Onegin (Yukigumi + Senka, November 5 2010)
Nov. 6th, 2010 08:35 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
yukinojouThe entire Takarazuka run of this show sold out the day we got in, so I had to use somewhat unorthodox means (also known as bribing the hostel staff with sweets) to get my ticket. I'm very, very glad I did. With one show to go, it's the best show I've seen during this trip, hands down.
This was my first show ever seen live at the Takarazuka Bow Hall. It's a lovely little stage tucked between the Takarazuka Ticket Centre and the main theatre, and right now it has a gorgeous curtain, with the profile of an otokoyaku that seems about to come alive.
It's also small - it looked like about 600 seats altogether. Even in the far back I was close enough to only need binoculars when concentrating on someone's expression. The acoustics are predictably gorgeous, and unlike the high tech of the Grand Theatre, the set changes are based on platforms rolled across the stage with furniture on them (plus the usual things dropping in from above). I don't think I need to mention that the lighting is spot-on perfect, in a show that relies a lot on throwing the background into darkness during flashbacks or fade-outs, leaving a single spotlight to show Onegin's reaction.
The main element of the set is an elegant carved gilded picture frame that turns each scene into a painting in the Ermitage. That early nineteenth century aesthetic pervades, but is not literal; furniture stands on rugs on the empty dark stage, and pictures and windows hang in mid-air, sketching the rooms and letting imagination fill them in. The costumes on the other hand are word-perfect with absolute attention to detail, including peasant embroidery and the way Onegin's neckerchief is tied. (Russian hair, mind you, is sketched in by everyone having perms.) Makeup is Takarazuka-minimal, letting you see the actresses' expressions. In Act 2, Onegin sports a small mustache that reminds me more than a little of Todoroki Yuu's Lucheni.
Note: The below was garnered from my knowledge of the poem and the events, with little knowledge of Japanese. Corrections are appreciated.
The first act's plot is close to the book, but there are significant changes. Rather than inheriting an estate in the country, the dandy Evgeni Onegin (Todoroki Yuu) receives a summons from his parents - the formidable Miho Keiko and Itsuki Chihiro. This interrupts a rather cheerful life in St Petersburg, where he had an ongoing relationship with the actress Nina Grushinskaya (Suzuhana Risa) and a friendship with her other admirer, a poet (Ozuki Tooma), as well as being the toast of high society. Onegin's seriously disconcerted by returning to his childhood home, especially faced with the reminders of the cheerful idealist he was as a boy.
The good thing about being in the country is that he meets again with his friend Vladimir Lensky (Ayana Oto ♥), who invites him to meet his fiancee Olga (Toumi Sarasa). Everyone in the country is very excited about the famous man from the capital, though Olga's sister Tatiana (Maihane Mimi) is lost in her books - until she literally walks into Onegin in the forest and their eyes meet. Her mother Daria (Asaki Yumemi) encourages the relationship, to the point of packing a basket of goodies that the flustered Tatiana thrusts at a local farmer (Mana Haruto) before arriving at Onegin's. In the meantime, Nina and the poet decide to join Onegin in his country exile. Tatiana writes Onegin a letter expressing all her love, but it only serves to disconcert Onegin - he seems not to believe he's worthy of it. Lensky invites him to Tatiana's name-day celebration (with Tatiana in tow, running into a rather dishabillée Nina), where Onegin disconcerts Tatiana before cornering her on a balcony and explaining, in detail, why she cannot love him and vice versa.
Back at the ball, everyone expects the famous guest from St Petersburg to dance with the lady of honour. Avoiding Tatiana, Onegin dances with Olga, turning her head completely - to the point where Lensky gets drunk and challenges him to a duel. Onegin accepts it almost on autopilot, cold and distant. Lensky is down on his knees, but gathers himself up in time for morning, only to die from Onegin's hand. (Onegin puts his gun to his head, but cannot fire. He chooses to quit Russia instead.)
Act two starts with a completely new section - after arriving back in St Petersburg a few years later, Onegin meets up with Nina and the poet again. Nina is a successful actress, recalling Onegin fondly, while the poet is involved with the salon of the Marquise Catherine Benoit, a noblewoman who plays host to officers involved in the secret Northern Society - the future Decembrist/Dekabrist Revolutionaries. The poet introduces them to Onegin, who recalls fondly that in his childhood, he was a fierce patriot and idolised one of the generals who fought against Napoleon - a general who, in the power vacuum created by Tsar Alexander's death and Constantin's resignation, has just been arrested...
He still refuses to join the revolutionaries, choosing instead to start attending society functions. He receives letters from his parents again: his father is dying, and he has so much to teach that Onegin should learn - so many things that were lost in the life of a dandy. (This, incidentally, is a gorgeous song.) He still goes to balls, and runs into the newly married Princess Gremin - née Tatiana Larina. She refuses to acknowledge him, and will not dance with anyone but her husband.
Onegin is at a loss for words, in person or on paper. Finally he recalls his childhood idealism, and it's that youthful apparition who writes the letter to Tatiana. But when he comes to her door, she tells him that while she loves him - there are more important things than love. Such as loyalty, maturity, duty and obligations.
Broken, Onegin drags himself to his childhood home, lost among the ghosts of the past. He takes out the pair of duelling pistols once more, then puts them away with a new resolve. He writes one more letter, telling his friend the poet that he has decided to join the revolutionaries. He hopes that Alexander Pushkin will remember him.
My hat is off to Ueda Keiko, because Onegin is a pearl. The opening scenes are a montage that tells us exactly who Onegin is (actually the show opens with Onegin in bed with Nina, then getting dressed by servants while bantering with her ♥), right up to the point of definining his sexuality via having him fend off Pushkin's advances ;) The show is so emotionally nuanced, and makes great use of every single actress - in particular Tom's range, of course, but also each of the others. The choices of blocking in a play that relies so often on two or three parallel planes of action are exquisite.
A particularly poignant direction choice is the use of young Onegin. It's similar to Kunze and Levay's Mozart! - the young incarnation follows Onegin around and even takes over at times (such as writing the letter to Tatiana). The contrast and interplay between the two drives home just what a sad and tragic figure Onegin has become.
The songs are powerful, with Russian undertones to the music. There are few dance scenes (notable exceptions being ball sequences and a peasant dance), but the choreography of action scenes is flawless. The dynamism of the revolutionary scenes reminds me of the staging of the Hungarian revolutionaries in Toho and Budapest Elisabeth productions - a similar dynamism. The duel scene wins hands-down: after a lovely piercing song by Lensky, it starts with the formal directions for a duel, then follows into a choreographed nightmare, ending with both duelists lifted up on others' shoulders and aiming their guns at the audience. As the shots are fired, everything goes dark.
I can't put my finger on it, but this play is Slavic. As with Brothers Karamazov, Yukigumi gets it - they get what being Russian means, what it means for the soul. Alexander Pushkin would have applauded.
To start with: I am in awe of Snow Troupe, at least this part of it. They came together and performed this so well, I can't point to anything that could be improved. The ones that caught my eyes, in no particular order:
Hinazuki Otoha - she was a background musumeyaku, but she still caught my eye :) A lovely lady with a beautiful smile.
Yuuto Iriya, Kujou Asu and Touma Kazuki - as Onegin's servant trio, they were utterly adorable. The reaction shots! The tender correcting of Onegin's hair! Lovely, lovely people :)
Toumi Sarasa - Olga was a minor role, but she got her chance to shine at the ball and then again after the duel, turning from flirty and stunned to completely broken. She also was extremely sweet with Lensky, running around and giggling like schoolkids. A small etude in beauty.
Konohana Inori and Asaki Yumemi as Tatiana's nurse and mother - a very formidable double-act ♥
Mana Haruto - honourable mention for her Misha, because she really got the hearty Russian peasant thing down pat.
Karyou Shizuru - I was very impressed by how well this underclassman not only played someone older than Onegin, but managed to do it with authority and quiet warmth that stopped Onegin dead in his tracks. Definitely someone to keep an eye on.
Renjou Makoto - Piroko being good is no secret, and she was great and passionate here. Plus looking great in a uniform!
Souno Haruto - her Konstantin was amazingly powerful, and her voice rocks.
Suzuhana Risa - a very onnayaku role as Nina, and she handled it beautifully. Here's another person who can stand up to Onegin and give as good as she's getting. Risa-chan also had some growing to do, from the slight desperation and search for validation in act one, to the powerful Lady Macbeth of act two, and she was excellent at showing it.
Ozuki Tooma - oh, Kitarou ^.^ She was floofy-haired, passionate, perfect. And yes, she passed out on the bed with Onegin, then tried putting the moves on ;) The revolutionary scenes in particular make me think that she'll make a perfect Tybalt.
Ayana Oto - I am extremely biased about Hiromi. And yet she was THE Lensky - passionate, idealistic, so very much seeing the goodness in Onegin, so very wanting to get his childhood friend back. And yet there was also passion, a very Russian tragedy. She got it, she got it so well. And her dancing! In the mini-revue, especially, I just wanted to hug her.
Maihane Mimi - I think we can always trust Tom to pick the talented people, and I do believe I've found my favourite for Snow top musumeyaku (or top musumeyaku of somewhere, dammit). She's sweet and strong and talented. Her voice is pure, her acting is great (reactions to Onegin's sermon during the ball were stellar, in particular), and anyone who can break Todoroki Yuu in two like that deserves a top spot :) I can't wait to see her Juliette.
Ayanagi Shou - I mentioned that Young Onegin has many scenes, but I didn't mention how amazing Shou is in the role. Brightness personified, and yet not sugar-coating it like the usual Takarazuka child-roles - you can really see this is the same Onegin, just so much brighter and happier. She mirrors Todoroki Yuu, in movements, acting, dancing. This is a Big Thing, and she is going on to Bigger Things, I will bet. This girl only debuted four years ago!
Todoroki Yuu (Tom) as Onegin - Ah. And here we come to the crux of the matter.
Tom is the first Takarasienne I ever saw in a play (Lucheni, over four long years ago). I love her in Yukigumi, especially with Maki Ichiro (and Karincho before). She features in my favourite shows (Battlefield for the Two of Us especially), and she's part of my favourite Takarazuka duet dance ever (with Ichiro, That Lift with the leg over the shoulder). And yet I'm aware that she refuses to relinquish her top roles in a revue that thrives on youth, even though she must be well past forty, with her voice sometimes cracking and her face much smoother than it should be.
With Onegin, I think she knows that, too. This is the jaded, aging idol who is broken by confrontation with innocence and pure love. This is someone who falls apart, and sees the ways he has failed his family, his friends, his lovers, but most of all the idealist he used to be. Every twitch of her lips, every slow slump of her shoulders counts. Her voice creaks with emotion, and those long fingers touch objects (chess pieces, letters, lit cigars) as if they were about to crumble to dust under the touch.
I had wondered if I would cry at the duel scene and Lensky's death. Instead I started crying before, when Onegin was refusing Tatiana. Stupid, stupid Tom and her stellar acting making me cry.
The DVD comes out on January 22. I believe I have shopping to arrange.
This was my first show ever seen live at the Takarazuka Bow Hall. It's a lovely little stage tucked between the Takarazuka Ticket Centre and the main theatre, and right now it has a gorgeous curtain, with the profile of an otokoyaku that seems about to come alive.
It's also small - it looked like about 600 seats altogether. Even in the far back I was close enough to only need binoculars when concentrating on someone's expression. The acoustics are predictably gorgeous, and unlike the high tech of the Grand Theatre, the set changes are based on platforms rolled across the stage with furniture on them (plus the usual things dropping in from above). I don't think I need to mention that the lighting is spot-on perfect, in a show that relies a lot on throwing the background into darkness during flashbacks or fade-outs, leaving a single spotlight to show Onegin's reaction.
The main element of the set is an elegant carved gilded picture frame that turns each scene into a painting in the Ermitage. That early nineteenth century aesthetic pervades, but is not literal; furniture stands on rugs on the empty dark stage, and pictures and windows hang in mid-air, sketching the rooms and letting imagination fill them in. The costumes on the other hand are word-perfect with absolute attention to detail, including peasant embroidery and the way Onegin's neckerchief is tied. (Russian hair, mind you, is sketched in by everyone having perms.) Makeup is Takarazuka-minimal, letting you see the actresses' expressions. In Act 2, Onegin sports a small mustache that reminds me more than a little of Todoroki Yuu's Lucheni.
Plot
Note: The below was garnered from my knowledge of the poem and the events, with little knowledge of Japanese. Corrections are appreciated.
The first act's plot is close to the book, but there are significant changes. Rather than inheriting an estate in the country, the dandy Evgeni Onegin (Todoroki Yuu) receives a summons from his parents - the formidable Miho Keiko and Itsuki Chihiro. This interrupts a rather cheerful life in St Petersburg, where he had an ongoing relationship with the actress Nina Grushinskaya (Suzuhana Risa) and a friendship with her other admirer, a poet (Ozuki Tooma), as well as being the toast of high society. Onegin's seriously disconcerted by returning to his childhood home, especially faced with the reminders of the cheerful idealist he was as a boy.
The good thing about being in the country is that he meets again with his friend Vladimir Lensky (Ayana Oto ♥), who invites him to meet his fiancee Olga (Toumi Sarasa). Everyone in the country is very excited about the famous man from the capital, though Olga's sister Tatiana (Maihane Mimi) is lost in her books - until she literally walks into Onegin in the forest and their eyes meet. Her mother Daria (Asaki Yumemi) encourages the relationship, to the point of packing a basket of goodies that the flustered Tatiana thrusts at a local farmer (Mana Haruto) before arriving at Onegin's. In the meantime, Nina and the poet decide to join Onegin in his country exile. Tatiana writes Onegin a letter expressing all her love, but it only serves to disconcert Onegin - he seems not to believe he's worthy of it. Lensky invites him to Tatiana's name-day celebration (with Tatiana in tow, running into a rather dishabillée Nina), where Onegin disconcerts Tatiana before cornering her on a balcony and explaining, in detail, why she cannot love him and vice versa.
Back at the ball, everyone expects the famous guest from St Petersburg to dance with the lady of honour. Avoiding Tatiana, Onegin dances with Olga, turning her head completely - to the point where Lensky gets drunk and challenges him to a duel. Onegin accepts it almost on autopilot, cold and distant. Lensky is down on his knees, but gathers himself up in time for morning, only to die from Onegin's hand. (Onegin puts his gun to his head, but cannot fire. He chooses to quit Russia instead.)
Act two starts with a completely new section - after arriving back in St Petersburg a few years later, Onegin meets up with Nina and the poet again. Nina is a successful actress, recalling Onegin fondly, while the poet is involved with the salon of the Marquise Catherine Benoit, a noblewoman who plays host to officers involved in the secret Northern Society - the future Decembrist/Dekabrist Revolutionaries. The poet introduces them to Onegin, who recalls fondly that in his childhood, he was a fierce patriot and idolised one of the generals who fought against Napoleon - a general who, in the power vacuum created by Tsar Alexander's death and Constantin's resignation, has just been arrested...
He still refuses to join the revolutionaries, choosing instead to start attending society functions. He receives letters from his parents again: his father is dying, and he has so much to teach that Onegin should learn - so many things that were lost in the life of a dandy. (This, incidentally, is a gorgeous song.) He still goes to balls, and runs into the newly married Princess Gremin - née Tatiana Larina. She refuses to acknowledge him, and will not dance with anyone but her husband.
Onegin is at a loss for words, in person or on paper. Finally he recalls his childhood idealism, and it's that youthful apparition who writes the letter to Tatiana. But when he comes to her door, she tells him that while she loves him - there are more important things than love. Such as loyalty, maturity, duty and obligations.
Broken, Onegin drags himself to his childhood home, lost among the ghosts of the past. He takes out the pair of duelling pistols once more, then puts them away with a new resolve. He writes one more letter, telling his friend the poet that he has decided to join the revolutionaries. He hopes that Alexander Pushkin will remember him.
Direction
My hat is off to Ueda Keiko, because Onegin is a pearl. The opening scenes are a montage that tells us exactly who Onegin is (actually the show opens with Onegin in bed with Nina, then getting dressed by servants while bantering with her ♥), right up to the point of definining his sexuality via having him fend off Pushkin's advances ;) The show is so emotionally nuanced, and makes great use of every single actress - in particular Tom's range, of course, but also each of the others. The choices of blocking in a play that relies so often on two or three parallel planes of action are exquisite.
A particularly poignant direction choice is the use of young Onegin. It's similar to Kunze and Levay's Mozart! - the young incarnation follows Onegin around and even takes over at times (such as writing the letter to Tatiana). The contrast and interplay between the two drives home just what a sad and tragic figure Onegin has become.
The songs are powerful, with Russian undertones to the music. There are few dance scenes (notable exceptions being ball sequences and a peasant dance), but the choreography of action scenes is flawless. The dynamism of the revolutionary scenes reminds me of the staging of the Hungarian revolutionaries in Toho and Budapest Elisabeth productions - a similar dynamism. The duel scene wins hands-down: after a lovely piercing song by Lensky, it starts with the formal directions for a duel, then follows into a choreographed nightmare, ending with both duelists lifted up on others' shoulders and aiming their guns at the audience. As the shots are fired, everything goes dark.
I can't put my finger on it, but this play is Slavic. As with Brothers Karamazov, Yukigumi gets it - they get what being Russian means, what it means for the soul. Alexander Pushkin would have applauded.
Actresses
To start with: I am in awe of Snow Troupe, at least this part of it. They came together and performed this so well, I can't point to anything that could be improved. The ones that caught my eyes, in no particular order:
Hinazuki Otoha - she was a background musumeyaku, but she still caught my eye :) A lovely lady with a beautiful smile.
Yuuto Iriya, Kujou Asu and Touma Kazuki - as Onegin's servant trio, they were utterly adorable. The reaction shots! The tender correcting of Onegin's hair! Lovely, lovely people :)
Toumi Sarasa - Olga was a minor role, but she got her chance to shine at the ball and then again after the duel, turning from flirty and stunned to completely broken. She also was extremely sweet with Lensky, running around and giggling like schoolkids. A small etude in beauty.
Konohana Inori and Asaki Yumemi as Tatiana's nurse and mother - a very formidable double-act ♥
Mana Haruto - honourable mention for her Misha, because she really got the hearty Russian peasant thing down pat.
Karyou Shizuru - I was very impressed by how well this underclassman not only played someone older than Onegin, but managed to do it with authority and quiet warmth that stopped Onegin dead in his tracks. Definitely someone to keep an eye on.
Renjou Makoto - Piroko being good is no secret, and she was great and passionate here. Plus looking great in a uniform!
Souno Haruto - her Konstantin was amazingly powerful, and her voice rocks.
Suzuhana Risa - a very onnayaku role as Nina, and she handled it beautifully. Here's another person who can stand up to Onegin and give as good as she's getting. Risa-chan also had some growing to do, from the slight desperation and search for validation in act one, to the powerful Lady Macbeth of act two, and she was excellent at showing it.
Ozuki Tooma - oh, Kitarou ^.^ She was floofy-haired, passionate, perfect. And yes, she passed out on the bed with Onegin, then tried putting the moves on ;) The revolutionary scenes in particular make me think that she'll make a perfect Tybalt.
Ayana Oto - I am extremely biased about Hiromi. And yet she was THE Lensky - passionate, idealistic, so very much seeing the goodness in Onegin, so very wanting to get his childhood friend back. And yet there was also passion, a very Russian tragedy. She got it, she got it so well. And her dancing! In the mini-revue, especially, I just wanted to hug her.
Maihane Mimi - I think we can always trust Tom to pick the talented people, and I do believe I've found my favourite for Snow top musumeyaku (or top musumeyaku of somewhere, dammit). She's sweet and strong and talented. Her voice is pure, her acting is great (reactions to Onegin's sermon during the ball were stellar, in particular), and anyone who can break Todoroki Yuu in two like that deserves a top spot :) I can't wait to see her Juliette.
Ayanagi Shou - I mentioned that Young Onegin has many scenes, but I didn't mention how amazing Shou is in the role. Brightness personified, and yet not sugar-coating it like the usual Takarazuka child-roles - you can really see this is the same Onegin, just so much brighter and happier. She mirrors Todoroki Yuu, in movements, acting, dancing. This is a Big Thing, and she is going on to Bigger Things, I will bet. This girl only debuted four years ago!
Todoroki Yuu (Tom) as Onegin - Ah. And here we come to the crux of the matter.
Tom is the first Takarasienne I ever saw in a play (Lucheni, over four long years ago). I love her in Yukigumi, especially with Maki Ichiro (and Karincho before). She features in my favourite shows (Battlefield for the Two of Us especially), and she's part of my favourite Takarazuka duet dance ever (with Ichiro, That Lift with the leg over the shoulder). And yet I'm aware that she refuses to relinquish her top roles in a revue that thrives on youth, even though she must be well past forty, with her voice sometimes cracking and her face much smoother than it should be.
With Onegin, I think she knows that, too. This is the jaded, aging idol who is broken by confrontation with innocence and pure love. This is someone who falls apart, and sees the ways he has failed his family, his friends, his lovers, but most of all the idealist he used to be. Every twitch of her lips, every slow slump of her shoulders counts. Her voice creaks with emotion, and those long fingers touch objects (chess pieces, letters, lit cigars) as if they were about to crumble to dust under the touch.
I had wondered if I would cry at the duel scene and Lensky's death. Instead I started crying before, when Onegin was refusing Tatiana. Stupid, stupid Tom and her stellar acting making me cry.
The DVD comes out on January 22. I believe I have shopping to arrange.