Aka to Kuro - A live performance review
This has turned out to be another of my favorite Touko shows which feature rise and fall of a very ambitious, highly driven (& good-looking) young man in line with her roles in Koifubuki, Ganryu, Ryusei, and El Halcon.
Her presence as Julien is just awesome and her portrayal of his compelling passion is so real and stirring. Also very real is Julien as an attractive seducer - a hot heartthrob!
Asuka as Mme. de Rênal appears on stage in the lovely & least revealing costumes (I’m not complaining! XD) but still she is gorgeous. She radiates as her emotions for Julien rise and takes over her. Nene has made a successful Hoshigumi debut by playing the pretty-faced, haughty and bored Mathilda. Her expressions are better when she is NOT speaking, but she is making a good try performing opposite to a top otokoyaku. She looks strikingly beautiful and can easily convince the audience that Mathilda is the target of admiration among the upper-class gentlemen. Those 2 musumeyaku seem to have good chemistry with their given characters.
In this show the upperclass siennes like Masumi (Archbishop Napier) and senka players as Bankei-san (Marquis de la Mole) and Soluna-san (Abbe Pirard) have opportunities to demonstrate their skilled acting capabilities. I enjoyed seeing Touko exchange dialogues with those wonderful performers. It gave me a sheer joy of experiencing a good theater. I’m very happy about the casting which I think has greatly attributed to the success of this show. Mariya, who plays the maid Elisa, also does a good job. Shii-chan’s portrayal of M. Rênal is…average Shii-chan, a sort of.
The main story moves on with Julien’s interactions with Asuka in Act 1, Nene in Act 2 and those siennes listed above…and that means a bit of setback for the rest of the company...
The fans of Suzumin / Shimiko / Akashi would complain about their shockingly limited stage time and presence. Especially Suzumin and Akashi. They just get themselves introduced in Act 2, and that’s almost about it. They actually have no chance to play the characters and are reduced to do dancing in groups for the rest of the show. What a waste. Shimiko has a few more lines, but her performance as Mathilde’s fiancé fails to impress.
Chie’s got 2 named roles. Her performance as Julien’s friend Fouqué is far more impressive than that of Russian prince Korasoff who teaches Julien how to play the game of love. I’d dare say Suzumin could have handled Korasoff better and she deserves to get the role.
The stage direction and music are very typical of the 80’s Shibata shows. As always, Nakamura Satoru-sensei has reserved much of its rather outdated original style, though Touko gets to sing a wonderful solo. Dances appear here and there in order to give those siennes who haven’t much to do in the main story chances to appear on stage.
Now the costumes. Yes, I have to complain about them. Except for the lead characters who are furnished with the decent outfits, you are exposed to a flood of when-was-the-last-time-I-saw-this-before costumes and they are used incoherently. Shii-chan’s overcoats make her look more like a circus master than a distinguished mayor. Mme. de Rênal must be wise and thrifty enough to get her husband’s outfits from the pawnshops so that she can save money for her expensive clothes. Some of the high society guys in Paris (incl. Shimiko and Akashi) look like employees of one of Tokyo’s trendy “bachelor cafés”. I know Hoshigumi should have its production budget and they have to spare much for The Scarlet Pimpernel but…
That said, I very much love this production for the sheer brilliance of the performances delivered by the main actresses. Another death for Touko’s character, and I’m fine with that. Touko-sama (as called by Asuka) could die a hundred times more as she has gained fangirls that way.
For the record : Pony-tailed Komu-chan was in the audience.
Her presence as Julien is just awesome and her portrayal of his compelling passion is so real and stirring. Also very real is Julien as an attractive seducer - a hot heartthrob!
Asuka as Mme. de Rênal appears on stage in the lovely & least revealing costumes (I’m not complaining! XD) but still she is gorgeous. She radiates as her emotions for Julien rise and takes over her. Nene has made a successful Hoshigumi debut by playing the pretty-faced, haughty and bored Mathilda. Her expressions are better when she is NOT speaking, but she is making a good try performing opposite to a top otokoyaku. She looks strikingly beautiful and can easily convince the audience that Mathilda is the target of admiration among the upper-class gentlemen. Those 2 musumeyaku seem to have good chemistry with their given characters.
In this show the upperclass siennes like Masumi (Archbishop Napier) and senka players as Bankei-san (Marquis de la Mole) and Soluna-san (Abbe Pirard) have opportunities to demonstrate their skilled acting capabilities. I enjoyed seeing Touko exchange dialogues with those wonderful performers. It gave me a sheer joy of experiencing a good theater. I’m very happy about the casting which I think has greatly attributed to the success of this show. Mariya, who plays the maid Elisa, also does a good job. Shii-chan’s portrayal of M. Rênal is…average Shii-chan, a sort of.
The main story moves on with Julien’s interactions with Asuka in Act 1, Nene in Act 2 and those siennes listed above…and that means a bit of setback for the rest of the company...
The fans of Suzumin / Shimiko / Akashi would complain about their shockingly limited stage time and presence. Especially Suzumin and Akashi. They just get themselves introduced in Act 2, and that’s almost about it. They actually have no chance to play the characters and are reduced to do dancing in groups for the rest of the show. What a waste. Shimiko has a few more lines, but her performance as Mathilde’s fiancé fails to impress.
Chie’s got 2 named roles. Her performance as Julien’s friend Fouqué is far more impressive than that of Russian prince Korasoff who teaches Julien how to play the game of love. I’d dare say Suzumin could have handled Korasoff better and she deserves to get the role.
The stage direction and music are very typical of the 80’s Shibata shows. As always, Nakamura Satoru-sensei has reserved much of its rather outdated original style, though Touko gets to sing a wonderful solo. Dances appear here and there in order to give those siennes who haven’t much to do in the main story chances to appear on stage.
Now the costumes. Yes, I have to complain about them. Except for the lead characters who are furnished with the decent outfits, you are exposed to a flood of when-was-the-last-time-I-saw-this-before costumes and they are used incoherently. Shii-chan’s overcoats make her look more like a circus master than a distinguished mayor. Mme. de Rênal must be wise and thrifty enough to get her husband’s outfits from the pawnshops so that she can save money for her expensive clothes. Some of the high society guys in Paris (incl. Shimiko and Akashi) look like employees of one of Tokyo’s trendy “bachelor cafés”. I know Hoshigumi should have its production budget and they have to spare much for The Scarlet Pimpernel but…
That said, I very much love this production for the sheer brilliance of the performances delivered by the main actresses. Another death for Touko’s character, and I’m fine with that. Touko-sama (as called by Asuka) could die a hundred times more as she has gained fangirls that way.
For the record : Pony-tailed Komu-chan was in the audience.