Hollywood Lover - or another tale of a hapless woman
I like Hollywood Lover. Mostly. I was very much impressed by the performance of Yuuhi and Ahi. But I have a problem in loving this show wholeheartedly because of the heroine Rose. To be precise, the way the director Ueda Keiko treated her.
Rose (played by Shirosaki Ai) is utterly gorgeous and great to focus your opera glasses on for a while. But she is a typical Ueda Keiko tragedy heroine. When Rose got to start her story, I acknowledged she was the person I had met several times before. I had known these expressions and the regular series of words of desperation. While I’d agree this role fits into the plot and Ai-chan did her best to play it, I was disappointed to find another reincarnation of the previous Keiko creations; Anna (Anna Karenina), Zelda (The Last Party), Lilith (Lucifer’s Tears), Elyse (Maihime) and Felicita a smaller role from Palermo Shines in the Setting Sun ; young, beautiful but emotionally disturbed, vulnerable, often vain inside or with low self-esteem and self-destructive. I am too familiar with those Keiko women. I have liked most of Ueda Keiko shows and admired her awesome stage direction in spite of her tendency to treat her heroines cruelly. But for Hollywood Lover I had expected her to develop a female lead role outside of this endless karma of self-despair and a tragic end. It didn’t happen.
Another drawback about Rose is that the writer-director heavily crams hints into Act 1 that suggest how this show would result in the end - such as “swan song” “doom” “storm” and “gypsy’s warning”. In the first 40 minutes one can easily be assured that the heroine is not only denied happiness, but a chance of survival. I was sad to realize that Keiko-sensei was meant to take her female lead role’s life AGAIN. Stefano’s idea of running off with Rose to Mexico therefore did not amuse me when it was so clear that she wouldn’t make it.
What I am disturbed most is that compared with Stefano’s and Richard’s, Rose’s lines are poorly developed and full of sappy Keiko typecast nonsense. Even Walter (the father of Richard) and Monica (Stefano’s girlfriend) have got better things to say. I could easily anticipate what Rose was about to deliver next. When she started confessing the reason why she had left Stefano for Richard, I knew she’d murmur some I-loved-you-so-but-I-did-not-deserve-to-be-happy thing. Then she didn’t fail me. At that point I was almost angry with Keiko-sensei for making her heroine a self-flagellating asshole (and that was exactly what I had experienced with Lilith in Lucifer’s Tears). I wish Keiko-sensei have cared more for Rose’s personality than her costumes.
[Now I have realized Keiko-sensei was EXCEPTIONALLY nice to give Fuu-chan Anrietta (Palermo). This character seem to have taken away all the luck from other Keiko heroines. She survived against all odds and most importantly had a sense of pride. She even got to marry Osa/Vittorio in the end. Couldn’t be luckier.]
Except for the heroine, Ueda Keiko has successfully developed the characters surrounding Stefano. Especially noteworthy is Richard performed by Ahi. He is solely responsible for triggering a tragic and painful end to this story, but he is not a straightforward villain. I’d like to praise Keiko-sensei for having worked carefully on this role and his relationship with his father Walter (Isono Chihiro skillfully depicts this person within her limited stage time). Richard is ice-cold, arrogant, a competent film producer and obsessed with Rose but within him resides a small boy left wounded with agony. Ahi did an impressive job to portray that. I can easily forget about Rose, but he stays with me.
(*grumbles* If the writer-director could have been kind enough to spend some effort on the heroine…)
I can assure that Yuuhi has demonstrated a marvelous performance in this show. Thanks to the great costume work, Stefano always looks strikingly cool, even when he is exhausted or frustrated. I am glad that Yuuhi got to play this character for her last stage with Tsukigumi.
Now it's Jan 26th Tokyo time. Yuuhi, welcome to Hanagumi! You've got to change into a pink tuxedo now. Hope 真飛大空壮 ("Authentic Flight-Big Sky-Magnificence" looks like an Air Force campaign slogan :D) trio will reach another pinnacle for the troupe.
Rose (played by Shirosaki Ai) is utterly gorgeous and great to focus your opera glasses on for a while. But she is a typical Ueda Keiko tragedy heroine. When Rose got to start her story, I acknowledged she was the person I had met several times before. I had known these expressions and the regular series of words of desperation. While I’d agree this role fits into the plot and Ai-chan did her best to play it, I was disappointed to find another reincarnation of the previous Keiko creations; Anna (Anna Karenina), Zelda (The Last Party), Lilith (Lucifer’s Tears), Elyse (Maihime) and Felicita a smaller role from Palermo Shines in the Setting Sun ; young, beautiful but emotionally disturbed, vulnerable, often vain inside or with low self-esteem and self-destructive. I am too familiar with those Keiko women. I have liked most of Ueda Keiko shows and admired her awesome stage direction in spite of her tendency to treat her heroines cruelly. But for Hollywood Lover I had expected her to develop a female lead role outside of this endless karma of self-despair and a tragic end. It didn’t happen.
Another drawback about Rose is that the writer-director heavily crams hints into Act 1 that suggest how this show would result in the end - such as “swan song” “doom” “storm” and “gypsy’s warning”. In the first 40 minutes one can easily be assured that the heroine is not only denied happiness, but a chance of survival. I was sad to realize that Keiko-sensei was meant to take her female lead role’s life AGAIN. Stefano’s idea of running off with Rose to Mexico therefore did not amuse me when it was so clear that she wouldn’t make it.
What I am disturbed most is that compared with Stefano’s and Richard’s, Rose’s lines are poorly developed and full of sappy Keiko typecast nonsense. Even Walter (the father of Richard) and Monica (Stefano’s girlfriend) have got better things to say. I could easily anticipate what Rose was about to deliver next. When she started confessing the reason why she had left Stefano for Richard, I knew she’d murmur some I-loved-you-so-but-I-did-not-deserve-to-be-happy thing. Then she didn’t fail me. At that point I was almost angry with Keiko-sensei for making her heroine a self-flagellating asshole (and that was exactly what I had experienced with Lilith in Lucifer’s Tears). I wish Keiko-sensei have cared more for Rose’s personality than her costumes.
[Now I have realized Keiko-sensei was EXCEPTIONALLY nice to give Fuu-chan Anrietta (Palermo). This character seem to have taken away all the luck from other Keiko heroines. She survived against all odds and most importantly had a sense of pride. She even got to marry Osa/Vittorio in the end. Couldn’t be luckier.]
Except for the heroine, Ueda Keiko has successfully developed the characters surrounding Stefano. Especially noteworthy is Richard performed by Ahi. He is solely responsible for triggering a tragic and painful end to this story, but he is not a straightforward villain. I’d like to praise Keiko-sensei for having worked carefully on this role and his relationship with his father Walter (Isono Chihiro skillfully depicts this person within her limited stage time). Richard is ice-cold, arrogant, a competent film producer and obsessed with Rose but within him resides a small boy left wounded with agony. Ahi did an impressive job to portray that. I can easily forget about Rose, but he stays with me.
(*grumbles* If the writer-director could have been kind enough to spend some effort on the heroine…)
I can assure that Yuuhi has demonstrated a marvelous performance in this show. Thanks to the great costume work, Stefano always looks strikingly cool, even when he is exhausted or frustrated. I am glad that Yuuhi got to play this character for her last stage with Tsukigumi.
Now it's Jan 26th Tokyo time. Yuuhi, welcome to Hanagumi! You've got to change into a pink tuxedo now. Hope 真飛大空壮 ("Authentic Flight-Big Sky-Magnificence" looks like an Air Force campaign slogan :D) trio will reach another pinnacle for the troupe.