Review: Dracula the Musical
Here's my review of this lovely little musical...
Dracula the Musical (based on the Bram Stoker novel) - 2011 Japanese version starring Wao Youka, Hanafusa Mari, and Natsumi Abe
I actually watched my DVD a month ago when I first got it but wanted to know a bit more about the original musical before I did an actual review considering my Japanese is limited. I couldn't find any video of any of the English versions of the musical but I did find one of the German performances on youtube with subtitles so was able to watch that to have a better understanding and for comparison sake. But keep in mind I haven't actually read the original book nor seen the movie version so this was my first time seeing this story.
For those that don't know, the reason I got this DVD and my whole interest in this show in general is solely because this version stars two former Takarazuka stars (and also a former member of Morning Musume but that doesn't interest me quite as much lol), Wao Youka and Hanafusa Mari in the lead roles. These two are kinda known as the "Golden Pair" in the Takarazuka community and so to see them performing together post Zuka is really awesome and nostalgic. And yes, Dracula is being played by a woman in this version, which is a first and kinda a big deal. Especially as outside of Takarazuka, females don't get many male parts in Japan.
So I must say I do have some issues with the plot of the musical itself and I can see why it didn't do that well during its first run. From what I read, it did better in Europe than it did on Broadway and that seems to be rather evident with the fact that I seem to find much more stuff for the German version online than I can for the English version. Hell for a while there I was wondering if the German version came first just by how well the songs worked in German as compared to English from what I could find. But anyways, my main issue is with Mina and how she is presented in the musical. I couldn't really understand her. One minute she's all "Dracula bad! Vampires evil! Lets stop him!" and the next she's all "I love him! I have to help him! Woe!" x_x;; But anyways that's just an issue I have with the writing here. The actors all performed so well and I did really like the songs so that kinda made up for it even if the plot was kinda "...meh" and random at times. XD But then again most musicals are like that in a way.
So here's our main cast...
Lucy (Natsume Abe), Mina (Hanafusa Mari), Dracula (Wao Youka), and Van Helsing (don't know the actor's name)
At first I was actually really surprised by Wao's appearance in the musical. Just 'cause they didn't really attempt to make her look that masculine. She still looks very much like a woman to me. 'Cause in Takarazuka she certainly looked A LOT more masculine than that. XD And must admit it's just weird seeing her not in Zuka make-up even though she is playing a male here. Like I've seen her without make-up and seen her in her female roles and am used to that. But its just odd 'cause she IS playing a male here. But I kept really thinking this is just a female Dracula...which I have no problem with. XD But I know the character is still supposed to be male here. So...just found that interesting and kinda curious why they decided to go that route. Also the make-up they did use on her makes her eyes look...really big. Plus the fact for some reason she had a tendency to stare wide-eyed as long as possible for a big majority of the show. This kinda...confused me and weirded me out. Because I KNOW she doesn't have wide eyes. She has pretty squinty ones. XD Even in Zuka, one of the things I always identified her by was her squinty eyes. XDXD So its just like "...why are her eyes so wide????!!!" XD That and the fact that she is doing this wide eyed thing the whole time...kinda limited her facial expressions so there wasn't as much emotion going on her face as I would have liked other than looking kinda like an owl the whole time. ^^;;; So that did kinda bother me. But her voice made up for it. Because *swoon* no one has a voice as amazing as Wao. She definitely outdoes ALL the other actors who have played Dracula in that sense. Her voice is so much more powerful even if she is female. And well she's far sexier, of course~
Hana...has not aged. At all! She still looks EXACTLY like she did in Zuka. o_o; And she's every bit as amazing as she was then. ^.^ She brings a lot of elegance and grace to the Mina character that makes me like her a lot more in this version than in the German version (where I really just didn't like Mina at all to be honest). Hana made the character a little more believable to me in the way she portrayed her...but it may also just be because I'm biased and love every role Hana has ever played. XD I mean hell she got me to actually feel sorry for Marie Antionette! And well...not much more I can say 'cause she was just perfection as always. And once again manages to amaze me at her ability to cry on stage and still look pretty and not screw up her voice while doing so (my memory may serve me wrong but from the shows I've seen, Hana still is the only Zuka actress I've ever seen actually cry in a show and I've seen her do it several times now). And it tugs at your heartstrings every time she does it. lol
I don't know much about Natsume Abe but she was pretty cute and fit Lucy well. It was actually quite shocking to see her post seduction as they do a great job at making her look...well...dead. XD Quite the contrast from the happy cute look she has going on before. Also I found it interesting that in the German version they do her death off stage while they do it on stage in this version. XD Stake and all.
I wish I could find out the actor's name who plays Jonathon in this because I SWEAR I know him from somewhere but I can't figure out where. O_o But his face and mainly his voice seem REALLY familiar. And its not just me. Carrie had the same reaction when I showed this to her. We think maybe he might have been in one of the Kuro musicals but I haven't watched them in quite some time. Will have to remember to skim through them again at some point to see if we're right or just going crazy. ^^;;
I also found it quite interesting how in this version Renfield is portrayed as a young man who is actually a bit attractive under all that grim. While in all the other versions I looked at online, he seems to usually be portrayed as a short ugly old man. And in general the whole Japanese cast in this one is a lot prettier than the others I've found. XDXD
And in the general story Dracula has three brides. But in this version instead of having 3 female vampire brides, there are three guys playing these parts! Which really surprised me. o_o I wonder if since we have a female playing Dracula, they decided to change that up too? Though their roles are little different. They're more like Dracula's minions here, not really "groomsmen" or "brides" here. lol But they do still molest Jack a bit in the beginning (which I must admit was pretty hot lol). But there are also other random female vampires in the background doing the chorus every so often, doing the original lines of the brides and such.
The stage itself was pretty simplistic and a little disappointing at times. Just 'cause for some reason London and Transylvania look...exactly the same? lol But I understand the way they did it, wasn't exactly very easy to change the set and I have a feeling they probably didn't have a very large budget for this. In the "Making of" bit on the DVD they show a little bit of the behind the stage stuff with the stage and I mean it is kinda cool how it rotates and all but that's pretty much all it does. The sets were a lot more elaborate in the German version. But! I did like the set-up for the finale in the Japanese one A LOT more. The German one was just in this one plain room. While the Japanese one we have a gazillion candles everywhere (VERY Phantom ish in fact) and it was just really pretty and so fitting for the finale.
The finale in general was probably the biggest difference between the two versions. I'm very curious to see how the other Japanese versions ended to know if this was something the Japanese changed for all their versions or if it was just for this one. But all I could think of when I saw it was "...that's such a Takarazuka type of ending..." XDXD 'Cause even before I watched the German version, I had an English sypnopsis of the play I was following along with as I watched to help me out some so that's how I knew the ending was quite different. In the western version, Dracula asks Mina to kill him, she refuses, he takes a hold of the knife and puts her hand on top of it and kinda forces her to kill him (even though he's really the one doing the stabbing here), he dies, and Mina is reunited with Jonathon and the rest of the gang. In THIS version, after Dracula dies, Mina then takes up the knife and...stabs herself! So she can be reunited with Dracula in death. ...which I kinda liked more. XD Even though it did have me wondering what happened to the rest of the cast as it ends there and we never see the result of their fight. lol Oh well.
You can get the jist of the stage here in this video:
This scene is kinda the Van Helsing and Lucy's suitors vs Dracula (I love the burning of the bible bit btw It was a nice little touch they added in there XD)
And the pretty finale...
And I suck at reviews...I am sooo all over the place with this. I meant to kinda do a review of the plot from beginning to end but I've already talked about the finale here. Pffft. Oh well. But I figure if anyone actually really wants to know more about the show, they'll watch it themselves. And don't want to give away too much for those who plan to watch it with me later on.
Though oddly enough one of my favorite parts in the whole show is actually the one and ONLY silly part which is with Lucy and her suitors. Its so cute and comical that you almost wonder if you're watching the right show. XD But I adored it. And them practicing the scene in the "Making Of" is really cute 'cause they keep laughing while reading the lines (and Wao is watching them and laughing at them the whole time). Even before I watched the German version, I pretty much was able to follow that bit pretty well as I understood most of the Japanese used there. But basically its this whole song about Lucy having to chose between three guys as they try to win her affection and its really cute.
But overall...I really liked it! At first I wasn't that impressed as I wanted to be but having watched it several times since, I've really become fond of it. And I have most of the songs memorized already. XD They get stuck in your head pretty easily. And I was pretty amused that even Carrie was all "...if Dracula was really this hot, I'd give into him too." XDXD Oh Wao, even straight girls can't resist you~ And well its true. The other Draculas I've seen...just aren't attractive in my opinion and thus I can't really understand why Lucy and Mina are drawn to him so easily other than the fact he can use his powers to control them. But with Wao...its like..."ok, yeah, I get it. I wouldn't resist either. *_*" 'cause god she's hot. I am totally ok with admitting that I swooned a little during the scene where Dracula goes from old (and lol Wao's "old Dracula" is kinda hilarious, she's even got spiders in her hair but honestly comes off more like an old crazy lady XD) to suddenly young and hot!
But yeah I don't think its anything super amazing and the American guy (I'm guessing he's either the producer or director of the Broadway version) in the interview who's all "this will make history!" I gotta disagree with. ^^;; 'Cause really the only people who will pay attention to this version, who aren't Japanese, are Zuka fans (and maybe some Morning Musume fans) and we aren't really a huge fanbase. I can't really see the average theater fan liking the show that much. That and I already saw a European Dracula fan rant about how much they disliked it on tumblr and I can kinda see why they would feel that way (even if I personally completely disagree). It all depends too on what you're used to.
~Lyn
Dracula the Musical (based on the Bram Stoker novel) - 2011 Japanese version starring Wao Youka, Hanafusa Mari, and Natsumi Abe
I actually watched my DVD a month ago when I first got it but wanted to know a bit more about the original musical before I did an actual review considering my Japanese is limited. I couldn't find any video of any of the English versions of the musical but I did find one of the German performances on youtube with subtitles so was able to watch that to have a better understanding and for comparison sake. But keep in mind I haven't actually read the original book nor seen the movie version so this was my first time seeing this story.
For those that don't know, the reason I got this DVD and my whole interest in this show in general is solely because this version stars two former Takarazuka stars (and also a former member of Morning Musume but that doesn't interest me quite as much lol), Wao Youka and Hanafusa Mari in the lead roles. These two are kinda known as the "Golden Pair" in the Takarazuka community and so to see them performing together post Zuka is really awesome and nostalgic. And yes, Dracula is being played by a woman in this version, which is a first and kinda a big deal. Especially as outside of Takarazuka, females don't get many male parts in Japan.
So I must say I do have some issues with the plot of the musical itself and I can see why it didn't do that well during its first run. From what I read, it did better in Europe than it did on Broadway and that seems to be rather evident with the fact that I seem to find much more stuff for the German version online than I can for the English version. Hell for a while there I was wondering if the German version came first just by how well the songs worked in German as compared to English from what I could find. But anyways, my main issue is with Mina and how she is presented in the musical. I couldn't really understand her. One minute she's all "Dracula bad! Vampires evil! Lets stop him!" and the next she's all "I love him! I have to help him! Woe!" x_x;; But anyways that's just an issue I have with the writing here. The actors all performed so well and I did really like the songs so that kinda made up for it even if the plot was kinda "...meh" and random at times. XD But then again most musicals are like that in a way.
So here's our main cast...
Lucy (Natsume Abe), Mina (Hanafusa Mari), Dracula (Wao Youka), and Van Helsing (don't know the actor's name)
At first I was actually really surprised by Wao's appearance in the musical. Just 'cause they didn't really attempt to make her look that masculine. She still looks very much like a woman to me. 'Cause in Takarazuka she certainly looked A LOT more masculine than that. XD And must admit it's just weird seeing her not in Zuka make-up even though she is playing a male here. Like I've seen her without make-up and seen her in her female roles and am used to that. But its just odd 'cause she IS playing a male here. But I kept really thinking this is just a female Dracula...which I have no problem with. XD But I know the character is still supposed to be male here. So...just found that interesting and kinda curious why they decided to go that route. Also the make-up they did use on her makes her eyes look...really big. Plus the fact for some reason she had a tendency to stare wide-eyed as long as possible for a big majority of the show. This kinda...confused me and weirded me out. Because I KNOW she doesn't have wide eyes. She has pretty squinty ones. XD Even in Zuka, one of the things I always identified her by was her squinty eyes. XDXD So its just like "...why are her eyes so wide????!!!" XD That and the fact that she is doing this wide eyed thing the whole time...kinda limited her facial expressions so there wasn't as much emotion going on her face as I would have liked other than looking kinda like an owl the whole time. ^^;;; So that did kinda bother me. But her voice made up for it. Because *swoon* no one has a voice as amazing as Wao. She definitely outdoes ALL the other actors who have played Dracula in that sense. Her voice is so much more powerful even if she is female. And well she's far sexier, of course~
Hana...has not aged. At all! She still looks EXACTLY like she did in Zuka. o_o; And she's every bit as amazing as she was then. ^.^ She brings a lot of elegance and grace to the Mina character that makes me like her a lot more in this version than in the German version (where I really just didn't like Mina at all to be honest). Hana made the character a little more believable to me in the way she portrayed her...but it may also just be because I'm biased and love every role Hana has ever played. XD I mean hell she got me to actually feel sorry for Marie Antionette! And well...not much more I can say 'cause she was just perfection as always. And once again manages to amaze me at her ability to cry on stage and still look pretty and not screw up her voice while doing so (my memory may serve me wrong but from the shows I've seen, Hana still is the only Zuka actress I've ever seen actually cry in a show and I've seen her do it several times now). And it tugs at your heartstrings every time she does it. lol
I don't know much about Natsume Abe but she was pretty cute and fit Lucy well. It was actually quite shocking to see her post seduction as they do a great job at making her look...well...dead. XD Quite the contrast from the happy cute look she has going on before. Also I found it interesting that in the German version they do her death off stage while they do it on stage in this version. XD Stake and all.
I wish I could find out the actor's name who plays Jonathon in this because I SWEAR I know him from somewhere but I can't figure out where. O_o But his face and mainly his voice seem REALLY familiar. And its not just me. Carrie had the same reaction when I showed this to her. We think maybe he might have been in one of the Kuro musicals but I haven't watched them in quite some time. Will have to remember to skim through them again at some point to see if we're right or just going crazy. ^^;;
I also found it quite interesting how in this version Renfield is portrayed as a young man who is actually a bit attractive under all that grim. While in all the other versions I looked at online, he seems to usually be portrayed as a short ugly old man. And in general the whole Japanese cast in this one is a lot prettier than the others I've found. XDXD
And in the general story Dracula has three brides. But in this version instead of having 3 female vampire brides, there are three guys playing these parts! Which really surprised me. o_o I wonder if since we have a female playing Dracula, they decided to change that up too? Though their roles are little different. They're more like Dracula's minions here, not really "groomsmen" or "brides" here. lol But they do still molest Jack a bit in the beginning (which I must admit was pretty hot lol). But there are also other random female vampires in the background doing the chorus every so often, doing the original lines of the brides and such.
The stage itself was pretty simplistic and a little disappointing at times. Just 'cause for some reason London and Transylvania look...exactly the same? lol But I understand the way they did it, wasn't exactly very easy to change the set and I have a feeling they probably didn't have a very large budget for this. In the "Making of" bit on the DVD they show a little bit of the behind the stage stuff with the stage and I mean it is kinda cool how it rotates and all but that's pretty much all it does. The sets were a lot more elaborate in the German version. But! I did like the set-up for the finale in the Japanese one A LOT more. The German one was just in this one plain room. While the Japanese one we have a gazillion candles everywhere (VERY Phantom ish in fact) and it was just really pretty and so fitting for the finale.
The finale in general was probably the biggest difference between the two versions. I'm very curious to see how the other Japanese versions ended to know if this was something the Japanese changed for all their versions or if it was just for this one. But all I could think of when I saw it was "...that's such a Takarazuka type of ending..." XDXD 'Cause even before I watched the German version, I had an English sypnopsis of the play I was following along with as I watched to help me out some so that's how I knew the ending was quite different. In the western version, Dracula asks Mina to kill him, she refuses, he takes a hold of the knife and puts her hand on top of it and kinda forces her to kill him (even though he's really the one doing the stabbing here), he dies, and Mina is reunited with Jonathon and the rest of the gang. In THIS version, after Dracula dies, Mina then takes up the knife and...stabs herself! So she can be reunited with Dracula in death. ...which I kinda liked more. XD Even though it did have me wondering what happened to the rest of the cast as it ends there and we never see the result of their fight. lol Oh well.
You can get the jist of the stage here in this video:
Click to viewThis scene is kinda the Van Helsing and Lucy's suitors vs Dracula (I love the burning of the bible bit btw It was a nice little touch they added in there XD)
And the pretty finale...
And I suck at reviews...I am sooo all over the place with this. I meant to kinda do a review of the plot from beginning to end but I've already talked about the finale here. Pffft. Oh well. But I figure if anyone actually really wants to know more about the show, they'll watch it themselves. And don't want to give away too much for those who plan to watch it with me later on.
Though oddly enough one of my favorite parts in the whole show is actually the one and ONLY silly part which is with Lucy and her suitors. Its so cute and comical that you almost wonder if you're watching the right show. XD But I adored it. And them practicing the scene in the "Making Of" is really cute 'cause they keep laughing while reading the lines (and Wao is watching them and laughing at them the whole time). Even before I watched the German version, I pretty much was able to follow that bit pretty well as I understood most of the Japanese used there. But basically its this whole song about Lucy having to chose between three guys as they try to win her affection and its really cute.
But overall...I really liked it! At first I wasn't that impressed as I wanted to be but having watched it several times since, I've really become fond of it. And I have most of the songs memorized already. XD They get stuck in your head pretty easily. And I was pretty amused that even Carrie was all "...if Dracula was really this hot, I'd give into him too." XDXD Oh Wao, even straight girls can't resist you~ And well its true. The other Draculas I've seen...just aren't attractive in my opinion and thus I can't really understand why Lucy and Mina are drawn to him so easily other than the fact he can use his powers to control them. But with Wao...its like..."ok, yeah, I get it. I wouldn't resist either. *_*" 'cause god she's hot. I am totally ok with admitting that I swooned a little during the scene where Dracula goes from old (and lol Wao's "old Dracula" is kinda hilarious, she's even got spiders in her hair but honestly comes off more like an old crazy lady XD) to suddenly young and hot!
But yeah I don't think its anything super amazing and the American guy (I'm guessing he's either the producer or director of the Broadway version) in the interview who's all "this will make history!" I gotta disagree with. ^^;; 'Cause really the only people who will pay attention to this version, who aren't Japanese, are Zuka fans (and maybe some Morning Musume fans) and we aren't really a huge fanbase. I can't really see the average theater fan liking the show that much. That and I already saw a European Dracula fan rant about how much they disliked it on tumblr and I can kinda see why they would feel that way (even if I personally completely disagree). It all depends too on what you're used to.
~Lyn