Elisabeth no tame ni...

[matataku_hoshi]

I didn't find out about the news until this morning.  I'm glad this was the case, or I would never have been able to fall asleep last night (and I didn't even have access to a computer then).

Anyway, a few comments on Elisabeth (because I feel the need to put in my two cents as well :P): 

1) There has been a lot of discussion Kacha now that we've seen her in the white dress.  Elisabeth starts out as a bit of a tomboy.  She's supposed to be beautiful, but does she necessarily have to be regal the entire way through the show?  I personally think that Kacha has enough of "the look", even if she's untraditional.  Which brings me to my next point.

2) I love Elisabeth, but with the possible exception of the 2007 yukigumi version, all of the productions are basically the same.  If tsukigumi is going to perform this show only two years after it was last performed, then I'm really not opposed to the idea of shaking things up.  I'm interested to see what Kacha brings to the role.  Of course, a "new" production of Elisabeth doesn't make the casting decisions in regards to Ai-chan and Shizuku any less of a slap in the face.  But...I'm interested to see where this goes.

3) I've already posted about my feelings on Franz.  That being said, Kiriyan's strength is making boring characters into interesting ones.  And she can be especially good when tackling a challenge <3  Oh, and there will be a moustache.  Kiriyan looks good in moustaches <333

4) Poor Ahi :(  And um...what will the other two Rudolphs be doing when it's not their turn?  My personal theory is that they will be revolutionaries, who ironically enough have more stage time than Rudolph.  Will it be a three-way role rotation?  And if that's the case, will Mirio have to learn three honkouen roles AND her probable shinko lead?

5) We haven't talked much about the other roles.  I'm betting on Sonoka for Zeps and Ryuu for Max.  My latest dream is for Ai-chan to play Madame Wolf.  I would die, but I would die *very* happy.  Also, "My Dear New Orleans" ends in Tokyo on April 26th.  Elisabeth starts on May 22nd.  Does this give Miho Keiko enough time to be Sophie?  *looks around to make sure of not jinxing the idea by saying it out loud*

Okay, that was more than a few comments.  I'm going to bed.

Comments

[lliri-blanc.livejournal.com]

I know, I'm actually less bothered by the idea that they opted to not cast Ai-chan or Shizuku after they were actually auditioned. I can comfort myself with the idea that however bad Kacha may be, management thought everyone else would be worse. :D
However, saying that Ahi isn't capable of anything even vaguely resembling an akuyaku is... just no. Not buying that.

[muffin-song.livejournal.com]

Ahi looked good in a moustache in that photo you posted several weeks ago :(

As for the musumeyaku, I love Ai-chan to death, but she isn't the best singer. Shizuku I'm kind of iffy about anyway. And even if Koike-sensei judged them to be good potential Elisabeths, they may not have worked well with Asako.

Although I wonder if Shizuku will get the shinko lead...I wouldn't be surprised...

[jess-in-japan.livejournal.com]

You know, I really think that they should have thought of that before deciding to do Elisabeth with tsukigumi right now. There are troupes that do have the talent to pull of Elisabeth without pulling in outside talent, imo.

[caithion.livejournal.com]

Unless they really wanted to shake things up. I've been hearing from a lot of people on both sides of the pond about how they couldn't have cared less before, but now they're intrigued.

[muffin-song.livejournal.com]

To be honest, this is kind of how I feel ^^;

[muffin-song.livejournal.com]

I heard a rumor that originally hoshigumi was going to do Elisabeth until Touko announced her retirment. (They wouldn't want to necessarily give hoshigumi two two-act foreign musicals in a row). Asuka and Touko would have been amazing.

Chie would also have been an amazing Death. However, I don't think Nene could pull it off vocally. My tolerance for Nene has grown and her shinko Elisabeth was passable, but I don't think Nene playing Elisabeth in a honkouen production would be the best idea.

Just my two cents :)

[jess-in-japan.livejournal.com]

There's no doubt that Touko and Asuka would have been amazing... though they did both get to play the leads roles in shinko. I guess maybe it wouldn't have been so exciting for them, as they've already gotten to do those parts. But I'm not gonna lie... I do feel that it's a little regrettable that they didn't stay on for that.

I think that Chie would be an amazing Death. Of all the current and future tops that we know of and speculate, I'd be most excited for Chie's Death. I do have the same misgivings about Nene... but she *would* be a *pretty* Elisabeth. I'll wait til I hear Kacha, but right now I think that I would still find Nene more acceptable in that role...

[caithion.livejournal.com]

However, saying that Ahi isn't capable of anything even vaguely resembling an akuyaku is... just no. Not buying that.

It might be more that her singing range wasn't suited to Lucheni? Though that's never stopped them before... Maybe it really does just boil down to the fact that they auditioned her for both roles and liked her better playing Rudolph? I still think this might be an experiment to see what happens if they cast by what actually suits the cast, rather than rank. But then again, maybe it will be a perfect disaster and everyone will seem horribly out of place.

ungodly long comment-reply

[lliri-blanc.livejournal.com]

Please, please don't take any of this the wrong way. I love both you and Masaki, seriously. ^_^; (Also, dude, I apologize for the comment spam to you and Becca. I'm taking a no-homework night, which leaves me to hang around livejournal and AIM. >_>)

But, obviously the Ahi cultists have been talking about this.
To begin with, none of the girls I talked to wanted Ahi to play Lucheni. She would have been, barring any drastic changes in the directing/arrangement/characterization, a mediocre Lucheni. There's no question that she could have sung the role; with the appropriate transpositions, she wouldn't have blown anyone away, but it would have been fine. So, okay, assume a mediocre Lucheni. Assume that Masaki auditioned and blew everyone away (which I'm sure she did). Okay, so Masaki should get the role.
Then Rudolf. If Ahi would have been a mediocre Lucheni, she's going to be a terrible Rudolf. You know the digests of Wao playing Rudolf to Maki's Death? It's going to look like that, only worse. (This is, I think, a nearly perfect control, since Hana was a very young Elisabeth, and both Wao and Ahi are very tall and have nearly identical acting styles.) So, a mediocre Lucheni or a bad Rudolf?
If they were really auditioning for suitability for the rules, Ahi should have gotten Lucheni and done a role-switch with Masaki. This would have left Ahi as 3bante, promoted Masaki to 3/4bante (similar to what they did with Micchan in Valencia), and there wouldn't have been nearly the amount of outrage or loss of face. The fact that they didn't means, to me, that they're trying to force Ahi out and instate the "new wave" otokoyaku very fast.
The 82nds/83rds are in a really vulnerable position, in general. They're too young to really compete with the new young tops, who are mostly 81sts, and too old to compete with the new wave, who are mostly 88ths. They are, essentially, obsolete. (I am *full* of cheerfulness tonight. I'll talk about the economy next!)
The exception to this is Tomu, obviously, but who would have thought that one of the 81st tops would retire so fast? If she makes top, it will be because Tani got the hell out of Dodge so quickly.

So yeah, I think it's going to be a trainwreck. Except for Morie. Her casting is one of the few bright spots I see in the cast, since she's the only one of the trio with both the style and the voice for the role.

Re: ungodly long comment-reply

[caithion.livejournal.com]

No worries. I think I may be the most doubtful of all of us. I'm terrified she's not going to be able to pull it off and it's going to backfire horribly.

I'm not sure I buy Ahi and Wao having identical acting styles. Then again, it's been several years since I watched any of Wao's stuff. I bow to your superior Soragumi knowledge. ;)

I just hope very much that all our doom and gloom prophesying turns out as wrong as our guesses about a lot of other things they've done lately.♥

Re: ungodly long comment-reply

[lliri-blanc.livejournal.com]

I'm terrified she's not going to be able to pull it off and it's going to backfire horribly.
Well *Masaki* will be fine. :P As Becca said (*waves to Becca*), there have been cute Luchenis before, like Kimu, and the world didn't end. I've been making faces about it because Italian assassins don't strike me as the cuddly type says the person with an Aguilar teddy bear, but Masaki really is rather versatile.

I'm not sure I buy Ahi and Wao having identical acting styles.
Actually, it wasn't until Gatsby that I noticed it. When she was younger she only managed a superficial mimicry of that style, but now it's, you know, real. It was kind of scary, but also pretty cool, because I think it marked a maturation of style that's really interesting.
Which is exactly why otokoyaku should hang around a long time, or else we never get to see that stage at all. >_>