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glitraLincoln.
So this is the show that I have been constantly forgetting about. Between my friends and myself we refer to it as *The Show That Does Not Exist*. The joke was so engrained that I actually kept forgetting that it was happening. OH, Taso is in Ernest.. where is the rest of the troupe again… OH. That. So I had every intention of skipping it, but then fate prevailed. A friend messaged me out of the blue desperately begging me to take a ticket for literally any day of the show run… So I did.
I had no expectations for this show other than *there is going to be blackface* and that there was going to be at least one number that was exceedingly tasteless. However, I was actually really surprised. You are going to have check two things at the door, one of which is the blackface and the other being Todoroki.. Tom is Tom. Or as @zukadairy said ‘ Hanagumi gave her all of themselves and then some (and then some more), but Tom seemed very much all about Tom.’ This was a Tom show written for Tom by Tom (Via Harada) and Staring Tom. You have been warned.
The songs were good, even if I tuned out by Tom solo number 6. The set design was quite lovely and the lighting was really well done. Of all the numbers I think the one that stuck with me the most is the opening number. If you can switch off the holy shit blackface switch and appreciate it for what it is, it was really powerful. It was the only scene in the entire production where I cried. To make up for how great that scene is there is a scene in which people run around dancing and proclaiming their support for the republican party. Which is pretty cringeworthy to begin with, but then overenthusiastic fans have started the clapping during it… so yeah. That’s a thing
Todoroki herself looks like Abe… well aside from the fact that literally everyone on stage is taller than she is. Her son has inches on her. Her wife was in low heels otherwise she also would have been taller. I don’t know who costumed this show, but I want to send them sternly worded hate mail for what they did to Tom. They gave her long coats and longer pants in an attempt to elongate the body, but it just came off as making Tom look shorter. Her pants literally hit the floor and the coats were waaaaay toooo long. Tom looked like she was playing dress up in Abe’s closet.
If you can shut off the American engrained response to black face I have to give it to this cast for TRYING. They clearly worked REALLY hard at making themselves appear black. I want to give makeup awards to Yuzuka Rei and Ousaki Ayaka for their portrayal. They legit tried. The still for Rei looks awful, but it’s really clear she totally was trying. Everyone else was pretty questionable, and for Act II it was a goddamned nightmare because some of the underclassmen put on blackface in the 20 minutes of free time during intermission. Compared to them, Rei and Bei-chan were goddamned gorgeous.
Yuzuka Rei was a fantastic Fredrick Douglass, given that she probably knew absolutely nothing about the man. I’ve actually read a decent portion of this autobiography because I took a class that spent some time on the analyzing primary sources and fitting them into their own ideological and social contexts. I spent a lot of time with his works, so I was a little disappointed with her role overall. They latched onto former slave who wrote and went with it. But his life was much more than merely that. By the time the Civil War erupted he was famous in his own right, some people argue he was one of the most influential black men during the Civil War. I know, I’m a nerd. Anyway I will give her serious points for buckling down with a voice coach. She hasn’t pokemone-d like Makaze, but she is steadily becoming less awful. Which is saying something.
Senna Ayase played Mary Todd. She had fantastic costumes and I think she was a good person to play against Tom. She doesn’t have cutesty musumeyaku vibe. She’s like Chitose, she grates playing the cutesy roles. She has a backbone. It worked well for this role, and her singing as usual is fantastic.
Seto Kazuya was Stephen Douglas. Seto Kazuya played what I would consider the nibante role, being romantically and politically at odds with Abe. It was such a good role in fact that I am a touch concerned that she is going to go with Me and My Girl. The rumors have been floating around that her time is limited since Chinatsu's transfer. She dies with absolutely no build up in Act II and got an awkwardly long spotlight and applause. Which was just... Awkward. She died of a heart attack? Like... It wasn't something that needed applause.
Ootori Mayu, Fuji-P played Abe's business partner and is firmly cast as Her Role. Fun, funny with her moments where she shines. This role was a winner for her.
Minami Maito remains too precious for this world. I could never pinpoint why I liked her onstage so much, but @zukadiary pinned it down, she always seems so sincere. She oozes sincerity onstage. This role wasn't bad nor was it great. I am still a little sad that her career has been sidelined by Yuzuka Rei. These 95ths are ridiculous.
Aren Touma gets serious points in my book for this show. I've been low key following her since her hatsubutai, but she's in hanagumi and will climb the rank I stepped back from actively writing her around... On dear, has it been two years? I think it has. Anyway, I'm getting sidetracked. In Act I she plays a slave. It wasn't great, but it wasn't horrific. She did sing a solo which was fantastic. I am excited to listen to it again when the skystage version airs. Why she's singing a gospel song in heels is beyond me. She should be barefoot... I am not the only person who thinks this.
In Act II she played Bobbi Lincoln and this is where she really shined. She was so young and eager. Her acting still has more than a little touch of over enthusiasm that haunts shinko aged babies, but she was still exceptionally good. She goes to war, and her 'how the hell do I reload the gun' acting was perfect. The panic and terror was clear on her face. After (Minami Maito) dies she goes to see her father.. And it is a kick in the feels. She's literally crying onstage and your heart goes out to her.
The rest of the troupe was fantastic for what they given to work with. Ema Naoki was a completely unecessary General Lee, Yabuki Sena was in blackface, Kumi didn't really get a chance to sing, but she looked adorable. Kazumi Shou stood there and sang. Seino Asuka played young Bobbi, who was too damned tall.
Overall: I was pleasanly surprised. I wouldn't say this was totally undeserving of the glowing praise that twitter was giving it. If you can stand Tom, and ignore the blackface then overall this wasn't so bad. ((This physically pains me to type... I just want you all to appreciate my honestly. I'm physically in pain to give you the truth)). If your actress is one of the ones I've mentioned then you might want to check it out... and by that I mean, "wait until it ends up on youtube or it aires on skystage.". It was decent, but let's not give them more money than they are going to get out of Japanese fans.
So this is the show that I have been constantly forgetting about. Between my friends and myself we refer to it as *The Show That Does Not Exist*. The joke was so engrained that I actually kept forgetting that it was happening. OH, Taso is in Ernest.. where is the rest of the troupe again… OH. That. So I had every intention of skipping it, but then fate prevailed. A friend messaged me out of the blue desperately begging me to take a ticket for literally any day of the show run… So I did.
I had no expectations for this show other than *there is going to be blackface* and that there was going to be at least one number that was exceedingly tasteless. However, I was actually really surprised. You are going to have check two things at the door, one of which is the blackface and the other being Todoroki.. Tom is Tom. Or as @zukadairy said ‘ Hanagumi gave her all of themselves and then some (and then some more), but Tom seemed very much all about Tom.’ This was a Tom show written for Tom by Tom (Via Harada) and Staring Tom. You have been warned.
The songs were good, even if I tuned out by Tom solo number 6. The set design was quite lovely and the lighting was really well done. Of all the numbers I think the one that stuck with me the most is the opening number. If you can switch off the holy shit blackface switch and appreciate it for what it is, it was really powerful. It was the only scene in the entire production where I cried. To make up for how great that scene is there is a scene in which people run around dancing and proclaiming their support for the republican party. Which is pretty cringeworthy to begin with, but then overenthusiastic fans have started the clapping during it… so yeah. That’s a thing
Todoroki herself looks like Abe… well aside from the fact that literally everyone on stage is taller than she is. Her son has inches on her. Her wife was in low heels otherwise she also would have been taller. I don’t know who costumed this show, but I want to send them sternly worded hate mail for what they did to Tom. They gave her long coats and longer pants in an attempt to elongate the body, but it just came off as making Tom look shorter. Her pants literally hit the floor and the coats were waaaaay toooo long. Tom looked like she was playing dress up in Abe’s closet.
If you can shut off the American engrained response to black face I have to give it to this cast for TRYING. They clearly worked REALLY hard at making themselves appear black. I want to give makeup awards to Yuzuka Rei and Ousaki Ayaka for their portrayal. They legit tried. The still for Rei looks awful, but it’s really clear she totally was trying. Everyone else was pretty questionable, and for Act II it was a goddamned nightmare because some of the underclassmen put on blackface in the 20 minutes of free time during intermission. Compared to them, Rei and Bei-chan were goddamned gorgeous.
Yuzuka Rei was a fantastic Fredrick Douglass, given that she probably knew absolutely nothing about the man. I’ve actually read a decent portion of this autobiography because I took a class that spent some time on the analyzing primary sources and fitting them into their own ideological and social contexts. I spent a lot of time with his works, so I was a little disappointed with her role overall. They latched onto former slave who wrote and went with it. But his life was much more than merely that. By the time the Civil War erupted he was famous in his own right, some people argue he was one of the most influential black men during the Civil War. I know, I’m a nerd. Anyway I will give her serious points for buckling down with a voice coach. She hasn’t pokemone-d like Makaze, but she is steadily becoming less awful. Which is saying something.
Senna Ayase played Mary Todd. She had fantastic costumes and I think she was a good person to play against Tom. She doesn’t have cutesty musumeyaku vibe. She’s like Chitose, she grates playing the cutesy roles. She has a backbone. It worked well for this role, and her singing as usual is fantastic.
Seto Kazuya was Stephen Douglas. Seto Kazuya played what I would consider the nibante role, being romantically and politically at odds with Abe. It was such a good role in fact that I am a touch concerned that she is going to go with Me and My Girl. The rumors have been floating around that her time is limited since Chinatsu's transfer. She dies with absolutely no build up in Act II and got an awkwardly long spotlight and applause. Which was just... Awkward. She died of a heart attack? Like... It wasn't something that needed applause.
Ootori Mayu, Fuji-P played Abe's business partner and is firmly cast as Her Role. Fun, funny with her moments where she shines. This role was a winner for her.
Minami Maito remains too precious for this world. I could never pinpoint why I liked her onstage so much, but @zukadiary pinned it down, she always seems so sincere. She oozes sincerity onstage. This role wasn't bad nor was it great. I am still a little sad that her career has been sidelined by Yuzuka Rei. These 95ths are ridiculous.
Aren Touma gets serious points in my book for this show. I've been low key following her since her hatsubutai, but she's in hanagumi and will climb the rank I stepped back from actively writing her around... On dear, has it been two years? I think it has. Anyway, I'm getting sidetracked. In Act I she plays a slave. It wasn't great, but it wasn't horrific. She did sing a solo which was fantastic. I am excited to listen to it again when the skystage version airs. Why she's singing a gospel song in heels is beyond me. She should be barefoot... I am not the only person who thinks this.
In Act II she played Bobbi Lincoln and this is where she really shined. She was so young and eager. Her acting still has more than a little touch of over enthusiasm that haunts shinko aged babies, but she was still exceptionally good. She goes to war, and her 'how the hell do I reload the gun' acting was perfect. The panic and terror was clear on her face. After (Minami Maito) dies she goes to see her father.. And it is a kick in the feels. She's literally crying onstage and your heart goes out to her.
The rest of the troupe was fantastic for what they given to work with. Ema Naoki was a completely unecessary General Lee, Yabuki Sena was in blackface, Kumi didn't really get a chance to sing, but she looked adorable. Kazumi Shou stood there and sang. Seino Asuka played young Bobbi, who was too damned tall.
Overall: I was pleasanly surprised. I wouldn't say this was totally undeserving of the glowing praise that twitter was giving it. If you can stand Tom, and ignore the blackface then overall this wasn't so bad. ((This physically pains me to type... I just want you all to appreciate my honestly. I'm physically in pain to give you the truth)). If your actress is one of the ones I've mentioned then you might want to check it out... and by that I mean, "wait until it ends up on youtube or it aires on skystage.". It was decent, but let's not give them more money than they are going to get out of Japanese fans.
