takarazuka victory!!

[aimeekitty]

Elisabeth and Aida



We're now officially going to see BOTH of these in Japan. btw, am back. hehe. :D
gotta go to work though (yes, on sunday. :P)

unrelated but if someone sees a Mari-mete SD13 outfit, OR Sweet Dream Mika's outfit for sale... please let me know. :(

Comments

[diadiadia.livejournal.com]

All the pomp and gaudiness of Broadway... IN JAPAN!

That would be so much fun to see. I hope you enjoy it!

GAWD AIMEE!!!

[sewinggoddess.livejournal.com]

WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO ME!!! LOL

I have been avoiding researching this thing you call "takarazuka"... fearing entrapment by another japanese cult... blah!!! but now you show me peektures!!! BLARGH!

entranced I am.... you suck, royally..... dolls... now this... WTF!

... you know I'm kidding ... but JEEZ!!

[glass-mountain.livejournal.com]

How cool...and strangely bizarre!

This is the theatre where girls play all the roles, ne?

It looks fab (sigh).

I don't suppose you can fit any small fat Englishwomen into your luggage?

^_____^

Jessica

[harshday.livejournal.com]

may i add you? if so would you add me back?

[trionfale.livejournal.com]

Whoo-hoo! XD Yes found out yesterday but I didn't want to disturb you guys and it could wait a day. But we're going we're going we're going! XD XD XD

Re: GAWD AIMEE!!!

[aimeekitty.livejournal.com]

bwahaha. I EAT YOUR SOUL!

[aimeekitty.livejournal.com]

yup! basically its like broadway musicals... but with all female cast. They do western style stuff like Guys and Dolls and Westside Story, but they also do traditional asian folklore tales, etc... all of the above I think is way neato.

They also have a big gaudy Vegas style revue at the end of most of the performances, which can be anywhere from hauntingly beautiful to just god-awefullly hideous. HAHA :D

Re: GAWD AIMEE!!!

[sewinggoddess.livejournal.com]

YEAH.... & you're making loud lip-smacking sounds whilst your are doing it, beeyatch!

WAHAHA!

[glass-mountain.livejournal.com]

It sounds great fun! Kind of uber-kitsch in a very Japanese way.

Definitely ties in with SDs tho' what with all the cosplay and sexual ambiguity^^

[damoclesangel.livejournal.com]

HOW did you get them?

I've been looking around in the event that you wanted me to source them... but I couldn't find the blighters. Though I suspect that I could have gotten them at the Hankyuu Dept store.

[aimeekitty.livejournal.com]

I just didnt want to trouble you having to look for them, etc... heather from rinkya found a ticket service that was able to get us the aida ones, but even they were really hard to get, and then the elisabeth ones we had to buy on YJA! a bit of an odyssey! I really appreciate you offering to help us though, it's just as we started to find out how hard they were to get, I didnt want to ask you to try to get them. :D

[ajmeow.livejournal.com]

LOL. I love that icon. It always makes me giggle.

Can you believe it? We're going!!! I'm SO excited!!! And trying to remember that I can't buy the entire Takarazuka store while we're there. =P

[trionfale.livejournal.com]

Hm didn't I send you one where Chibi Rei is sweatdropping (most likely AT Yoshino)? LOL

I think our credit card accounts will remind us of that. Also did we want to try to find Takarazuka-An for used stuff and to ease the pain of all that shopping? ;D

[ajmeow.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah for sure. I got the information on its location from that girl on the list so remind me to write it down for us.

[velessa.livejournal.com]

Do you mind if I friend you? I want to hear all about your Takarazuka trip when you go! :)

[dramaminequeen.livejournal.com]

Hi Aimee,

I'm Zehra. I found your journal through various friends on my list (crzydemona et al,) and noticed your Takarazuka entry. I actually worked at the Takarazuka theater this past summer and spent some time with the actors in those posters! Enjoy their version of Aida--it's breathtaking. And I'm jealous you're getting to see them do Elisabeth--it's one of the most amazing musicals of the past ten years. Anyway, I love to talk about Takarazuka and have lots of their music, so feel free to drop me a line if you'd like. I also sometimes talk about my experiences working there on my own journal.

Best,
Zehra :)

[ajmeow.livejournal.com]

Hi! Aimee pointed out your comment and I just had to ask: what did u do at the theater?! That's is so insanely cool to have worked with and met some of the takarasiennes!

Are we allowed to ask who you've met?

We've all seen Aida cause I got the dvd but I cannot wait to see it live cause it's one of my favorite shows. And I'm looking forward to seeing Elisabeth. I do hope they change it up a little as I've seen 3 of the other 4 troupes and as much as I like it, I'm ready for something a little different. =)

[aimeekitty.livejournal.com]

Yeah I'm with AJ, I'm totally curious! :D

[asathena.livejournal.com]

:D I saw ELISABETH (the original, German versoin) in Vienna, Austria about 5 times last semester (one time I even got a 100-Euro front-row seat for the student price of 11 Euro!!!)... Naturally, I bought sheetmusic, CDs, etc (in case you're interested in a song or two ;) ... the stage mechanics they had set up at the Theater an der Wien WERE AMAZING -- spinning floors, bumper-cars onstage... :D I have no idea what the Japanese adaption is like (though I have a promo picture of the J-version in the program I bought), but I think you'll be in for a treat!

[dramaminequeen.livejournal.com]

I was sort of a research intern. My thesis is on the acting/staging techniques of the Takarazuka theater, and through some amazing connections I was able to attend a lot of rehearsals, sit in on classes at the music school and do a little bit of backstage tech work. It was an incredible experience--nothing like I'd quite imagined. The Takara"jens," as I like to call them, are incredibly warm and sweet, and extremely devoted to their careers.

I saw most of the rehearsal process of the Moon Troupe's revue "A Burning Caribbean Night," Star's "Romantika Takarazuka '04," and also was backstage for Cosmos's "Phantom" and Star's Bow Hall show "Hana Isogi."

If you have any particular questions, feel free to mail me at zfazal@gmail.com and I'll do my best to answer them. :)

[dramaminequeen.livejournal.com]

It will be interesting to have an otokoyaku, Sena Jun play Elisabeth, that's for sure! They probably will key down the music to suit her low voice, as they did for Ichiro Maki in the non-Takarazuka, National Tour of Elisabeth. I don't know where to get a video copy of the National Tour version, but I definitely recommend seeing it somehow if you ever get the chance. The director is the same, but the staging is drastically different, and there's an entirely different atmosphere and dynamic having a male actors, especially for Tod and his chorus.