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masahiSummary: Don Lockwood and Lina Linton are darlings of the Silver Screen and the gossip columns. In reality, he's a cocky playboy and she's a selfish Diva who is still convinced by what she reads about their romance in the tabloids. Both of them find their lives thrown into disarray by the arrival of the Talkies.
I wish I had watched this show sooner. It was totally worth every second spent watching it, and I want to watch it again. I was laughing so much at some scenes I was almost crying. And this show is especially notable for having 4 impending Top Stars in it, 3 of them otokoyaku, 2 of them in dresses: Aran Kei, Yamato Yuuga, Matobu Sei and Hizuki Hana.
This is a show in the classic tradition of Broadway musical with the knockabout comedy and witty lines (in a similar vein to Me and My Girl, really), but with the Zuka joy and energy added, making it an absolute delight to watch.
It also didn't hurt that the whole cast was stellar. Tani had been borrowed from Cosmos, and you would think she had been with Star Troupe from the outset, with fantastic chemistry between every performer in the troupe.
As always, production values were wonderfully high, but the best part about this show - much like MiiMai - is that the performers were clearly loving every moment of it, and having as much fun as they could possibly have.
Now, to the cast. Normally, I would do this in order of cast-listing, but I'm afraid this time it will be by scene-stealing:
Matobu Sei as Lina Linton: was the funniest thing I have ever seen in my life. Last time I saw her, she was playing Bill in Me and My Girl, and was amazing, so I shouldn't have been surprised to see her being equally hilarious as Lina, but the big thing is the voice. I'm amazed she could get through the show night after night while doing a Minnie-Mouse-esque falsetto with dodgy pronunciation all over the place.
She was such a fantastically catty bitch with such a diva-attitude problem. Plus, some of the outfits they put her in were worth the watch themselves, especially the scene wherein she ends up with a cake on her head.
Seeing her in a dress was pricesless enough, but seeing her playing someone with the delusion of being a Femme Fatale was a killer. I was laughing so hard in some of her scenes, I was in physical pain. Especially seeing her in one of the Marie Antoinette frocks and wigs from Rose of Versailles. I nearly died.
What's fantastic about her is that not only can she sing and dance as an otokoyaku, but she can sing in that awful falsetto and she can sing badly when she needs to, which is a talent unto itself. And seeing the revue, when - mid-song - she switches from otoko-style to Lina-voice was brilliant. I do so adore her :)
Yamato Yuuga as Cosmo Brown: I wish I'd seen this before I saw BaraAme, so I'd know just what a talent I was seeing. I'd never seen Tani before BaraAme, and while she was good, she was also exhausted to the point of losing her sparkle.
This show showed her when she was on the rise, glittering and full of energy and she was absolutely wonderful. Her wicked sense of humour, merciless teasing and the sheer amount of fun she was having in the role made it impossible to ignore her.
Aran Kei as Don Lockwood: When Touko does comedy, she has fun with it, and playing a playboy actor who is very sure he's God's gift to mankind was certainly a lot of fun for her, especially with Tani standing there going "you, my friend, are an idiot".
She also surprised me with her proficiency at tap-dance, since various other shows have had her walking through dance routines and fleeing off as soon as was possible to let the better dancers take over. Maybe it's just that kind of dance is more manageable, since it's more concentrated.
Still, I'm afraid the previous two performers really did steal the show from her.
Hizuki Hana as Kathy: I know quite a few people don't like her voice, but I actually like it compared to most Musumeyakus, since the tendency is to push them as high up the octaves as they can go, reducing them to ear-bleeding shrillness. I like a musumeyaku who sings lower down the scale and Ume-chan was great for that.
Plus, her Kathy was lovely and feisty, which made her a great counterpoint to Yuu's catty Lina and Touko's swaggering playboy.
Hoshihara Misao as R.F. Simpson: Hoshi only had a few scenes, but those few scenes made her presence felt, as the director-sort in charge of the whole affair. And also, completely terrified of the raving despot that is Lina. I do so love Hoshi :)
And lastly, special notice goes to:
Yuuho Satoru as the Diction coach: anyone who can pull of those tongue-twisting recitations while having Touko and Tani poking fun at them and keeping their face straight is worthy of applause :)
I wish I had watched this show sooner. It was totally worth every second spent watching it, and I want to watch it again. I was laughing so much at some scenes I was almost crying. And this show is especially notable for having 4 impending Top Stars in it, 3 of them otokoyaku, 2 of them in dresses: Aran Kei, Yamato Yuuga, Matobu Sei and Hizuki Hana.
This is a show in the classic tradition of Broadway musical with the knockabout comedy and witty lines (in a similar vein to Me and My Girl, really), but with the Zuka joy and energy added, making it an absolute delight to watch.
It also didn't hurt that the whole cast was stellar. Tani had been borrowed from Cosmos, and you would think she had been with Star Troupe from the outset, with fantastic chemistry between every performer in the troupe.
As always, production values were wonderfully high, but the best part about this show - much like MiiMai - is that the performers were clearly loving every moment of it, and having as much fun as they could possibly have.
Now, to the cast. Normally, I would do this in order of cast-listing, but I'm afraid this time it will be by scene-stealing:
Matobu Sei as Lina Linton: was the funniest thing I have ever seen in my life. Last time I saw her, she was playing Bill in Me and My Girl, and was amazing, so I shouldn't have been surprised to see her being equally hilarious as Lina, but the big thing is the voice. I'm amazed she could get through the show night after night while doing a Minnie-Mouse-esque falsetto with dodgy pronunciation all over the place.
She was such a fantastically catty bitch with such a diva-attitude problem. Plus, some of the outfits they put her in were worth the watch themselves, especially the scene wherein she ends up with a cake on her head.
Seeing her in a dress was pricesless enough, but seeing her playing someone with the delusion of being a Femme Fatale was a killer. I was laughing so hard in some of her scenes, I was in physical pain. Especially seeing her in one of the Marie Antoinette frocks and wigs from Rose of Versailles. I nearly died.
What's fantastic about her is that not only can she sing and dance as an otokoyaku, but she can sing in that awful falsetto and she can sing badly when she needs to, which is a talent unto itself. And seeing the revue, when - mid-song - she switches from otoko-style to Lina-voice was brilliant. I do so adore her :)
Yamato Yuuga as Cosmo Brown: I wish I'd seen this before I saw BaraAme, so I'd know just what a talent I was seeing. I'd never seen Tani before BaraAme, and while she was good, she was also exhausted to the point of losing her sparkle.
This show showed her when she was on the rise, glittering and full of energy and she was absolutely wonderful. Her wicked sense of humour, merciless teasing and the sheer amount of fun she was having in the role made it impossible to ignore her.
Aran Kei as Don Lockwood: When Touko does comedy, she has fun with it, and playing a playboy actor who is very sure he's God's gift to mankind was certainly a lot of fun for her, especially with Tani standing there going "you, my friend, are an idiot".
She also surprised me with her proficiency at tap-dance, since various other shows have had her walking through dance routines and fleeing off as soon as was possible to let the better dancers take over. Maybe it's just that kind of dance is more manageable, since it's more concentrated.
Still, I'm afraid the previous two performers really did steal the show from her.
Hizuki Hana as Kathy: I know quite a few people don't like her voice, but I actually like it compared to most Musumeyakus, since the tendency is to push them as high up the octaves as they can go, reducing them to ear-bleeding shrillness. I like a musumeyaku who sings lower down the scale and Ume-chan was great for that.
Plus, her Kathy was lovely and feisty, which made her a great counterpoint to Yuu's catty Lina and Touko's swaggering playboy.
Hoshihara Misao as R.F. Simpson: Hoshi only had a few scenes, but those few scenes made her presence felt, as the director-sort in charge of the whole affair. And also, completely terrified of the raving despot that is Lina. I do so love Hoshi :)
And lastly, special notice goes to:
Yuuho Satoru as the Diction coach: anyone who can pull of those tongue-twisting recitations while having Touko and Tani poking fun at them and keeping their face straight is worthy of applause :)
