2015 | Toho Elisabeth | Inoue Yoshio & Hanafusa Mari
Note: These, as always, are written largely for my own benefit. So they are not particularly a good clear cut review. Especially since I have a hard time sitting down to write things like these.. so they tend to be all over the place. Apologies.
I went to see Toho Elisabeth while I was in Tokyo last week. Or more accurately, I went to Tokyo to see Elisabeth, everything else I did just managed to line up perfectly. I happened to get a ticket through a friend. She had intended to make the trip over for Yukigumi/Soragumi/Toho Elisabeth. However the timing ended up being wonky. We both are a fan of Inoue Yoshio, so she offered me her ticket since she couldn't make it. When she applied she didn't care who else she saw, thus I ended up seeing about half the cast I wanted to. I'll take whatever I can get, especially after I took a look at auction ticket prices.
The cast I saw was:
Elisabeth: Hanafusa Mari
Death: Inoue Yoshio
Franz: Takanori Sato (Les Velvets)
Rudolf: Taiga Kyomoto (Johnny's Jr)
Sophie: Tatsuki Kouju
Luchini : Yamazaki Ikusaburou
Overall, it was good. Which shouldn't be a suprise since I normally prefer the Toho production, especially after this year's hanagumi Elisabeth and all that went on during that time frame. I don't think I'll be able to sit through a Takarazuka production of Elisabeth for a long time, if ever. Anyway,Toho Elisabeth retains much more of the European production feel. I find that they leave in small lyrical bits and songs that really completely character stories, and the staging and set design is just… better. It’s intricate, its unique, it’s thematic to both the overarching “Luchini” telling the story and this being a trial played out for the judges from beyond the grave. The anti-Semitic number makes me uncomfortable, but depending on the Rudolf, this can work in his favor. The actors and actresses are (usually) cast due to ability, which means overall the production sounds better, looks better, and is just more well rounded. This cast was no exception and overall I really enjoyed the entire thing. This years theme was wings. So the set was a giant pair of wings and the wing motif was brought back over and over again. Death has a wing tattoo (which disappears for one or two scenes but I'm trying not to be nit-picky here) and the motif carries onto the death dancers the overall set design.
By Character:
Death: I've seen Inoue a few times onstage and I have a few of his CDs now. Most recently I saw him playing Tomu's love interest in Showism. I'd been listening to him, but I'd ever really saw him in anything. So circa Showism I was shocked to find that his young face was placed upon a rather tall handsome bod. A bod that could dance as well as sing. So I was really excited to see him as Death. I wasn't disappointed. I really enjoyed his Death. I wouldn't say he was my favorite, but he wasn't my least favorite. I always forget how very different the Toho version is until I see it. Which given how hard to get tickets are, isn't very often. I found his voice impressive, and the way in which he dominated the stage, which is hard to do, because there was a lot of talent on that stage. I feel like he's earned the title of "king of musicals" in Japan rightfully, but part of me thought he phone some bits in here. Maybe it was just a matter of his partner. Onto her:
Elisabeth. Ohana. I know I'm not going to be well loved for this response, but she is too old to play young Elisabeth. Child Elisabeth is a thing of wonder and excitement at the universe, and it seemed forced. She did a good job, but it was clearly an older woman trying to recapture what a child's excitement is like. I had a hard time suspending my belief. This set the tone for the entire first act. She wasn't a young bride being intimidated by her mother in law. She wasn't a disillusioned young bride eager for something more than what a life trapped in a castle was going to provide. My perception of her had been broken. It tinged the entire first act.
When the second act started however, she really started to shine. She managed the grace and beauty of a young woman while transitioning to the almost terrified panic of an aging beauty whose husband strayed and whose life had turned so unexpectedly different than how she had dreamed. . By Act II I warmed to here and wasn't completely disappointed with her overall portrayal. I have to say my favorite scene was the funeral scene. She grieved onstage, and the audience grieved with her.
I did wish she had more... something with Inoue. I feel like the chemistry just wasn't there, if you can call it chemistry. There just didn't see to be anything. I didn't any sort of attraction between them, at all. Which made their duets, which sounded lovely, somewhat flat. I know what both of these two talented people sound like when they mesh with their duet partners, and this time it was lacking. Which was a little disappointed.
Franz: Takanori Sato played Franz. This is the first time seeing him, and I have to say, I am impressed. I remain impressed. He was my favorite Franz Joseph. In both Toho and Takarazuka. He just, nailed it. He was Franz. He has this square face that he filled with Franz and just hit it out of the park. I also was super impressed with his voice. I didn't realize he was part of Les Velvets, whose members I keep running up against in various production. Those men all all vocally gifted, even Lurch, who played opposite Tomu in IFI who couldn't act his way out of a paper bag sounded amazing. I really want to see more of this dude onstage. Please, be cast in the national tour.
Rudolf: Taiga Kyomoto (Johnny's Jr). My first through when he popped up on stage was "He has a weird face and that Blonde is not his friend". Taiga sounded good, acted good and also had the most chemistry with Inoue out of the entire cast. It was actually kinda of terrifying how good their chemistry was. The kiss between them was.. intense. So intense that, I swear to god, the lady in front of me did the awkward throat clearing cough. I was /so/ amused by that.
Sophie: Predictably terrifying.
Luchini: Yamazaki ne. This dude is obviously super talented but for some reason he just grated on me. It's like he couldn't decide how he wanted to play it. Either commit to giving him a jazzy tone, or don't. But make up your damned mind about it. I feel like he kept vascillating between "fucking awesomely legit" and "I am obviously unsure what Luchini could sound like". It was disappointing because I KNOW he has the pipes to pick either one and really blow it out of the park. However, instead he did this weird mix that I found really irritating.
Other cast: Shout out to Nanase Ririko, Manase Haruka and Momochi Ito for being some bad ass OG ensemble members.
Conclusion: I'm glad I saw it. However, if I could pick my cast I would have chosen Ran-chan over Ohana. However, beggers can't be choosers so.... It was good. I preferred Inoue over Matas from the 2012 cast. However, I would have taken Osa over Ohana. Which I feel wierd even typing. haha.
I went to see Toho Elisabeth while I was in Tokyo last week. Or more accurately, I went to Tokyo to see Elisabeth, everything else I did just managed to line up perfectly. I happened to get a ticket through a friend. She had intended to make the trip over for Yukigumi/Soragumi/Toho Elisabeth. However the timing ended up being wonky. We both are a fan of Inoue Yoshio, so she offered me her ticket since she couldn't make it. When she applied she didn't care who else she saw, thus I ended up seeing about half the cast I wanted to. I'll take whatever I can get, especially after I took a look at auction ticket prices.
The cast I saw was:
Elisabeth: Hanafusa Mari
Death: Inoue Yoshio
Franz: Takanori Sato (Les Velvets)
Rudolf: Taiga Kyomoto (Johnny's Jr)
Sophie: Tatsuki Kouju
Luchini : Yamazaki Ikusaburou
Overall, it was good. Which shouldn't be a suprise since I normally prefer the Toho production, especially after this year's hanagumi Elisabeth and all that went on during that time frame. I don't think I'll be able to sit through a Takarazuka production of Elisabeth for a long time, if ever. Anyway,Toho Elisabeth retains much more of the European production feel. I find that they leave in small lyrical bits and songs that really completely character stories, and the staging and set design is just… better. It’s intricate, its unique, it’s thematic to both the overarching “Luchini” telling the story and this being a trial played out for the judges from beyond the grave. The anti-Semitic number makes me uncomfortable, but depending on the Rudolf, this can work in his favor. The actors and actresses are (usually) cast due to ability, which means overall the production sounds better, looks better, and is just more well rounded. This cast was no exception and overall I really enjoyed the entire thing. This years theme was wings. So the set was a giant pair of wings and the wing motif was brought back over and over again. Death has a wing tattoo (which disappears for one or two scenes but I'm trying not to be nit-picky here) and the motif carries onto the death dancers the overall set design.
By Character:
Death: I've seen Inoue a few times onstage and I have a few of his CDs now. Most recently I saw him playing Tomu's love interest in Showism. I'd been listening to him, but I'd ever really saw him in anything. So circa Showism I was shocked to find that his young face was placed upon a rather tall handsome bod. A bod that could dance as well as sing. So I was really excited to see him as Death. I wasn't disappointed. I really enjoyed his Death. I wouldn't say he was my favorite, but he wasn't my least favorite. I always forget how very different the Toho version is until I see it. Which given how hard to get tickets are, isn't very often. I found his voice impressive, and the way in which he dominated the stage, which is hard to do, because there was a lot of talent on that stage. I feel like he's earned the title of "king of musicals" in Japan rightfully, but part of me thought he phone some bits in here. Maybe it was just a matter of his partner. Onto her:
Elisabeth. Ohana. I know I'm not going to be well loved for this response, but she is too old to play young Elisabeth. Child Elisabeth is a thing of wonder and excitement at the universe, and it seemed forced. She did a good job, but it was clearly an older woman trying to recapture what a child's excitement is like. I had a hard time suspending my belief. This set the tone for the entire first act. She wasn't a young bride being intimidated by her mother in law. She wasn't a disillusioned young bride eager for something more than what a life trapped in a castle was going to provide. My perception of her had been broken. It tinged the entire first act.
When the second act started however, she really started to shine. She managed the grace and beauty of a young woman while transitioning to the almost terrified panic of an aging beauty whose husband strayed and whose life had turned so unexpectedly different than how she had dreamed. . By Act II I warmed to here and wasn't completely disappointed with her overall portrayal. I have to say my favorite scene was the funeral scene. She grieved onstage, and the audience grieved with her.
I did wish she had more... something with Inoue. I feel like the chemistry just wasn't there, if you can call it chemistry. There just didn't see to be anything. I didn't any sort of attraction between them, at all. Which made their duets, which sounded lovely, somewhat flat. I know what both of these two talented people sound like when they mesh with their duet partners, and this time it was lacking. Which was a little disappointed.
Franz: Takanori Sato played Franz. This is the first time seeing him, and I have to say, I am impressed. I remain impressed. He was my favorite Franz Joseph. In both Toho and Takarazuka. He just, nailed it. He was Franz. He has this square face that he filled with Franz and just hit it out of the park. I also was super impressed with his voice. I didn't realize he was part of Les Velvets, whose members I keep running up against in various production. Those men all all vocally gifted, even Lurch, who played opposite Tomu in IFI who couldn't act his way out of a paper bag sounded amazing. I really want to see more of this dude onstage. Please, be cast in the national tour.
Rudolf: Taiga Kyomoto (Johnny's Jr). My first through when he popped up on stage was "He has a weird face and that Blonde is not his friend". Taiga sounded good, acted good and also had the most chemistry with Inoue out of the entire cast. It was actually kinda of terrifying how good their chemistry was. The kiss between them was.. intense. So intense that, I swear to god, the lady in front of me did the awkward throat clearing cough. I was /so/ amused by that.
Sophie: Predictably terrifying.
Luchini: Yamazaki ne. This dude is obviously super talented but for some reason he just grated on me. It's like he couldn't decide how he wanted to play it. Either commit to giving him a jazzy tone, or don't. But make up your damned mind about it. I feel like he kept vascillating between "fucking awesomely legit" and "I am obviously unsure what Luchini could sound like". It was disappointing because I KNOW he has the pipes to pick either one and really blow it out of the park. However, instead he did this weird mix that I found really irritating.
Other cast: Shout out to Nanase Ririko, Manase Haruka and Momochi Ito for being some bad ass OG ensemble members.
Conclusion: I'm glad I saw it. However, if I could pick my cast I would have chosen Ran-chan over Ohana. However, beggers can't be choosers so.... It was good. I preferred Inoue over Matas from the 2012 cast. However, I would have taken Osa over Ohana. Which I feel wierd even typing. haha.