Takizawa Kabuki 10th Anniversary Singapore Report [8/22]
My first time seeing Takizawa Kabuki (and Takki, for that matter), live! I went to the night show on the 22nd at Marina Bay Sands. Unfortunately, I was a cheap idiot and bought seats on the third floor so I won't be naming any names except Takki and minion A Kawai and minion B Kitayama who is one of my favorite Johnnys and I didn't realize it was him until halfway through
The lobby area wasn't particularly decorated for it, but there was an alternating board with different posters, including one for TK. The shop oddly wasn't open when I went in at around 7, and I think it didn't open until around 15min before the start of the show (and at that point I had just climbed 5 flights of stairs and was not about to do it again). I did go after the show, and they were sold out of the pamplets >_<; Other than that, they had SG version limited edition goods: the fan, the towel, the chopsticks, the postcards AND they had the DVD of 10th anniversary show already! So I snapped up the towel and the DVD :D
Now for the start of the show!!! I didn't take any notes so sorry if my memory is a little jumbled.
We get Hiromi (I think), the usual Johnnys violinist playing a beautiful melody in the corner before action blows up on stage. And then Takki comes flying in his wires! The Jrs fill up the stage and it was super lively and springy. After that, the nice gaijin recording told us how they would be doing scenes which exhibit the four seasons. There was a platform with four Jrs in kimonos colored for each season and they did a little dance when they were in the spotlight. The spring song might've been before or after this, but nonetheless, I was so happy hearing Takki kill every note.
I think we got Inishie after this. Love this song! It was sooo beautiful hearing this live~~ Takki starts it and then disappears. Then Minion A and Minion B appear and sing the next verse and I'm like, wow! They sound really familar. I can't believe they still have Jrs who can sing this well shot...And I've seen ABCZ live before
Nezumi Kozou was somewhere here, again, we got the nice gaijin recording explaining what it was about because the cast didn't talk during the skits. Then, "Nezumi Kozou" appears hanging on a rope at the top of the side of the stage! Sneaky! He drops down into the audience *le gasp* and then goes back on stage to open a treasure box with gold and run away from the.. I dunno, shogun's people? I didn't notice it at the time, but I'm pretty sure Kitayama did all the villains >_< I'm not completely sure, but I think they had Takki and maybe another person both as Nezumi since the way they ran off and on the stage would've been impossible for one person! Also really impressed by how seamlessly they changed the stage set-up!At the end, they blew gold confetti things into the arena... but I was too far back to get any XD
For summer, there was this creepy obake thing (haha, to chill you to the bone in summer) that was just super loud and a little puzzling to me. It was sort of like obake-yashiki meets Thriller? And there were white blob people hanging over the audience making them scream. Anyway, not my favorite. I'm pretty sure there was the mask song with the faces on the background screen but I don't remember much (it might've been the Engrish)... and I was sitting too far away to really see the masks -_-;
The Taiko segment was around here. Takki starts by playing mulitiple drums in the middle and then the whole stage lights up with Jrs equipped with a bunch of different drums. They play a really powerful ensemble together and then Takki goes up to a bigger drum. The Jrs also roll on with new drums that they have in their lap... and play at a 45degree situp position! Wow, what core! And then Takki's drum turns upside down, and this is where I really regret not getting front row seats cuz his ABS!!! I think I was most imporessed with this section.
Autumn.. hmm.. It didn't quite stick with me, I'm kinda picky about dances without my favorites in them.
There were the two Jrs that started the story of a tragic woman with a puppet show, and then Takki appeared as the woman in life scale. There was a lot of fire ribbons and flags and then a tower with a bell which Takki rang multiple times in agony before letting the long trains of his outfit down over the edge of the tower and onto the stage.
Then for winter which I LOVED. The crane dance was so prettyyyyy. I was like, wait, I'm pretty sure Takki was playing the girl and now what?! he's over there as the guy, but whaaatttt---- the showering of red confetti when she got shot was pretty dramatic! Then Takkis outfit after this was gorgeous... and that big crane.. how the heck did they get all their props on the plane assemble that without me noticing. Anyway, this short was so glorious and pretty, definitely one of the highlights.
One of my other favorites was the moment I realized minion B was Kitayama when he came out on roller skates and he and Takki did the cutest shadow puppets! The bunnies were so cute and huggable >_< and I loved the tea part where Takki did a teapot and Hiro did a cup and drank the tea. Then they went to the center of the stage where some fabric hung down and Takki lifted himself and spun around in it while Hiro did some awesome roller blading Haha, wouldn't it be awesome if that was a Kisumai member! And then he did a couple of top-notchturns when tying up the fabric Wow, he's really good, his form is just like Kitayama's! Note to self, check cast beforehand. Love it when my favorites sing together <3
And then there was the calligraphy... And it was irrevocably Hiro! Takki sang this dramatic song on the side while Hiro wrote his life-sized calligraphy. They did 美 the night I went. Not bad, but I would've liked the legs a little longer. Guess he was nervous >///<
Somewhere thereafter there was a random sword fight/chambara (I'd always thought that was just a catchy word in the Samurai Sentai Shinkenger song... well, now I know!)
Okay, for the SG only part!
I think this was SG only since the slideshow they had in the background included some SG sights. Anyway, they had a music video of Takki walking through the city singing ue wo muite arukou (love that song... and all the better when Takki sings it!) I hope they put that out sometime!
Then they had some local kids dance and collaborate with a few Jrs and Takki afterwards. Super jealous of those lucky kids! They also showed some clips of the practise in the background.
Afterwards, they sang Rasa Sayang! So FREAKIN CATCHY! Can't say anything to their pronunciation cuz I don't speak Malay, but I thought it was a good choice since it's a really fun and upbeat song. We all danced along pretty quickly... And Takki singing Rasa Sayang >▽< I hope they put it on some kind of extra in the future! He did one of my favorite changes here. he was wearing a white suit (i think), and then he grabbed this roll of black fabric from the ground, threw it up in the air and by the time it came down (like 3seconds later) he was wearing a black suit!
And then they did the classic Yoshitsune short. Loved seeing it live... and this is another point which I regretted not getting better seats to see wet Takki! Gotta say, Hiro makes a great villain. I was actually surprised they could pull off all these extravagant effects abroad, not to mention, the lighting crew was spot on!
The show ended with With Love. Beautiful as always >_< Even my mom, who isn't a Takki fan, was humming this after the show XD I wish we could encore at kabuki like at concerts!
I'm kind of sad Yabu wasn't here, but all in all, it was a great show for Takizawa Kabuki's 10th anni and Singapore's 50th!
The lobby area wasn't particularly decorated for it, but there was an alternating board with different posters, including one for TK. The shop oddly wasn't open when I went in at around 7, and I think it didn't open until around 15min before the start of the show (and at that point I had just climbed 5 flights of stairs and was not about to do it again). I did go after the show, and they were sold out of the pamplets >_<; Other than that, they had SG version limited edition goods: the fan, the towel, the chopsticks, the postcards AND they had the DVD of 10th anniversary show already! So I snapped up the towel and the DVD :D
Now for the start of the show!!! I didn't take any notes so sorry if my memory is a little jumbled.
We get Hiromi (I think), the usual Johnnys violinist playing a beautiful melody in the corner before action blows up on stage. And then Takki comes flying in his wires! The Jrs fill up the stage and it was super lively and springy. After that, the nice gaijin recording told us how they would be doing scenes which exhibit the four seasons. There was a platform with four Jrs in kimonos colored for each season and they did a little dance when they were in the spotlight. The spring song might've been before or after this, but nonetheless, I was so happy hearing Takki kill every note.
I think we got Inishie after this. Love this song! It was sooo beautiful hearing this live~~ Takki starts it and then disappears. Then Minion A and Minion B appear and sing the next verse and I'm like, wow! They sound really familar. I can't believe they still have Jrs who can sing this well shot...And I've seen ABCZ live before
Nezumi Kozou was somewhere here, again, we got the nice gaijin recording explaining what it was about because the cast didn't talk during the skits. Then, "Nezumi Kozou" appears hanging on a rope at the top of the side of the stage! Sneaky! He drops down into the audience *le gasp* and then goes back on stage to open a treasure box with gold and run away from the.. I dunno, shogun's people? I didn't notice it at the time, but I'm pretty sure Kitayama did all the villains >_< I'm not completely sure, but I think they had Takki and maybe another person both as Nezumi since the way they ran off and on the stage would've been impossible for one person! Also really impressed by how seamlessly they changed the stage set-up!At the end, they blew gold confetti things into the arena... but I was too far back to get any XD
For summer, there was this creepy obake thing (haha, to chill you to the bone in summer) that was just super loud and a little puzzling to me. It was sort of like obake-yashiki meets Thriller? And there were white blob people hanging over the audience making them scream. Anyway, not my favorite. I'm pretty sure there was the mask song with the faces on the background screen but I don't remember much (it might've been the Engrish)... and I was sitting too far away to really see the masks -_-;
The Taiko segment was around here. Takki starts by playing mulitiple drums in the middle and then the whole stage lights up with Jrs equipped with a bunch of different drums. They play a really powerful ensemble together and then Takki goes up to a bigger drum. The Jrs also roll on with new drums that they have in their lap... and play at a 45degree situp position! Wow, what core! And then Takki's drum turns upside down, and this is where I really regret not getting front row seats cuz his ABS!!! I think I was most imporessed with this section.
Autumn.. hmm.. It didn't quite stick with me, I'm kinda picky about dances without my favorites in them.
There were the two Jrs that started the story of a tragic woman with a puppet show, and then Takki appeared as the woman in life scale. There was a lot of fire ribbons and flags and then a tower with a bell which Takki rang multiple times in agony before letting the long trains of his outfit down over the edge of the tower and onto the stage.
Then for winter which I LOVED. The crane dance was so prettyyyyy. I was like, wait, I'm pretty sure Takki was playing the girl and now what?! he's over there as the guy, but whaaatttt---- the showering of red confetti when she got shot was pretty dramatic! Then Takkis outfit after this was gorgeous... and that big crane.. how the heck did they get all their props on the plane assemble that without me noticing. Anyway, this short was so glorious and pretty, definitely one of the highlights.
One of my other favorites was the moment I realized minion B was Kitayama when he came out on roller skates and he and Takki did the cutest shadow puppets! The bunnies were so cute and huggable >_< and I loved the tea part where Takki did a teapot and Hiro did a cup and drank the tea. Then they went to the center of the stage where some fabric hung down and Takki lifted himself and spun around in it while Hiro did some awesome roller blading Haha, wouldn't it be awesome if that was a Kisumai member! And then he did a couple of top-notchturns when tying up the fabric Wow, he's really good, his form is just like Kitayama's! Note to self, check cast beforehand. Love it when my favorites sing together <3
And then there was the calligraphy... And it was irrevocably Hiro! Takki sang this dramatic song on the side while Hiro wrote his life-sized calligraphy. They did 美 the night I went. Not bad, but I would've liked the legs a little longer. Guess he was nervous >///<
Somewhere thereafter there was a random sword fight/chambara (I'd always thought that was just a catchy word in the Samurai Sentai Shinkenger song... well, now I know!)
Okay, for the SG only part!
I think this was SG only since the slideshow they had in the background included some SG sights. Anyway, they had a music video of Takki walking through the city singing ue wo muite arukou (love that song... and all the better when Takki sings it!) I hope they put that out sometime!
Then they had some local kids dance and collaborate with a few Jrs and Takki afterwards. Super jealous of those lucky kids! They also showed some clips of the practise in the background.
Afterwards, they sang Rasa Sayang! So FREAKIN CATCHY! Can't say anything to their pronunciation cuz I don't speak Malay, but I thought it was a good choice since it's a really fun and upbeat song. We all danced along pretty quickly... And Takki singing Rasa Sayang >▽< I hope they put it on some kind of extra in the future! He did one of my favorite changes here. he was wearing a white suit (i think), and then he grabbed this roll of black fabric from the ground, threw it up in the air and by the time it came down (like 3seconds later) he was wearing a black suit!
And then they did the classic Yoshitsune short. Loved seeing it live... and this is another point which I regretted not getting better seats to see wet Takki! Gotta say, Hiro makes a great villain. I was actually surprised they could pull off all these extravagant effects abroad, not to mention, the lighting crew was spot on!
The show ended with With Love. Beautiful as always >_< Even my mom, who isn't a Takki fan, was humming this after the show XD I wish we could encore at kabuki like at concerts!
I'm kind of sad Yabu wasn't here, but all in all, it was a great show for Takizawa Kabuki's 10th anni and Singapore's 50th!