I love Disney
This weekend I went to Hiroshima for a third time! It was so nice. It was more chill than the other times I've gone because I wasn't there for sightseeing. Instead, I went there to see a musical in Japanese. Specifically, I went to see "Beauty and the Beast". It was awesome! Beauty and the Beast is one of my favorite Disney movies and I love all the songs, so I was stoked to have the chance to see the musical even though it was in Japanese.
The Shiki Theatre Company performed the musical at ALSOK Hall in Hiroshima. It was a small hall so there was no orchestra but it was still pretty good. It was colorful and I enjoyed the songs. Gaston was dead on! I have never liked Gaston so much haha. The actor had the best smarmy looks. Lumiere and Babette were also tons of fun. I loved seeing them flirting and Lumiere just shined on stage. the Beast was pretty handsome as a human too which was nice. The only actor I had a few problems with was Belle because sometimes she seemed too stuff and not to show enough emotion. But she was still enjoyable to watch usually. Oh yea, Chip's costume was kinda creepy (head in a cup) and the part was cut down, so I wasn't a huge fan of Chip in this version.
The songs themselves were pretty good too. I was worried because I dislike most of the Japanese movie versions of the songs but the Japanese musical ones turned out really good. They cut Belle and Beast's duet though in the "There may be something there that wasn't there before song" which was sad.
In general, the feel of the musical is similar to the movie but with a few added things. The main one I saw was more emphasis on the castle's people/objects. In the second half of the musical, their costumes become more elaborate to emphasize that the curse is becoming more permanent. It was a very interesting addition and made the song "Human Again" (that was added to the movie after the musical came out) make more sense.
Overall, though, I am glad I went though I couldn't understand everything. Just knowing the songs and the story was enough to fill in many of the blanks I had vocabulary-wise. The play was so fun. I laughed a lot. It was interesting to see the Japanese audience react too. They were very quiet for the most part so that I felt bad laughing occasionally. Also, at the end, it didn't seem appropriate to cheer for my favorite actors/characters as I wanted to and would have done in Japan. I guess you could say they were subdued...to the point that I questioned whether they liked it or not...but finally they did a standing ovation so I suppose they did too. =P
In other news, I went to Malaysia and Singapore over my spring break. I had an awesome time! I am just happy to be able to travel as much as I am while here. Next, I hope to go the Philippines or China. Hmmmm dunno when it will happen haha. instead of traveling outside Japan this summer, my mom is coming to visit me in August and I am gonna travel around Japan with her for a week and a half or so. :) YAY! guess I am glad we bought tickets early what with gas prices rising and rising! ugh!
The Shiki Theatre Company performed the musical at ALSOK Hall in Hiroshima. It was a small hall so there was no orchestra but it was still pretty good. It was colorful and I enjoyed the songs. Gaston was dead on! I have never liked Gaston so much haha. The actor had the best smarmy looks. Lumiere and Babette were also tons of fun. I loved seeing them flirting and Lumiere just shined on stage. the Beast was pretty handsome as a human too which was nice. The only actor I had a few problems with was Belle because sometimes she seemed too stuff and not to show enough emotion. But she was still enjoyable to watch usually. Oh yea, Chip's costume was kinda creepy (head in a cup) and the part was cut down, so I wasn't a huge fan of Chip in this version.
The songs themselves were pretty good too. I was worried because I dislike most of the Japanese movie versions of the songs but the Japanese musical ones turned out really good. They cut Belle and Beast's duet though in the "There may be something there that wasn't there before song" which was sad.
In general, the feel of the musical is similar to the movie but with a few added things. The main one I saw was more emphasis on the castle's people/objects. In the second half of the musical, their costumes become more elaborate to emphasize that the curse is becoming more permanent. It was a very interesting addition and made the song "Human Again" (that was added to the movie after the musical came out) make more sense.
Overall, though, I am glad I went though I couldn't understand everything. Just knowing the songs and the story was enough to fill in many of the blanks I had vocabulary-wise. The play was so fun. I laughed a lot. It was interesting to see the Japanese audience react too. They were very quiet for the most part so that I felt bad laughing occasionally. Also, at the end, it didn't seem appropriate to cheer for my favorite actors/characters as I wanted to and would have done in Japan. I guess you could say they were subdued...to the point that I questioned whether they liked it or not...but finally they did a standing ovation so I suppose they did too. =P
In other news, I went to Malaysia and Singapore over my spring break. I had an awesome time! I am just happy to be able to travel as much as I am while here. Next, I hope to go the Philippines or China. Hmmmm dunno when it will happen haha. instead of traveling outside Japan this summer, my mom is coming to visit me in August and I am gonna travel around Japan with her for a week and a half or so. :) YAY! guess I am glad we bought tickets early what with gas prices rising and rising! ugh!