Casablanca shinjinkouen review

[matataku_hoshi]

I’m lucky to have been able to see three shinjinkouen performances since becoming a Takarazuka fan.  They’re always so, so much fun.  Shinko performers only get one chance per run to do their performance and as a result always put 200% into their roles.

Shinkos are always a little rough around the edges, but even with that I found the Casablanca shinko very, very enjoyable on its own.  There were a *lot* of promising siennes in the cast.

Things cut:

-the two numbers with the refugees at the beginning of the first act

-the entire Paris back story (this was a good 30 minutes)

-the café employee’s song in the second act

-one very small bit with the rotating stage right before the battle of the anthems

-at the end of the first act in the honkouen, Rick sings a solo on the ginkyou while the rest of the café customers and staff are in motion behind him.  In the shinko the café background is cut so as to allow for a better transition.

With the Paris bits, I missed being able to see Kacha’s Rick and Eri’s Ilsa fall in love, but I have to admit that the show flowed more smoothly without *quite* so much padding.  Similarly, I would have liked to have seen the shinko cast do the refugee numbers and the employee song, but the show ultimately worked without them.

Also, there’s a bit in the beginning where a man tells a refugee to bring him a large sum of money in cash at a certain time if he wants to get out of Casablanca.  In the honkouen the role of the refugee was played by an otokoyaku, while in the shinko it’s played by a musumeyaku.  I was amused *g*

Actresses

I saw the honkouen six times and had a lot of opportunities to let my eyes wander and see what the background people were doing.  With the shinko this was my only opportunity to see it, and the truth is my main interest was in the lead trio.  My apologies for missing a lot of people -_-;

Nagina Ruumi (Rick, honyaku: Oozora Yuuhi): Like Yuuhi, Kacha doesn’t quite have Humphrey Bogart’s biting sarcasm (okay, probably less so -_-;).  But her emotional journey from jaded to self-sacrificing was very poignant.  Plus she looked quite suave in a trench coat, especially for a ken-6 <3

I know Kacha is one of those controversial wakate, but personally I’ve become a fan <3  She’s a very, very good actress and I think she has the potential to really become something.  (Oh, and she teared up in her shinko speech to the point where she had to pause for a moment.  I find nothing more endearing than siennes crying in non-tragic situations <3)

Fujisaki Eri (Ilsa Lund, honyaku: Nono Sumika): Sumika fans, if you kindly wouldn’t mind averting your eyes for a moment?

Admittedly I went into the shinko already wanting to like Eri-chan, but even still I thought Eri-chan was a lot better than her douki Sumika.  Eri had much, much more of a backbone in the way that she carried herself and delivered her lines.  This made the character soooooo much more believable and likable. Unfortunately with the cuts she only got to sing once, which is too bad since she has a very pretty voice.

I’ve already stated that in the honkouen I was more invested in Rick’s personal redemption than the Rick/Ilsa romance.  Since I liked the character of Ilsa much more in the shinko, I was able to become invested in the main romance and it made things like the airport scene all the more poignant.

To be fair, in certain scenes Eri-chan (like Sumika) broke down a little too much for my taste.  But frankly I thought her good points much outweighed the bad, and I feel so lucky that I got to see her in this role <3333

Nanami Hiroki (Victor Laszlo, honyaku: Ranju Tomu): Compared to Tomu, Kai-chan played the role of Laszlo as idealistic rather than dogmatic.  But the interpretation worked nicely and I’m really glad she did something different <3 She was (and I didn’t think this was possible) even more tender with Ilsa in their second act scene on the ginkyou, which made Ilsa’s love for Rick all the more tragic.

Kai-chan didn’t quite have Tomu’s stage presence and her vocals weren’t as good.  But…these are shinko performers.  They’re *supposed* to be a little rough around the edges (to use Tomu as an example, her vocals have come a *long* way since her shinko years).  Kai-chan’s “Ware Ware Wa Ikiteiru” was the highlight of the show for me <33333  I’m so proud of her.

Houju Ichi (Louis Renault, honyaku: Hokushou Kairi): Compared to Micchan, Bon Bon played the role of Renault less for laughs, but it worked just as well.  I really can’t say that one is better than the other, but I was impressed that she decided to take a different approach.

I don’t know whether Bon Bon used the same fat suit as Micchan, but it didn’t completely fit her and I couldn’t help but gently laugh.  That being said, it was a stretch for Micchan to pull off playing a middle aged man (which she did very nicely <3)  Given that Bon Bon is six years younger than her, this is even more impressive.

Micchan said at demachi that she also thought Bon Bon did a good job <3

Aizuki Hikaru (Heinrich Strasser, honyaku: Yuumi Hiro): For a ken-3, she had pretty decent stage presence.  Her second act solo was a little weak, but at ken-3 she still has room to grow and I’m curious how she’ll turn out in a few years.

Sumireno Rei (Annina Brandel, honyaku: Hanakage Arisu): Unfortunately since the refugee numbers were cut, so was a lot of Rere’s stage time.  But at least she still got her scene with Rick <3  From my memory she played the role a little less desperate than Alice-chan.  I feel like a broken record, but once again both interpretations worked fine <3  Rere has a presence that manages to be really cute without being toothache inducing.  I’m becoming very fond of her.

Sumiki Sayoto (Sasha, honyaku: Harukaze Misato): Had really cute and fluffy hair <3  She played the role similarly to Mii-chan, but it was still very endearing and a lot of fun to watch.  I’m sad that I didn’t get to see her take on the café employee song.

To give a shout out to Julie’s babies, Hoshibuki Ayato was a very cute and bouncy café employee <3  And Tenrei Mion did very nicely with her solo in the bazaar scene <333

 

Comments

[ladybretagne.livejournal.com]

It makes me so happy to see Eri-chan being so well received by people. She's such a talented young woman and I'm so pleased with the way she's maturing. <3

And Ai-Ai! I love her to death on principal just because I thought she was so adorable when she debuted, but I'm glad she's growing up so well. Tomochin is big shoes to fill as a ken-3.

[muffin-song.livejournal.com]

I've always loved Eri-chan for being spunky, but now she's showing a more mature side as well <3333

Can't wait to see how she continues to develop <3333

P.S. Have I ever mentioned that I love your icon?

[ladybretagne.livejournal.com]

I started paying attention to her because of her spunkiness and her fun energy, so I'm so so happy that she's growing up to be so lovely and talented.

And Kai-chan is just too adorable for words and is another one who is growing up to be such a talented girl.

Hee, thank you re: my icon. The pictures of her with the whip and pointing accusingly were just too worth iconing.

[wao-wao.livejournal.com]

Kacha is ken-7! Hence this was her last shinko! ;P

But yaaaayyyyyy you like her ♥ ♥ ♥ I'm trying not to take it personally when people don't, but it makes me goshdarn happy when they do ^_______^

And of course I agree with you re: Kacha x Eri-chan romance, etc :D ♥

[muffin-song.livejournal.com]

Kacha is ken-7! Hence this was her last shinko! ;P

Er...I knew that, in a way ^^; I could have told you right off the bat that Kacha was 2003. My problem is that I always forget that right after hatsubutai they're already ken-1. In my head I was thinking, "Kacha has been around for 6 and a half years, that makes her ken-6" when really I forgot that you already start at ken-1 ^^;;;

But yaaaayyyyyy you like her ♥ ♥ ♥ I'm trying not to take it personally when people don't, but it makes me goshdarn happy when they do ^_______^

I could write an entire post about this (and probably will at some point), but I don't want to start resenting wakate who I already like just because they're moving up quickly. And in the case of Masaki/Kimu/Kacha/etc., I do like them genuinely on their own and I don't want any silly Hankyu politics to interfere. (Er, does that make any sense?)

Anyway, Kacha is a very good actress <333 She's still rough around the edges in spots, but that will improve over time and I think she could really become something ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥