Berubara 89 Snow
I was confirmed in my suspicion that I have a weak, weak, weak spot for Berubara. I love it to bits. With all its glitter and melodramatics. Every single marzipan dress and weird hair-style.
89 Yuki-bara was a well put together show. The flow of the original story wasn't disturbed by a massive focus on Andre or Oscar as in the 2006 show. Actually, my musumeyaku-loving heart adored how this show was in fact defined and run by the musumeyaku. All of them.
How I wish that Maachan could have played Rosalie in this show where the entire first act featured more of the pink rose than of Andre or Oscar combined. Especially since Ayu Yuuki just fell flat as Rosalie, for me at least. Maachan has spoiled me, I guess. I want the gentleness and the heart-break and the timid passion. I want her emotions for Oscar to be as vivid as they are in the manga, where there is no question of the underlying shoujo-ai. I want everything that the 2006 show made of Rosalie, everything Maachan made of Rosalie, but spread out over more scenes and stage time. In comparison, Ayu managed to showcase something "really Rosalie" in two or so fragile and brief moments, and with how much of the plot she is involved in, that just wasn't enough. :( Yes, I'm sadface. I had looked forward to her Rosalie.
On a more vain basis, her face just didn't fit the character at all. It was too round and her mimic was restricted to round Os for surprise and a fearful pout for... almost everything else.
Ringo's Jeanne, on the other hand, was absolutely flawless. I could even ignore her unlucky set of dental work, because her acting and her facial expressions were so amazingly spot on. Not to mention that the colour-scheme for her costumes reminded me of Madame Wolf in the 96 Snow Elisabeth and it was just perfect. Actually, this show made me an even bigger fan of all of Rosalie's sisters than I was already. Jeanne was too perfect for words, but also Charlotte... Actually, I think Charlotte was my favourite character in the entire show and before watching this, she was the one of Rosalie's sisters that I paid the least attention to. She's now almost ranking number one along with Rosalie herself.
All thanks to Sahara Miyuki. Not only did she have some of the same features that Ayu's Rosalie did, so that you believed they were sisters, but her acting, her presence as Charlotte was undeniable and some of the strongest acting in the entire show. I was absolutely mesmerized by her every time she was on stage. I will now have to reread the manga with special focus on Charlotte's story arc, because I need to do something with the character that Michiko made of her. Write fanfic, perhaps use her for an original character... just something. Because she was the best part of the show, hands down. So innocent and young, but also heart-broken and determined in her flight from her mother's reigns. Gosh, I need to screencap. Make more icons. Perfect. Perfect. Perfect. Perfect.
It was hilarious watching NINA, Nishina Yuri, as Marie Antoinette, because all I could think was: FIRST STAGE QUEEN BERYL, FIRST STAGE QUEEN BERYL, FIRST STAGE QUEEN BERYL. It may have affected my judgment a little, but I wasn't completely sold on her MA. Her voice was really... irritating. I liked her acting over-all, especially as soon as she was interacting with Mariko's Fersen. The scene where they meet in the garden was probably my favourite of hers. Other than that, I had the same problem with her face that I did with Ayu's Rosalie. It just didn't seem to fit. She looked too old and wasn't... pretty. There was nothing shoujo-manga-ish about it at all. Only a few times, mostly with her face in profile, did she look like something I could have been made to believe was a real Marie Antoinette.
Mariko's Fersen was good. I still don't like her singing voice.
Karincho's Andre... I got used to him throughout the show. In the beginning I thought he was a bit over the top, but as the show progressed and especially in second act, I really grew to like him. Her voice was a lot like Kashi's, which made me sympathetic of her portrayal of him per automatics. Her expressions were very gentle and hilarious when need be, something I came to enjoy quite a lot. Her portrayal of his relationship to Ichiro's Oscar was the best I've seen in that I will never be a Andre/Oscar shipper (or an Andre fan), but this was the best and most believable development of their relationship that I've seen in and outside the manga.
Now, to the big one. Ichiro's Oscar. Everybody ought to know that I am a big Ichiro fan. And as a big Ichiro fan I've heard a lot of good things about Ichiro's Oscar. Perhaps I've set my expectations too high, but initially I was sort of disappointed. Although Ichiro's Oscar is very versatile and, fortunately, show all the characteristics that the character possess in the manga, there was something a bit too... fickle?... about her which didn't speak to me. At least not in the beginning. I grew accustomed to it throughout the play and later on, Ichiro had moments where she portrayed a very militaristic and devoted Oscar - the part of her Oscar which I liked best - but she never fully won me over. I know that Oscar does cry about her feelings for Fersen in the manga and other such emotional displays, but the way it was done here... Ichiro, you were still so young. Comparing her Oscar to the way she portrays JFK or Tod later... yes, she just seemed a bit too young still. Manga!Oscar is passionate and emotional, but never fickle. Manga!Oscar is strong, dedicated and firm in her beliefs, but not aloof or distanced. Ichiro had her moments where I truly thought she got it, but most of the time, I thought she missed the mark by just a few inches, which made it all the harder to watch. :(
... to be honest, though, one of the main reasons that Ichiro's Oscar felt a bit off and Ayu's Rosalie a lot off was the fact that they had no chemistry. God, I missed Maachan/Komu and Maachan/Mizu. All the emotions that are in play between the two, they were completely missing in the 89 Yuki-bara and that's probably the main reason I didn't entirely fell for it.
Maachan as Rosalie would have transformed this show, I think. With Ichiro as Oscar as well, but especially if Mizu had played Oscar (since there is very little singing in this production, too ;).
Over-all there were aspects I really, really liked and aspects I didn't. Plot-wise, it's my favourite Berubara, but portrayal-wise, it still doesn't live up to either of the 2006 shows. I guess nothing ever really can, since they're my personal treasures. I do recognise my bias, don't worry. XD
This ended up growing long, didn't it? I should get up and go to the library now. I'll just leave this here.
Edit: Also, I missed the scene between Oscar and the French Guard with Alain in the lead. Tom seemed to have been an awesome Alain, but she had so little to do that it didn't really show. I would have loved to see her and Ichiro engage in something along the lines of what Komu and Mizu had so much fun with in the 2006 Grand Theatre production. It would have been absolutely priceless, I'm sure. I just realised this, so I had to add it.