December 25th, 2006
Update
- Jay Navok
Merry Christmas! Sailor
Moon Musical Dance Review
On Saturday December 23rd I went with
Onur,
Brad from MoonKitty, and Cordelia
LeFay from the Genvid forums to the
Milky Theatre Group's
Sailor Moon Musical Christmas Dance Review show in Yokohama, a
production by Sailor Moon Musical fans.
A photo of the playbill. (I don't have a scanner so this was
the best I could do.)
In the weeks before the show we spoke with the actresses to
make the ticket reservations; I was picking up mine at the front desk before
the show and the actress playing Sailor Mars sent me a nice handwritten
letter in the mail saying thanks for the reservation. We found out a few
days before that they'd actually sold out that day's performance. (There
were two other shows on the 24th but only one on the 23rd.)
Promotional flyer for the event that came in the mail.
The theatre in Yokohama that they were performing at is a
small stage that groups can rent out, and it worked very well for the
production. It was cozy and intimate, albeit a tad hot. We were greeted
at the reception area, picked up/handed over our tickets, and our merry band
of four foreigners went to take our seats. In the front row, six or seven
little girls sat down (their parents behind them), and we were pleasantly
surprised to see it wasn't going to be only adult myu fans. The kids
actually livened up the performance quite a bit, shouting at times and
during a song one
girl even told the actress playing Sailor Moon that we could see her
"panties" as she twirled in the costume. (The girl's mother then whispered
at her daughter to be quiet!)
The stage and some of the kids, talking to the actresses
afterward
The performance lasted an hour and consisted of a medley of
songs and scenes from various musicals, starting with the "Amazon Circus"
and going into songs such as "Tsuki Iro no Syndicate" and "Chasing After
You", "Solar Miracle Make Up," even "All of You Should Die." In between
songs they strung together a storyline revolving around Usagi holding a
Christmas Party, adding scenes such as Ami leaving to Germany. It was an
impressive effort.
The cast was very good as well. It was curious that they
chose only to feature Moon, Mercury, and Mars (no other senshi appeared) but
it made sense given the limitations of an ensemble cast, many of whom also
had to perform double roles such as being in The Three Lights. It was nice
to see that they chose to vary the villains (giving us the Amazon trio, the
pirates from Kaguya Island, and Dracula).
The back of the flyer
All the actors did remarkable jobs. The actress playing
Usagi strove to get the role right and succeeded in mimicking many of the
mannerisms associated with the musical Usagi. Mercury, Mars, and of course
the villains played their parts very well, and even the background dancers
were superbly choreographed. We all agreed that one actress, who played Loof
Mellow and Tigers Eye among other roles, was particularly incredible and
could have a career in acting in the future, but everyone was deserving of
praise. Another thing that was done quite well was the transitions; with
actors playing different roles and hence needing lots of costume changes
this could have been a problem but they pulled it off seamlessly.
The senshi actresses. Thank you Onur for the photo.
Toward the end of the production there was a pause and a
bingo cart was pulled out (everyone got a bingo card in the packet we were
given when we entered.) I was close but none of us managed to win a prize.
When the production was over we applauded, and waited.
Afterward there was a photo session with the actresses, and we congratulated
them on a superb performance. Brad took a video with the actress playing
Usagi,
be sure to catch it at his
website.
We left very happy with what we saw. The musicals may be
over these days, but it's a great thing that fans can keep the spirit alive.
I hope that they continue well into the future.
On a final, quirky note, as we were leaving the theatre we
were confronted with an array of black vans that go through the streets of
Japan's major cities. They're ultra-nationalists that shout slogans, play
dramatic music, and want to kick all the foreigners out of the country.
In the Christmas spirit we smiled and waved at them, and as if to thank us,
they suddenly blasted their nutty song's volume even louder right when they
passed us by.
Post a comment in the forums Email
Jay Navok Archives
