My Heart : Dolce souken report
Hi, ylefolle79 , thank you for waiting patiently. I’m finally done with the souken report!
*The following report was written as I understood/remembered the event, and may contain inaccuracies and errors.
The 16:30 performance of Sept. 7 was a Dolce souken ; the entire theater with more than 1200 seats was exclusively reserved for Osa’s fan club members. Each audience was given a large round fan with a photo of Osa’s face printed on it (“Osa fan” XD) and a penlight as souken souvenirs.
The MC breaks during the performance were much longer than usual, and Osa took time to share with the audience her account and thoughts of her retirement and the decision to relaunch a singing career.
"Originally I had no intention to continue with performing after my retirement from the revue company. I had been genuinely devoted to Takarazuka and being an otokoyaku, and it was my strong conviction that I wouldn't perform outside the revue company."
" I could have switched my career track to my long-time dream, which was to operate a cash register! ** (laughs)"
"Then, after the retirement I was requested to record a song “Ave Maria” as a bonus track for the CD box (Hearts). For the first time I faced a situation where I had to sing outside the expression of otokoyaku, and I could hardly accept the outcome. I was terribly disappointed at how little I was capable of handling vocally, questioning myself “What have I achieved after all these 17 years?” Then I realized that I had never expressed my own personality before. I had always sung songs through the given otokoyaku roles. Gradually a desire to sing again - to develop my singing in many different ways beyond the framework of Takarazuka otokoyaku- started to take clear shape within me. Actually I wobbled and fretted a lot. But my cravings for singing won in the end."
"Of course my own desire came first, but you fans supported me all through this decision making process. I received quite a number of letters telling me ‘I strongly believe that you will sing again.’ ‘I will be waiting for you to take up music again.’ I'm so grateful for your encouragement. By the end of January I made up my mind to restart my career as a singer."
“You are fabulous people. You have never left my heart. I’m overwhelmed by happiness to be here to perform again in front of you.”
"While I stayed at home before these ongoing activities started to take place, I often did 'let's pretend Adieu Marseille alone’, playing both otokoyaku and musumeyaku roles all by myself (laughs)…only to realize that I could never return to those days again."
"I'm glad to receive today those who have become my fans after my retirement from Takarazuka along with the old familiar faces. I feel so thrilled to deliver my songs to all of you."
When the last number of the concert “Naniyorimo Anataga” commenced, penlights started to flicker and sway in the audience (in accordance with the instructions given by the club). Pinkish starry lights filled all over the place. The conductor and some of the orchestra players also held them. It continued till the end of the encore number “Owari nai Tabi”. Osa was visibly moved at the sight and tears welled up in her eyes, but her performance was solid and stable. At the curtain call, all the co-performers appeared on stage holding the “Osa fans” in front of their faces, which totally cracked her up. Osa repeated words of gratitude to the dancers, the supporting singers, the conductor Shiota Akihiro (who had previously worked with Osa in I Got Music) and his orchestra, mentioning how fortunate she was to have such a wonderful company to work with for her first post-Takarazuka show.
** Osa jokingly told Juripyon in the Ojamanbow Show (2005) on Sky Stage about her keen interest in operating a cash register. She cracked Juripyon up by mentioning, “Someday I hope to compete in the national cash register operation tournament. I will invite Sky Stage to film my performance for their OG News.”
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After the show, there was a surprise talk show - the audience had not been informed of this event. Masaoka Nao aka Happa-chan, Osa's batchmate and ex-Hanagumisei, went up to the stage from the audience and joined Osa for a 30-minute talk, in which Osa discussed what she felt about singing her Takarazuka repertoire in the concert, how she wrote songs, and what she would hope to attain through music.
Osa (=O) / Happa-chan (=H)
O: Happa-chan looked like my fangirl in the audience, with your eyes wide open staring at me (giggles)
H: I was fangirling you while watching the show! Seriously I was deeply moved. You were incredible.
O: Thank you! (To the audience) Happa-chan always gives me honest and sincere feedback on my performance, sometimes very sharp-tongued, though. (giggles) Her comments are reliable and help me a lot.
H: Honestly, I liked the way you presented yourself. You looked very natural, not artificial at all. You were very pretty in that yellow dress...even with those hefty shoulders. (laughs)
O: Ahahaha...I had warned you that I'd reveal my massive shoulders in that costume! (laughs)
H: You look skinny but...
O: I’m equipped with such sturdy shoulders (laughs).
H: And you staggered across the stage with those shoulders wearing that lovely dress! (laughs)
O: Did you notice my big strides?! Hahaha…
H: And that elegant purple gown! Purple looks great on you.
O: Because I'm Sumire (violet)...?? (giggles)
O: In this concert, I'm using the otokoyaku vocal range which I acquired through my Takarazuka years and expanding that tone to higher notes.
H: I was very much impressed with the way you handled such a broad vocal range without going into falsetto. And your voice sounded smooth and natural even in high notes, no hint of strain at all. That's great. You know, it’s even hard for some top otokoyaku to hit the limited otokoyaku notes without sounding forced. But you delivered a much broader range so beautifully.
O: I found “Takarazuka My Heart” part the most difficult to do. I could not get into those songs at all on an emotional level in the early part of the rehearsals. I felt like I was doing some imitation, something very artificial, and that was terribly uncomfortable. My last day with Takarazuka feels like only yesterday, but my sensibility is no more the same. I was an otokoyaku back then, but now I'm playing the role of otokoyaku (she said "otokoyaku-yaku").
H: In this concert you're doing "otokoyaku-yaku"?! (giggles)
O: Right. Otokoyaku-yaku! (giggles)
H: I was taking vocal lessons from Terada-sensei (late Terada Takio, a composer of the revue company who wrote numerous Zuka masterpieces including “Ai areba koso” from Berubara) before and throughout my TMS years. I was rather prominent as one of the soprano voices in our class. One day Terada-sensei told me “so-and-so-san - um, this part is Osa’s real name- so-and-so-san’s voice is a jewel”. I was taken aback, because at TMS we tended to judge each other’s performing skills based on our grades, and Osa’s grades in the class were…obviously not among…(laughs)
O: (laughs) No! Hahaha!!
H: So my reaction was like "Oh, well...is that so??" But Terada-sensei maintained, “So-and-so-san’s voice is a jewel. If she polishes her jewel, it will shine brilliantly”. He had detected your vocal talent early on. The gift you were endowed with. And gradually you proved yourself.
O: Huh ….. ....... You have never told me that before!
H: Haven't I?! (laughs)
H: So you wrote lyrics for this concert?
O: Both words and music. I took great pains in writing the lyrics because I didn’t want to use clichés to represent my feelings and emotions. I put down a number of words in my notebook first, then I carefully picked up only those that perfectly suited my sensibility one by one. For the song I composed, I was kind of persistent to match each musical phrase with the right verse and it took me months to finish.
H: How do you write music?
O: Well, I can play the piano just a little. I even can't write a score...Oops, I've blurted out my secret! (laughs) I'd set a metronome on (giggles), and with its "click-click" I'd sing into my MD recorder (giggles), then pass the data onto my music arranger. Well, I can't deal with those things properly...
H: That’s totally OK, I’d suppose, because even if you can write a score, that does not necessarily mean you are capable of producing fine melodies.
O: The arranger and the conductor kindly encouraged me by assuring "It's our job to make your music presentable." I'm very grateful for their saying so.
H: Do you plan to continue writing songs?
O: Yes!
H: And be a singer/song-writer? (giggles)
O: Why are you so giggly? (giggles)
H: Hey, why didn't you utilize your songwriting ability for Takarazuka while you were with the company?!!
H: This is your fanclub souken.
O: Exactly. On the opening night I was extremely nervous and tense. Next day I was relieved from the initial tension, then on realizing how nervous I had been the previous day I broke into tears on stage in the end of the day’s performance. Today I was very much moved by the sight of the swaying penlights but managed to keep my tears from running. I have grown up! (laughs)
H: Grown up!.(laughs) …though you were obviously wiping tears off when you turned backward. (giggles) The backing vocalists standing behind in the dark were also wetting their cheeks.
H: And you will be doing a musical next year.
O: Yes, Marguerite. I’ve accepted the offer mainly because I want to push my boundaries and expand my expression.
H: What kind of singer do you hope to be?
O: I don’t want to end up just being soothing and comfortable to the ears. I hope to be able to draw pictures and create images deep in the minds of listeners through my songs. I know it’s far far away from where I stand now, but I want to progress toward this objective.
H: Osa is such a peculiar creature...
O: Peculiar?! Creature?! (laughs)
H: (laughs) I mean, special! You are such a unique and special creature of your own! (laughs) I love you for always giving 100% of your energy to what you are doing, free of all calculation. At the time of your retirement from Takarazuka, you were totally and exclusively committed to your last stage, and nothing else. I want you to stay as you are. You don’t have to look like anyone else. I hope you will eventually develop your own kind of womanhood! (laughs)
O: Thank you, Happa-chan. (laughs)
In other news : Osa went to see Great Gatsby on Sept. 19.
*The following report was written as I understood/remembered the event, and may contain inaccuracies and errors.
The 16:30 performance of Sept. 7 was a Dolce souken ; the entire theater with more than 1200 seats was exclusively reserved for Osa’s fan club members. Each audience was given a large round fan with a photo of Osa’s face printed on it (“Osa fan” XD) and a penlight as souken souvenirs.
The MC breaks during the performance were much longer than usual, and Osa took time to share with the audience her account and thoughts of her retirement and the decision to relaunch a singing career.
"Originally I had no intention to continue with performing after my retirement from the revue company. I had been genuinely devoted to Takarazuka and being an otokoyaku, and it was my strong conviction that I wouldn't perform outside the revue company."
" I could have switched my career track to my long-time dream, which was to operate a cash register! ** (laughs)"
"Then, after the retirement I was requested to record a song “Ave Maria” as a bonus track for the CD box (Hearts). For the first time I faced a situation where I had to sing outside the expression of otokoyaku, and I could hardly accept the outcome. I was terribly disappointed at how little I was capable of handling vocally, questioning myself “What have I achieved after all these 17 years?” Then I realized that I had never expressed my own personality before. I had always sung songs through the given otokoyaku roles. Gradually a desire to sing again - to develop my singing in many different ways beyond the framework of Takarazuka otokoyaku- started to take clear shape within me. Actually I wobbled and fretted a lot. But my cravings for singing won in the end."
"Of course my own desire came first, but you fans supported me all through this decision making process. I received quite a number of letters telling me ‘I strongly believe that you will sing again.’ ‘I will be waiting for you to take up music again.’ I'm so grateful for your encouragement. By the end of January I made up my mind to restart my career as a singer."
“You are fabulous people. You have never left my heart. I’m overwhelmed by happiness to be here to perform again in front of you.”
"While I stayed at home before these ongoing activities started to take place, I often did 'let's pretend Adieu Marseille alone’, playing both otokoyaku and musumeyaku roles all by myself (laughs)…only to realize that I could never return to those days again."
"I'm glad to receive today those who have become my fans after my retirement from Takarazuka along with the old familiar faces. I feel so thrilled to deliver my songs to all of you."
When the last number of the concert “Naniyorimo Anataga” commenced, penlights started to flicker and sway in the audience (in accordance with the instructions given by the club). Pinkish starry lights filled all over the place. The conductor and some of the orchestra players also held them. It continued till the end of the encore number “Owari nai Tabi”. Osa was visibly moved at the sight and tears welled up in her eyes, but her performance was solid and stable. At the curtain call, all the co-performers appeared on stage holding the “Osa fans” in front of their faces, which totally cracked her up. Osa repeated words of gratitude to the dancers, the supporting singers, the conductor Shiota Akihiro (who had previously worked with Osa in I Got Music) and his orchestra, mentioning how fortunate she was to have such a wonderful company to work with for her first post-Takarazuka show.
** Osa jokingly told Juripyon in the Ojamanbow Show (2005) on Sky Stage about her keen interest in operating a cash register. She cracked Juripyon up by mentioning, “Someday I hope to compete in the national cash register operation tournament. I will invite Sky Stage to film my performance for their OG News.”
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After the show, there was a surprise talk show - the audience had not been informed of this event. Masaoka Nao aka Happa-chan, Osa's batchmate and ex-Hanagumisei, went up to the stage from the audience and joined Osa for a 30-minute talk, in which Osa discussed what she felt about singing her Takarazuka repertoire in the concert, how she wrote songs, and what she would hope to attain through music.
Osa (=O) / Happa-chan (=H)
O: Happa-chan looked like my fangirl in the audience, with your eyes wide open staring at me (giggles)
H: I was fangirling you while watching the show! Seriously I was deeply moved. You were incredible.
O: Thank you! (To the audience) Happa-chan always gives me honest and sincere feedback on my performance, sometimes very sharp-tongued, though. (giggles) Her comments are reliable and help me a lot.
H: Honestly, I liked the way you presented yourself. You looked very natural, not artificial at all. You were very pretty in that yellow dress...even with those hefty shoulders. (laughs)
O: Ahahaha...I had warned you that I'd reveal my massive shoulders in that costume! (laughs)
H: You look skinny but...
O: I’m equipped with such sturdy shoulders (laughs).
H: And you staggered across the stage with those shoulders wearing that lovely dress! (laughs)
O: Did you notice my big strides?! Hahaha…
H: And that elegant purple gown! Purple looks great on you.
O: Because I'm Sumire (violet)...?? (giggles)
O: In this concert, I'm using the otokoyaku vocal range which I acquired through my Takarazuka years and expanding that tone to higher notes.
H: I was very much impressed with the way you handled such a broad vocal range without going into falsetto. And your voice sounded smooth and natural even in high notes, no hint of strain at all. That's great. You know, it’s even hard for some top otokoyaku to hit the limited otokoyaku notes without sounding forced. But you delivered a much broader range so beautifully.
O: I found “Takarazuka My Heart” part the most difficult to do. I could not get into those songs at all on an emotional level in the early part of the rehearsals. I felt like I was doing some imitation, something very artificial, and that was terribly uncomfortable. My last day with Takarazuka feels like only yesterday, but my sensibility is no more the same. I was an otokoyaku back then, but now I'm playing the role of otokoyaku (she said "otokoyaku-yaku").
H: In this concert you're doing "otokoyaku-yaku"?! (giggles)
O: Right. Otokoyaku-yaku! (giggles)
H: I was taking vocal lessons from Terada-sensei (late Terada Takio, a composer of the revue company who wrote numerous Zuka masterpieces including “Ai areba koso” from Berubara) before and throughout my TMS years. I was rather prominent as one of the soprano voices in our class. One day Terada-sensei told me “so-and-so-san - um, this part is Osa’s real name- so-and-so-san’s voice is a jewel”. I was taken aback, because at TMS we tended to judge each other’s performing skills based on our grades, and Osa’s grades in the class were…obviously not among…(laughs)
O: (laughs) No! Hahaha!!
H: So my reaction was like "Oh, well...is that so??" But Terada-sensei maintained, “So-and-so-san’s voice is a jewel. If she polishes her jewel, it will shine brilliantly”. He had detected your vocal talent early on. The gift you were endowed with. And gradually you proved yourself.
O: Huh ….. ....... You have never told me that before!
H: Haven't I?! (laughs)
H: So you wrote lyrics for this concert?
O: Both words and music. I took great pains in writing the lyrics because I didn’t want to use clichés to represent my feelings and emotions. I put down a number of words in my notebook first, then I carefully picked up only those that perfectly suited my sensibility one by one. For the song I composed, I was kind of persistent to match each musical phrase with the right verse and it took me months to finish.
H: How do you write music?
O: Well, I can play the piano just a little. I even can't write a score...Oops, I've blurted out my secret! (laughs) I'd set a metronome on (giggles), and with its "click-click" I'd sing into my MD recorder (giggles), then pass the data onto my music arranger. Well, I can't deal with those things properly...
H: That’s totally OK, I’d suppose, because even if you can write a score, that does not necessarily mean you are capable of producing fine melodies.
O: The arranger and the conductor kindly encouraged me by assuring "It's our job to make your music presentable." I'm very grateful for their saying so.
H: Do you plan to continue writing songs?
O: Yes!
H: And be a singer/song-writer? (giggles)
O: Why are you so giggly? (giggles)
H: Hey, why didn't you utilize your songwriting ability for Takarazuka while you were with the company?!!
H: This is your fanclub souken.
O: Exactly. On the opening night I was extremely nervous and tense. Next day I was relieved from the initial tension, then on realizing how nervous I had been the previous day I broke into tears on stage in the end of the day’s performance. Today I was very much moved by the sight of the swaying penlights but managed to keep my tears from running. I have grown up! (laughs)
H: Grown up!.(laughs) …though you were obviously wiping tears off when you turned backward. (giggles) The backing vocalists standing behind in the dark were also wetting their cheeks.
H: And you will be doing a musical next year.
O: Yes, Marguerite. I’ve accepted the offer mainly because I want to push my boundaries and expand my expression.
H: What kind of singer do you hope to be?
O: I don’t want to end up just being soothing and comfortable to the ears. I hope to be able to draw pictures and create images deep in the minds of listeners through my songs. I know it’s far far away from where I stand now, but I want to progress toward this objective.
H: Osa is such a peculiar creature...
O: Peculiar?! Creature?! (laughs)
H: (laughs) I mean, special! You are such a unique and special creature of your own! (laughs) I love you for always giving 100% of your energy to what you are doing, free of all calculation. At the time of your retirement from Takarazuka, you were totally and exclusively committed to your last stage, and nothing else. I want you to stay as you are. You don’t have to look like anyone else. I hope you will eventually develop your own kind of womanhood! (laughs)
O: Thank you, Happa-chan. (laughs)
In other news : Osa went to see Great Gatsby on Sept. 19.