my humble opinion on 'The Tale of Coimbra'

the reason why I chose this performance to watch was... Aono-sama of course. the more I think about her, the more I love her. still I cannot make myself watch any Bow Hall or shinjinkouen if she has another 'partner'. this time, somehow I felt - if 'tis Todoroki-sama, 'tis ok. she is from Senka, and she is not a young actress 'in training'

acting

a strange thing, the more I watch, the more I realize that every actress has her own successful roles and those which do not impress much. therefore, if an actress seems to be a good one but gives an awkward image of a bad one, there is something wrong with the role itself. or so I thought while looking on some siennes in this play

Yumeno-san was the first in this row of siennes who changed their image for me. her character was completely different from what I saw before, and this particular fact made me think I was completely right when I thought she is a capable one, and 'twas me who could not appreciate her 'full capacities'. she was cute and funny, and I loved her

Suzumi-san was... erm... strange... o___O well, to be honest, she was strange before, too. somehow, none of the roles so far seemed to be 'her', or maybe, she never looked natural to me in any of her roles. this does not mean she acted bad, but she simply gave an impression of good acting, not living on stage. I wonder what kind of image would suit her best? this it yet to discover (and also, brown hair....... even black looked more natural on her ^^`)

well, Aono-sama herself was no less strange. while showing clearly that she is such a wonderful actress already, she was completely not herself with that speaking in high voice, uttering overly polite words and pretending to be such a usual affected girl from a typical European love story. ohhhh no I am not against such things, I love this kind of stories in books and movies, and I would love it in Takarazuka version, and I am willing to watch more of them... with another musumeyaku-san playing the main part

buuuuuut when she same out as Miranda... heeeey! that was nice! ^____^ but short T___T

Yuuka Riko-san. erm... well I hope she is a nice girl with a talent... which was not very visible this time, though. she simply overacted, or so I think

and Todoroki-sama herself. her previous appearances always savoured of coldness, and I was kind of persuaded that this cool attitude was a part of her elegant but distant image. I cannot say this image changes a lot this time, but her tragic, sad and deeply hurt character was if not unexpected than at least more thoroughly portrayed than I would expect her to
Miya-san. the only exception in this row. I did not like her at all. though her character could be a greatly portrayed young man, her acting was very weak. very, very, very weak. as if she had never been trained as an actress... >___<

vocals

I thought there would be nothing particular to pay attention to. and suddenly... O____O

the duet of Pedro and Pimenta... O_____O

the duet of Constanza and her mother... O_____O

the song of Antonio and his band... O_____O

ohhhh everything so ideal...

and also

music

itself was a masterpiece. the orchestra theme and the song for the Antonio-band, the aria of Ines when in the convent, the song of the ship crew, and a lot of other pieces impresses me much as they could be performed even separately from the play

plot

weeeell I honestly dislike when there happens any kind of tragedy because of misunderstanding (RomiJuri being the example) so this is not a story I would love to watch for real or rewatch ever

revue part
well, I was not expecting much from it, but it DID surprise me as well. the dances were very beautiful and though I thought they would be plain and a bit boring, they weren't. the part I liked especially was the one performed to an oriental melody and the moment when Aono-sama was raised by several otokoyaku was simply *______*
again, I saw how much she tends to adjust her movements to that of her partner(s), and her eyes also followed everyone she was dancing with. 'twas beautiful, almost impossible... and at the same time, she retained her style, soft and firm, swaying and rigid. the style which cannot be confused with someone else
my dear, dear, dear future Moon Top Musumeyaku.....

to sum it up
a great performance to enjoy, but does not climb even close to my Top list ^^`

my humble opinion: ’Passion: Jose and Carmen’ by Star Troupe (2010)

love triangles... love squares... erm... love pentagons?

what I recall in such moments is the line from 'You're Not All Alone' song (ending theme from Sol Bianca the legacy) - 'it's all right, I'm aware, life is fair'. 'tis really so. there are such things. many of them. 'tis ok. should be, at least...

'tis I who is not ok at all. having started with 'saikai' with its wonderful funny story and a (silly?) happy ending I ended up watching tragic stories also. sorry, but I am not a masochist... I cannot find any pleasure in watching sad and intricate stories which begin with nothing and end in nothing. was I mistaken in the Star Troupe?

BTW, is it only me who feels that the meeting of Jose and Carmen in the bar is a little bit overly... how shall I put it... well, at least it doth not suit the music, which seemeth to have more deep feelings than that plain passion shown. oh, that meaneth - the name of the musical is quite right - 'tis about passion, not love

'twas some 20 or 30 minutes from the beginning when I realized I am no more interested in watching it, though I was quite happy with the plenty of love scenes, as I was longing very much to watch something romantic. however, the rest (which was about an hour) flew beyond my mind, and I was only waiting for it to end, as I am not used to dropping what I have begun

who was 'lighting the way' is Michaela, a nice girl destined to suffer for nothing, the type I always feel sorry for and this sympathy seemeth to be greater than feelings towards other characters. I only wanted to ask if it is ok to ask a former girlfriend to look after thy mother

unlike the doubtful Gerard, Jose was firm in his choice when he was offered to stay with Carmen abandoning his previous life. this kind of decisiveness is much better than that tragic parting of 'Too Short a Time'. and the same firmness he showed when killing Garcia. impressive. not in the positive sense, however >___<

and Carmen herself... I was always interested in the kind of people who 'respect freedom' and say that they do not want to belong to someone, as I cannot understand them, being a completely opposite type. well, if they want to have fun in such a manner, I have no right to restrict them...

with the plot progressing, the misunderstanding progresses as well. I cannot see any reason why a person who loves cannot wait for a response, and I can see no reason why not to response, when loving and being loved. I could not even understand the feeling of being grateful to the mother for being born, as no one asks to be born actually...

and of course, the bombast of killing thy beloved because of a 'small misunderstanding' is very, very touching...... or so they thought? o___O

the more I watch, the lesser I understand. in the end, all that was left is... 'wha?'

my applause when the performance ended was as loud as that of the audience. as I was happy to see this nonsense stopping

siennas on the stage

Hisaki Seara-san. with both a cute face and a nice voice (which is again of the type I envy so much, with the 'high speed vibrating') she could be a really outstanding sienna, if not for her retirement. hath she got married? for example...

Nene-chan playing such a strong and dangerous woman was also an attractive thing. not that I like a person who can easily stab a woman with a knife, but looking onto a different Nene was fun. BTW, it took me a long time to understand that a Japanese is not a gypsy. oh, that's not what I wanted to say. are we not quite used to siennas being really great on the stage and having thousands of manifestations? this time Nene-chan was really as close to a real gypsy as she could be, and I consider it a really hard thing to do. we already know lolitas dressing in french clothes, we also admire otokoyaku in suits, but a Japanese girl wearing a long big skirt in flowers, and what's more important - behaving like a real gypsy - this should not have been so natural for me, as I have payed no attention to this fact when watching 'Passion' for the first time. this meaneth, Nene-chan is cool. well, a negative thing - on the other hand, I only conrmed my conclusion that this type of character is not for Nene-chan... better to say, for me watching Nene-chan. the problem is not her being a product of a completely another society, but 'tis just that this role doth not suit Nene-chan's personality, as fas as I imagine her

Yumeno Seika-san... I feel so sorry for not being able to appreciate her on the stage... she obviously is talented and she plays quite good, I am truly fascinated by the scene of her looking onto Carmen dancing - such a trifle, but portrayed so nicely... and still, I feel as if I dislike her, without any obvious reason. well, the only thing, she was breathing while portraying the dead Escamillio and it was very uncovered... ^.^ but that's not a thing to reproach a sienna, eh? after such an energy requiring dancing, she could not help breathing, which is quite natural. what is more important, I am not very delighted with her voice..... >___<

Yuzuki-sama portraying a bull. nice

well, though I did not like the characters, at least I should state the artistic skills of the main siennnas are perfect. such a strong passion is n their voices when they shout or cry, and in their movements, and the way they look onto each other...

another thing which bothers me is that while Ouki-san is absent, I cannot find any interesting siennas to look on, apart from Top Combi and Suzumi-san

the last question of mine. why such dresses??? the men outfit is completely ok, but both in 'Passion' and in 'Gypsy Baron' gypsy girl are dressed in idk what... I am not saying I am specialists in gypsy clothing, but I daresay I have an image of it, and meseemes, the Zuka costumes leave... well, leave something to be desired...

'Romeo and Juliette' by Star Troupe (2010) - my humble opinion

the story. not the type I like, actually
seemeth to be a kind of bantering the masterpiece by Shakespeare, which I actually never considered to be one, in terms of its plot.

however, we have things like... lady importuning her husband's nephew, who loves his cousin, who loves our hero, who is actually loved by many girls... am I right?

considering the plot, mehopes, my honourable guests will not throw tomatoes in me. I do not understand where is that great love everyone speaks of,  as the the love with the first sight had no time to be proved. but if we try to take it for granted...

and what is the moral of the scene of killing? 'children, do not play with matches'. that is, one should not take a dagger if he has no intention to kill. and even if he does, he better not. I have never been able to understand, why people make something without thinking of the consequences and then they cry as weep, as if they had no relation to what they had made. I daresay, they are the ones to blame, eh?

what's with the nanny? she is teaching the girl how to live, then she is helping her, and then she suddenly changes her mind... what is the meaning of all this?

what's with the attempt to justify the parents? why all that nice singing? those who do not care about their dearest people do not deserve any kind of explanation of their opinion in such a long aria.

and what's with the end? just the letter did not reach its destination. yes, I am aware, there are little things which change the whole destiny of a planet. however, this one does not touch me even a little bit

their biggest conclusion is that they should make up and live in peace. how much they needed to sacrifice to understand this.

my biggest conclusion is - that must have been difficult to lie portraying a dead couple while all those guys (I am sorry... girls) were singing and going round and round.

well, what improves the situation is the ending, which is always so great in Zuka's performances.

let me drop the plot analysis right here.

voices

the voice of Suzumi-san. oh, that is beautiful. I am not fond of such voices when they are immature and unguided, but the vibrating of hers is so cool. it is not the opera type, but the one which is done in a different way, mehopes, one day I can understand which way it is, actually...

unfortunately, I have forgotten all the examples I could make, considering this kind of vibrating, and the only voice which is a little similar in terms of vibrating is the one of Mizu-san.

the other voices. is it a coincidence that they seem of the same kind? meseems, they have gathered all the siennas who sing similarly in Star ^.^

Ouki-san. as usual. I wonder why they make such sad and beautiful songs for people destined to be losers? Chauvelin, for example... I mean, the songs are too full of emotions which should not be there... I feel they are odd, they are out of place. and the characters, apart from their songs, do not appeal to me to the extent that I would feel any sympathy towards them. pitying, as maximum...

the music
we know the songs already and I can even remember some words from the Russian version. the Japanese text was of course quite different - just try to translate some lyrics while preserving the rhythm of the song. I should admit the Russian version was far more canorous, and Zuka's one seems to sound more that of staccato, if I can apply the term here.

the rock-pop-disco-IDK WHAT arrangement of the background is also very cute.

by the way, some movement during the ball were obviously stolen from Lady Gaga LOL

and all this saveth the musical from an epic fail of being boring.

meseems, I would never watch this musical if it were not Zuka...

acting... not actually, acting, to be precise

Tsurumi Mayuu-san. gorgeous............. *____*

overwhole impression
well, I still believe Zuka should not perform the borrowed musicals. no Elizabeth, no Phantom, no such things. meaningless and... awkward? though they add as much beauty as they can, the musicals do not become completely Zuka's ones, so...

oh, better no such things.