaki army shirt and slacks when visiting the soldier camps and a formal military uniform in her fundraising number. Her final costume was a white tailcoat, which was perhaps a concession to her fans (and made up a bit for the lack of a black tuxedo - seen only in the programme T_T ).
Most surprising to me was the way in which I hardly even noticed that she was wearing all this female attire. After a period of fretting over Taka-chan's conversion to being a feminine actress and dreading the day she would start wearing skirts and dresses, I realise that the shift in my mind must have occurred at some point in the last couple of years, because it wasn't until after my first viewing of this show that I realised that I had just seen Taka-chan in quite a few skirts and never blinked. Perhaps I was desensitised by Velma - though she was a bit unusual in having only two costumes, both very short dresses, which lacked verisimilitude. Marlene, on the other hand, was quite believable and very elegant.
I might add as an amusing addendum that Taka-chan said at the party that she was worried about the Blue Angel costume, but that since every photo showed this costume, she would just have to wear it! In actual fact, I observed that the skirt was much longer on Taka-chan than it was on Marlene Dietrich and the suspenders were not visible at all. What is she afraid of, anyhow? We've already seen it all in Chicago. :)
Singing
Taka-chan's singing was really nice in this. She sang not in her deepest otokoyaku voice, but also not in a forced high voice. The real Dietrich had a very deep voice, of course, so Taka-chan was quite well suited to the part anyway. She had some high notes, which she doesn't really have the voice for, but she hit them fine and never had to hold them, so it wasn't too bad.
I mention this partly because in the recent Christmas Dinner Show, she did a few pop songs in which she sang in her higher nasal voice and the result was really rather cringe-inducing (Michael Jackson's “I'll Be There” sticks out particularly, but that is a topic for another post).
Dancing
Unfortunately, she had hardly any dancing at all, which was a shame from her fans' point of view. The only number in which she danced was the fundraiser, which was fun but quite nothing very elaborate. Of course, the real Dietrich was no dancer, so this was not especially out of character. I just miss Taka-chan's dancing. ;)
Edith Piaf / Hanafusa Mari
I thought O-Hana was splendid as Edith Piaf! (but then I think O-Hana is splendid in practically everything....) She was completely convincing as the slightly out of control French singer, all highs and lows and running after the wrong sort of men. There was a great line when she loses her calm and wants to cancel her concert and she complains that everyone is speaking English everywhere!
Interestingly, Piaf was given the most romantic scenes, instead of Dietrich. She had that sweet love scene in the dressing room with Marcel and the duet dance. Now, I'm going to make a small confession, which is costing me a lot as a Taka-Hana combi fan: O-Hana's scene with Marcel was wonderful and she looked utterly in love with him.
At one point, he encourages her to take a few punches at him, which she playfully does, before standing on tiptoe and wrapping her arms around his neck in a way that made my heart melt every time. Well, I already knew that Hana's great talent was to make her partners look good and seem to adore them. It seems she can do this just as well with the young man playing Marcel as with Taka-chan (heresy!!!)
She lost a little of her gritty Piaf-ness when playing the role of the woman in love and reverted to the innocent Takarazuka heroine. She sang in a higher voice (perhaps meant to be her inner voice, rather than her performing one?) and danced with almost childish happiness. Marcel seemed the perfect gentleman and only ever hugged her and kissed her on the forehead.
This was obviously an artistic decision and served to contrast with Piaf's previous abusive relationships and showed that Marcel was Piaf's one great love, rendering his death more tragic as a result.
Then there was her final scene, when she learns of Marcel's death, but I will come back to that a bit further down. She certainly injected a lot of emotion into the scene, which must have been quite hard, since she had only a minute or two offstage to go from “happily walking with her lover” to “completely devastated”.
Looks
O-Hana made a really cute Edith Piaf, with her curly brown hair. :)
She only got two costumes, but they were faithfully modelled on the sort of thing Edith Piaf really wore: little black dresses. They were both attractive and cleverly designed to make her somehow seem much smaller than she really is (or perhaps that was all a credit to her acting skill!)
Singing
Piaf got two singing numbers set in the bar in Paris ("La Goualante du Pauvre Jean" and "Padam Padam"), both of which were highly enjoyable! She also had a few lines in "Bonsoir" and sang a section of "Hymne a l'Amour" with Marlene after Marcel had died.
Playing one of the most famous singers of the 20th century, O-Hana had her work cut out for her, but she pulled it off pretty well! She tried to mimic Piaf and sang in a low rough chest voice, which was quite different from her high musumeyaku voice. In some ways, it was not as pleasant to listen to, as I think O-Hana's talent perhaps lies in her angelic high voice, but for this part, it was appropriate. And personally, I liked her rough Piaf voice. :D
Dancing
The first number in the bar was a favourite of mine, as it involved walking over tables and being picked up in her chair by a group of men - whee!
But here O-Hana really shone was in the duet dance with Marcel, to "La Vie En Rose". Piaf was supposed not to know how to dance, so she made some intentional clumsy blunders (à la Gigi in Legend of Revue), but ultimately her dancing was lovely. It was very much in the style of a Takarazuka duet dance and O-Hana was completely in her element.
The best bit was when Marcel picks her up and twirls her round, perched on just one shoulder. She looks so petite and pleased with herself! (and much as I love Takarazuka, no otokoyaku could have pulled off a lift like that ;) )
Travis Banton / Suzuki Soma
Was camp. Oh, so very camp. :)
I found it quite surprising that before the show the press thought it relevant to report that this was the actor's first role as a gay man. It seemed as if “gay” was a category all on its own that bore no relation to other parts. Then again, this is musical theatre and as anyone who has seen The Producers can confirm, they are certainly not afraid of camping up the gays.
So Travis was very camp and milked it for laughs from the audience. And he was indeed very funny! But you still got a sense that he was immensely fond of Marlene, as he stuck with her throughout her career, up to the end when she returned to Berlin.
His real moment in the splotlight was when he'd come out at the front of the audience after Marlene's fundraiser event and hand out some flyers. He directed the audience to applaud and then cut them off with a gesture. By the time I saw the show, the audience had already had a lot of practice at this and he would make remarks about how good we had got at it - "Have you been practising or something?"
Josephine (Marlene's mother) / Kon Yoko
She was great, very convincing. She sang fairly well, though I wasn't too keen on her vibrato. Though one only got to see one side of the character, her scenes with Marlene were very touching - you honestly felt that she wished the best for her daughter. They had some proper hugs too, not those half-baked “oh, I shall put my arms round you very quickly, dahlin'” fake hugs.
Jean Gabin / Miyakawa Hiroshi
I must say he was rather gorgeous. He looked surprisingly like a Frenchman and very dishy indeed with his leather jacket and moustache! He was quite a standard broody hero, but a good match for Marlene. His singing was very nice, too, so it was always a pleasure to watch him.
One problem with Jean, which was not the actor's fault but the script writer's or director's or both, was simply that although he was the romantic hero, or at least Marlene's main love interest, there were no real love scenes between them! They hardly even touch, though he does hug her - once.
The viewers are told about Jean and Marlene's “passionate love”, but after seeing them introduced in a scene where the most they do is sing the French National Anthem together, we then only see them splitting up - twice! I don't think all musicals should centre around a romantic love story, but this show was about Marlene's "life and loves" - at least one scene would have seemed reasonable to establish Jean Gabin and Marlene as a couple!
Of course, the reason that immediately springs to mind for the lack of it is fear that Wao's fans may have felt discomfort at watching her do a love scene (shock!), and what's more, with a man (gasp!). I also have a kneejerk reaction to this, but...Taka-chan is an actress. It should be OK to watch her character have a moment with the love of her life. As long as it's tame. ;)
Maria (Marlene's daughter) / Mahiro Erika
Ok, so I only realised this halfway through, but this is Mahiro Shun, the little otokoyaku from Hoshigumi who retired last year! I have seen her in the Aida shinko! Ee!
Maria was great too. She was very convincing as the teenage Maria - her clothing and attitude helped to make her seem much younger. She was also rather lovely as a well dressed young lady of the 1950s, petulant but also supportive of her mother. She was suitably cute and trim, while still contrasting somewhat with her tall glamorous mother.
During the scene at the end in Berlin where they meet the protesters, Maria has a line in which she defends her mother's German origins and patriotism. In the Tokyo senshuraku, she gripped Marlene's hand and they held onto each other - it was very sweet. :)
One small final comment on the character of Maria: I think they should have had a real little girl to play her as a child. Marlene faces the difficult of leaving Maria with her grandmother while she goes to Hollywood and then comes up to pick them both up later, taking only Maria in the end - in both of these scenes, I felt that the appearance of a real little girl (instead of just the mention of one) would have had a lot more impact. She could also have been scared by the Nazis in the scene when they come to threaten Marlene's mother. Ah well, I guess getting child actors isn't always easy...
Ernest Hemingway / Yokouchi Tadashi
He was the narrator for the show, as well as becoming a supportive older friend for Marlene. Hemingway was rather lovely, as he had a very compelling deep voice and sang beautifully. He also looked like Ernest Hemingway, but I think that might just have been the beard. ;)
Marcel Cerdan / Sakuragi Ryosuke
Marcel was a very earnest and kind young lover. Again, possibly a slightly too perfect portrayal of the real man, though it is fair to say that for the purposes of this show the whole relationship between him and Piaf was romanticised, as it is never mentioned that the real Marcel Cerdan was already married with kids when he was romancing Edith Piaf!
He was a very good dancer, though, and as I said above, his number with O-Hana was excessively sweet. :)
And to finish with, a few assorted thoughts...
More Dietrich numbers?
One of my initial reactions to the show was a little disappointment that they did not capitalise more on the character of Marlene Dietrich and the fact that she was a glamorous stage and screen actress. Where were the vaudeville numbers? Where were the feathers? Where were the black tailcoats?
Most of the show concerns itself with Marlene's private life and apart from "Lili Marlene" and "Where Have All The Flowers Gone?", a lot of her songs are of the generic musical “sing one's feelings” type. She only has one stage number, the fundraiser in Act I, in which she sings a medley of American songs (such as "Home On the Range"). As for her activity as an actress, the Blue Angel scene in Act I only lasts a few moments - she sings a line or two, poses, is hired on the spot and then pulls a dressing gown over her glamorous costume and changes into low heels.
Although the show was not meant to be about Dietrich's acting career, I felt there was some potential for shoehorning in more singing and dancing numbers that was lost. Edith Piaf had two singing numbers and a lovely duet dance!
And in the same vein, although Dietrich was quite well known for cross-dressing, there really wasn't much of that either, which is surprising given that they chose an ex-otokoyaku to play her! The military uniform was arguably feminine (I'm sure Rosemary Clooney wore a similar one in White Christmas) and the white tailcoat at the end was more of an opportunity for Taka-chan to look good in white. It didn't really convey the idea that Dietrich had been part of the alternative scene in 1920s Berlin.
On the other hand, the show was about certain aspects of Dietrich's life and had to edit out certain parts of real history. We have to see this as one particular take on Dietrich.
Return of the Taka-Hana Combi
The newspapers actually reported on this. Here, here and here.
It was clear in this production that, although the initial idea and script came from someone else, Taka-chan and O-Hana must have had a lot of say in the direction of this show. There were enough nods to the fans to make it pretty evident!
There were not too many scenes between Marlene and Piaf, but let's go through them...
- Marlene first sees Piaf in a bar in Paris and watches her sing, while calmly dragging on a cigarette. They first talk after she galantly rescues her from her boyfriend (ding!).
- They meet again years later in New York, where Dietrich has come to pay Piaf a visit backstage. Piaf is really pleased to see Marlene who tenders a bottle of champagne and a rose, saying “はい、お花。” (“Hai, o-hana!”, “Here, a flower.”) (ding!). They then sit down and Piaf gives Marlene a box of chocolates, from which Marlene extracts one chocolate and pops it into Piaf's mouth (ding!!). Then they sing ”Someone to Watch Over Me” together (ding!!!) and in her enthusiasm Piaf flings her shawl around Marlene, capturing her with it (ding ding ding!!!).
Then the fanservice scene is interrupted by Marcel entering and stealing all Piaf's attention. Marlene comments that she has cheered Piaf up and makes her exit. (Anecdote: at the Tokyo senshuraku, after saying this, Marlene added "感謝しろ。” (“Kansha shiro.”, “You should thank me!”), to the audience's amusement!)
- And finally the infamous scene between Marlene and Piaf, after Marcel has just died.
It starts with Marlene comforting Piaf and gently shaking her. Piaf snipes at her, but Marlene, as a good friend, sticks by her and drags her to her feet. She helps her sing again, hugging her and supporting her, then finally turning her towards the audience to stand on her own two feet and retreating into the background. It is a good scene that shows Marlene struggling to lend some of her own strength to her friend and help her get over her misfortune.
But at times, it did seem a bit unnecessarily...long? Melodramatic? For example, I'm not sure they really needed to add on the bit where Piaf collapses and Marlene collects her up in her arms, cradles her face and sings over her, in a manner eerily reminiscent of Manrico holding the dying Leonora in his arms in Honoo (just look at the pictures!). Can we say "over the top"? :P
No-one can say I am not a Taka-Hana fan, but I felt a bit of a shift in focus at that point - as if the plot was stretched around a bit so that the most dramatic and emotional scene in the show was between Taka-chan and O-Hana. Then again, perhaps it WAS the most emotional scene BECAUSE it was Taka-Hana...
Well, anyhow, I felt that a fair review should mention this, even though the other half of me was quite happy to sit there and watch the Taka-Hana magic with dewy eyes. We fans of the Taka-Hana combi are unbelievably lucky that they still perform together - long may this continue! :D
Aaaand...that's it! At least, until I think of any details I've forgotten! :)
ETA: I did forget something, of course.
Conclusion
I meant to make a broad comment on how interesting it was to see an original show about a German-American woman and various European characters in the Second World War written, directed and acted by an all-Japanese cast and staff. Naturally, it's not the first of its kind, but it remains somewhat unusual. In many ways, it was reminiscent of Never Say Goodbye, while being a much smaller project with no need to conform to Takarazuka's pre-decided format.
Although I expressed disappointment at there not being more light-hearted singing and dancing, this certainly meant that the plot was not just an excuse for stringing together a series of existing numbers, but a story that the writer really wanted to tell. A story about Marlene Dietrich, but also a story about Europe and a statement against war.
The scene in Paris in which everyone gets up and sings La Marseillaise is really quite moving - even in Japanese! (I could hardly help mouthing the words in French, with what little patriotism I am imbued with... ;) ) The portrayal of the misery in Berlin some 15 years after the war was very poignant too. Marlene may get off a little too easily, but not everything in the show is black and white.
I was just glad that someone thought it worthwhile to research and write a show about this, and that Taka-chan and O-Hana thought it worth taking part in. (On a related note, Taka-chan continues by her own admission to choose the roles of strong women. And I wish her all the best in this endeavour. :D )
So yes, Taka-Hana, since Europe is flavour du jour, how about a trip to, oh, say, BERLIN? Or PARIS? Somewhere else I can get to in less than 4 hours? Non? :D
As a closing note, we were told at the party that there would be no DVD of the show. More's the pity, cos I miss Taka-chan in a blond wig already. On the other hand, according to the WFC, they will release a CD of the music in Dietrich! So it's not all bad. :)
To start with: I greatly enjoyed the show! Well, it was Taka-Hana together on stage, so I was bound to! But it had its good points and its bad points, of course, so I'll try to give it some sort of fair review.
In the unlikely event that you missed it, I posted a synopsis of the plot in Part 1.
For lack of a better order, I shall proceed by character and actor and then add some thoughts at the end.
Marlene Dietrich / Wao Yoka
Taka-chan's Marlene was beautiful, elegant and quite tragic at times. She played her with a great deal of dignity, so that Marlene came across as a strong woman who held her head up high and owned her decisions, but also with a lot of heart. Whether she was showing her emotions (crying on her mother's shoulder) or hiding them, the audience really felt for her. One bit that always got me was when her teenage daughter challenges her about her support for the US army and runs out saying she hates her. Marlene obviously realises that this is partly due to teenage rebellion, but one can see how the words must have stung her as she quietly turns back to Jean.
One critique I have about the character as a whole, though this may be due mainly to the script, is that I found her to be a little whitewashed. I know comparatively little of the real Marlene Dietrich, but she was by all accounts quite a hard woman. This show was intended to depict Marlene's private life, so it makes sense that we should see a sentimental side that does not exist in her public image. However, Taka-chan's Marlene seems positively angelic. She is kind, loving, brave and stalwart - perhaps tinged with a little bit of actress's ego and affectation, but this is balanced by her humility and gratitude towards her mother. It was almost Takarazuka-esque. It just seemed a rather...naïve portrayal of Marlene Dietrich's life.
This is not to say that the character was dehumanised or remote, though. We identified with her through her dilemmas, being torn between patriotism and her political views, between her loyalty to her husband and her love for Jean Gabin. She frequently had doubts, but she stuck to her path and eventually had to deal with the consequences of her actions - losing both her mother and Jean, and coming up against her countrymen's antagonism. This made the character very human indeed and Taka-chan played her from the heart, so it was easy to connect with her and feel Marlene's emotions.
Of course, Taka-chan is always Taka-chan; she does have a few unique acting habits which seem to span across all her characters and give her away instantly. As with Velma. But her fans love her for it. :D
Looks
She was absolutely gorgeous. The blonde hair suited her far better than I expected, thanks in great part to the beautiful wigs of golden hair. (See the pictures I linked to in Part 1 for evidence of this. :) )
Her costumes were all nice, varied, and, apart possibly from her army slacks, were all convincingly period. She wore some lovely feminine clothes, including a pink skirt suit, the ridiculous outfit (top hat, short skirt, stockings and suspenders) from “The Blue Angel”, a lovely elegant blue full-body trouser...thing. But she also donned a khaki army shirt and slacks when visiting the soldier camps and a formal military uniform in her fundraising number. Her final costume was a white tailcoat, which was perhaps a concession to her fans (and made up a bit for the lack of a black tuxedo - seen only in the programme T_T ).
Most surprising to me was the way in which I hardly even noticed that she was wearing all this female attire. After a period of fretting over Taka-chan's conversion to being a feminine actress and dreading the day she would start wearing skirts and dresses, I realise that the shift in my mind must have occurred at some point in the last couple of years, because it wasn't until after my first viewing of this show that I realised that I had just seen Taka-chan in quite a few skirts and never blinked. Perhaps I was desensitised by Velma - though she was a bit unusual in having only two costumes, both very short dresses, which lacked verisimilitude. Marlene, on the other hand, was quite believable and very elegant.
I might add as an amusing addendum that Taka-chan said at the party that she was worried about the Blue Angel costume, but that since every photo showed this costume, she would just have to wear it! In actual fact, I observed that the skirt was much longer on Taka-chan than it was on Marlene Dietrich and the suspenders were not visible at all. What is she afraid of, anyhow? We've already seen it all in Chicago. :)
Singing
Taka-chan's singing was really nice in this. She sang not in her deepest otokoyaku voice, but also not in a forced high voice. The real Dietrich had a very deep voice, of course, so Taka-chan was quite well suited to the part anyway. She had some high notes, which she doesn't really have the voice for, but she hit them fine and never had to hold them, so it wasn't too bad.
I mention this partly because in the recent Christmas Dinner Show, she did a few pop songs in which she sang in her higher nasal voice and the result was really rather cringe-inducing (Michael Jackson's “I'll Be There” sticks out particularly, but that is a topic for another post).
Dancing
Unfortunately, she had hardly any dancing at all, which was a shame from her fans' point of view. The only number in which she danced was the fundraiser, which was fun but quite nothing very elaborate. Of course, the real Dietrich was no dancer, so this was not especially out of character. I just miss Taka-chan's dancing. ;)
Edith Piaf / Hanafusa Mari
I thought O-Hana was splendid as Edith Piaf! (but then I think O-Hana is splendid in practically everything....) She was completely convincing as the slightly out of control French singer, all highs and lows and running after the wrong sort of men. There was a great line when she loses her calm and wants to cancel her concert and she complains that everyone is speaking English everywhere!
Interestingly, Piaf was given the most romantic scenes, instead of Dietrich. She had that sweet love scene in the dressing room with Marcel and the duet dance. Now, I'm going to make a small confession, which is costing me a lot as a Taka-Hana combi fan: O-Hana's scene with Marcel was wonderful and she looked utterly in love with him.
At one point, he encourages her to take a few punches at him, which she playfully does, before standing on tiptoe and wrapping her arms around his neck in a way that made my heart melt every time. Well, I already knew that Hana's great talent was to make her partners look good and seem to adore them. It seems she can do this just as well with the young man playing Marcel as with Taka-chan (heresy!!!)
She lost a little of her gritty Piaf-ness when playing the role of the woman in love and reverted to the innocent Takarazuka heroine. She sang in a higher voice (perhaps meant to be her inner voice, rather than her performing one?) and danced with almost childish happiness. Marcel seemed the perfect gentleman and only ever hugged her and kissed her on the forehead.
This was obviously an artistic decision and served to contrast with Piaf's previous abusive relationships and showed that Marcel was Piaf's one great love, rendering his death more tragic as a result.
Then there was her final scene, when she learns of Marcel's death, but I will come back to that a bit further down. She certainly injected a lot of emotion into the scene, which must have been quite hard, since she had only a minute or two offstage to go from “happily walking with her lover” to “completely devastated”.
Looks
O-Hana made a really cute Edith Piaf, with her curly brown hair. :)
She only got two costumes, but they were faithfully modelled on the sort of thing Edith Piaf really wore: little black dresses. They were both attractive and cleverly designed to make her somehow seem much smaller than she really is (or perhaps that was all a credit to her acting skill!)
Singing
Piaf got two singing numbers set in the bar in Paris ("La Goualante du Pauvre Jean" and "Padam Padam"), both of which were highly enjoyable! She also had a few lines in "Bonsoir" and sang a section of "Hymne a l'Amour" with Marlene after Marcel had died.
Playing one of the most famous singers of the 20th century, O-Hana had her work cut out for her, but she pulled it off pretty well! She tried to mimic Piaf and sang in a low rough chest voice, which was quite different from her high musumeyaku voice. In some ways, it was not as pleasant to listen to, as I think O-Hana's talent perhaps lies in her angelic high voice, but for this part, it was appropriate. And personally, I liked her rough Piaf voice. :D
Dancing
The first number in the bar was a favourite of mine, as it involved walking over tables and being picked up in her chair by a group of men - whee!
But here O-Hana really shone was in the duet dance with Marcel, to "La Vie En Rose". Piaf was supposed not to know how to dance, so she made some intentional clumsy blunders (à la Gigi in Legend of Revue), but ultimately her dancing was lovely. It was very much in the style of a Takarazuka duet dance and O-Hana was completely in her element.
The best bit was when Marcel picks her up and twirls her round, perched on just one shoulder. She looks so petite and pleased with herself! (and much as I love Takarazuka, no otokoyaku could have pulled off a lift like that ;) )
Travis Banton / Suzuki Soma
Was camp. Oh, so very camp. :)
I found it quite surprising that before the show the press thought it relevant to report that this was the actor's first role as a gay man. It seemed as if “gay” was a category all on its own that bore no relation to other parts. Then again, this is musical theatre and as anyone who has seen The Producers can confirm, they are certainly not afraid of camping up the gays.
So Travis was very camp and milked it for laughs from the audience. And he was indeed very funny! But you still got a sense that he was immensely fond of Marlene, as he stuck with her throughout her career, up to the end when she returned to Berlin.
His real moment in the splotlight was when he'd come out at the front of the audience after Marlene's fundraiser event and hand out some flyers. He directed the audience to applaud and then cut them off with a gesture. By the time I saw the show, the audience had already had a lot of practice at this and he would make remarks about how good we had got at it - "Have you been practising or something?"
Josephine (Marlene's mother) / Kon Yoko
She was great, very convincing. She sang fairly well, though I wasn't too keen on her vibrato. Though one only got to see one side of the character, her scenes with Marlene were very touching - you honestly felt that she wished the best for her daughter. They had some proper hugs too, not those half-baked “oh, I shall put my arms round you very quickly, dahlin'” fake hugs.
Jean Gabin / Miyakawa Hiroshi
I must say he was rather gorgeous. He looked surprisingly like a Frenchman and very dishy indeed with his leather jacket and moustache! He was quite a standard broody hero, but a good match for Marlene. His singing was very nice, too, so it was always a pleasure to watch him.
One problem with Jean, which was not the actor's fault but the script writer's or director's or both, was simply that although he was the romantic hero, or at least Marlene's main love interest, there were no real love scenes between them! They hardly even touch, though he does hug her - once.
The viewers are told about Jean and Marlene's “passionate love”, but after seeing them introduced in a scene where the most they do is sing the French National Anthem together, we then only see them splitting up - twice! I don't think all musicals should centre around a romantic love story, but this show was about Marlene's "life and loves" - at least one scene would have seemed reasonable to establish Jean Gabin and Marlene as a couple!
Of course, the reason that immediately springs to mind for the lack of it is fear that Wao's fans may have felt discomfort at watching her do a love scene (shock!), and what's more, with a man (gasp!). I also have a kneejerk reaction to this, but...Taka-chan is an actress. It should be OK to watch her character have a moment with the love of her life. As long as it's tame. ;)
Maria (Marlene's daughter) / Mahiro Erika
Ok, so I only realised this halfway through, but this is Mahiro Shun, the little otokoyaku from Hoshigumi who retired last year! I have seen her in the Aida shinko! Ee!
Maria was great too. She was very convincing as the teenage Maria - her clothing and attitude helped to make her seem much younger. She was also rather lovely as a well dressed young lady of the 1950s, petulant but also supportive of her mother. She was suitably cute and trim, while still contrasting somewhat with her tall glamorous mother.
During the scene at the end in Berlin where they meet the protesters, Maria has a line in which she defends her mother's German origins and patriotism. In the Tokyo senshuraku, she gripped Marlene's hand and they held onto each other - it was very sweet. :)
One small final comment on the character of Maria: I think they should have had a real little girl to play her as a child. Marlene faces the difficult of leaving Maria with her grandmother while she goes to Hollywood and then comes up to pick them both up later, taking only Maria in the end - in both of these scenes, I felt that the appearance of a real little girl (instead of just the mention of one) would have had a lot more impact. She could also have been scared by the Nazis in the scene when they come to threaten Marlene's mother. Ah well, I guess getting child actors isn't always easy...
Ernest Hemingway / Yokouchi Tadashi
He was the narrator for the show, as well as becoming a supportive older friend for Marlene. Hemingway was rather lovely, as he had a very compelling deep voice and sang beautifully. He also looked like Ernest Hemingway, but I think that might just have been the beard. ;)
Marcel Cerdan / Sakuragi Ryosuke
Marcel was a very earnest and kind young lover. Again, possibly a slightly too perfect portrayal of the real man, though it is fair to say that for the purposes of this show the whole relationship between him and Piaf was romanticised, as it is never mentioned that the real Marcel Cerdan was already married with kids when he was romancing Edith Piaf!
He was a very good dancer, though, and as I said above, his number with O-Hana was excessively sweet. :)
And to finish with, a few assorted thoughts...
More Dietrich numbers?
One of my initial reactions to the show was a little disappointment that they did not capitalise more on the character of Marlene Dietrich and the fact that she was a glamorous stage and screen actress. Where were the vaudeville numbers? Where were the feathers? Where were the black tailcoats?
Most of the show concerns itself with Marlene's private life and apart from "Lili Marlene" and "Where Have All The Flowers Gone?", a lot of her songs are of the generic musical “sing one's feelings” type. She only has one stage number, the fundraiser in Act I, in which she sings a medley of American songs (such as "Home On the Range"). As for her activity as an actress, the Blue Angel scene in Act I only lasts a few moments - she sings a line or two, poses, is hired on the spot and then pulls a dressing gown over her glamorous costume and changes into low heels.
Although the show was not meant to be about Dietrich's acting career, I felt there was some potential for shoehorning in more singing and dancing numbers that was lost. Edith Piaf had two singing numbers and a lovely duet dance!
And in the same vein, although Dietrich was quite well known for cross-dressing, there really wasn't much of that either, which is surprising given that they chose an ex-otokoyaku to play her! The military uniform was arguably feminine (I'm sure Rosemary Clooney wore a similar one in White Christmas) and the white tailcoat at the end was more of an opportunity for Taka-chan to look good in white. It didn't really convey the idea that Dietrich had been part of the alternative scene in 1920s Berlin.
On the other hand, the show was about certain aspects of Dietrich's life and had to edit out certain parts of real history. We have to see this as one particular take on Dietrich.
Return of the Taka-Hana Combi
The newspapers actually reported on this. Here, here and here.
It was clear in this production that, although the initial idea and script came from someone else, Taka-chan and O-Hana must have had a lot of say in the direction of this show. There were enough nods to the fans to make it pretty evident!
There were not too many scenes between Marlene and Piaf, but let's go through them...
- Marlene first sees Piaf in a bar in Paris and watches her sing, while calmly dragging on a cigarette. They first talk after she galantly rescues her from her boyfriend (ding!).
- They meet again years later in New York, where Dietrich has come to pay Piaf a visit backstage. Piaf is really pleased to see Marlene who tenders a bottle of champagne and a rose, saying “はい、お花。” (“Hai, o-hana!”, “Here, a flower.”) (ding!). They then sit down and Piaf gives Marlene a box of chocolates, from which Marlene extracts one chocolate and pops it into Piaf's mouth (ding!!). Then they sing ”Someone to Watch Over Me” together (ding!!!) and in her enthusiasm Piaf flings her shawl around Marlene, capturing her with it (ding ding ding!!!).
Then the fanservice scene is interrupted by Marcel entering and stealing all Piaf's attention. Marlene comments that she has cheered Piaf up and makes her exit. (Anecdote: at the Tokyo senshuraku, after saying this, Marlene added "感謝しろ。” (“Kansha shiro.”, “You should thank me!”), to the audience's amusement!)
- And finally the infamous scene between Marlene and Piaf, after Marcel has just died.
It starts with Marlene comforting Piaf and gently shaking her. Piaf snipes at her, but Marlene, as a good friend, sticks by her and drags her to her feet. She helps her sing again, hugging her and supporting her, then finally turning her towards the audience to stand on her own two feet and retreating into the background. It is a good scene that shows Marlene struggling to lend some of her own strength to her friend and help her get over her misfortune.
But at times, it did seem a bit unnecessarily...long? Melodramatic? For example, I'm not sure they really needed to add on the bit where Piaf collapses and Marlene collects her up in her arms, cradles her face and sings over her, in a manner eerily reminiscent of Manrico holding the dying Leonora in his arms in Honoo (just look at the pictures!). Can we say "over the top"? :P
No-one can say I am not a Taka-Hana fan, but I felt a bit of a shift in focus at that point - as if the plot was stretched around a bit so that the most dramatic and emotional scene in the show was between Taka-chan and O-Hana. Then again, perhaps it WAS the most emotional scene BECAUSE it was Taka-Hana...
Well, anyhow, I felt that a fair review should mention this, even though the other half of me was quite happy to sit there and watch the Taka-Hana magic with dewy eyes. We fans of the Taka-Hana combi are unbelievably lucky that they still perform together - long may this continue! :D
Aaaand...that's it! At least, until I think of any details I've forgotten! :)
ETA: I did forget something, of course.
Conclusion
I meant to make a broad comment on how interesting it was to see an original show about a German-American woman and various European characters in the Second World War written, directed and acted by an all-Japanese cast and staff. Naturally, it's not the first of its kind, but it remains somewhat unusual. In many ways, it was reminiscent of Never Say Goodbye, while being a much smaller project with no need to conform to Takarazuka's pre-decided format.
Although I expressed disappointment at there not being more light-hearted singing and dancing, this certainly meant that the plot was not just an excuse for stringing together a series of existing numbers, but a story that the writer really wanted to tell. A story about Marlene Dietrich, but also a story about Europe and a statement against war.
The scene in Paris in which everyone gets up and sings La Marseillaise is really quite moving - even in Japanese! (I could hardly help mouthing the words in French, with what little patriotism I am imbued with... ;) ) The portrayal of the misery in Berlin some 15 years after the war was very poignant too. Marlene may get off a little too easily, but not everything in the show is black and white.
I was just glad that someone thought it worthwhile to research and write a show about this, and that Taka-chan and O-Hana thought it worth taking part in. (On a related note, Taka-chan continues by her own admission to choose the roles of strong women. And I wish her all the best in this endeavour. :D )
So yes, Taka-Hana, since Europe is flavour du jour, how about a trip to, oh, say, BERLIN? Or PARIS? Somewhere else I can get to in less than 4 hours? Non? :D
As a closing note, we were told at the party that there would be no DVD of the show. More's the pity, cos I miss Taka-chan in a blond wig already. On the other hand, according to the WFC, they will release a CD of the music in Dietrich! So it's not all bad. :)