Ann Karenina

Monday was my second-to-last time going to Takarazuka on this trip, but I have to say it was a real winner. The play was ‘Anna Karenina’, based, naturally, on the book by Tolstoy and also, naturally, a musical. This was one of the shows in the smaller theatre, and of the three shows that I’ve seen there it was by far the best. The other two were amusing and had good acting and music and the like, but this one really pulled me in. The music was very good and had a suitably ‘epic’ feel to it. The actresses all seemed to throw everything that they had into their roles, which is perhaps a little easier when there are so very many passionate characters. I was also very impressed with the set and lighting this show. I am no expert in either of these categories, but I felt that they did a very good job creating an atmosphere for the piece. The set was extremely simplistic, really, consisting mainly of tall panels painted with bleak winter landscapes in such a way that they could either be construed as being painted interior walls or actual scenery. There were also other pieces that were dropped down to make specific locations like, for instance, a train station. All of the light was rather dim, which is unusual for Takarazuka, and they seemed to use some sort of smoke (I’m sure it wasn’t really smoke, steam? Fog? I don’t know) so that light came in beams instead of seeming ambient. Before the show itself, a couple friends and I wandered about the town, did some shopping and had some lunch. My one friend was going with a bunch of ‘first-timers’ from our program to see ‘Me and My Girl’ while the other friend, myself and one other person went to see ‘Anna Karenina’. After the first friend left for her show, the remaining friend and I sat down inside the theatre building to wait for our third person. While we were waiting, these two women sitting across from us seemed as though they were talking about us, but my usual policy is to ignore things like that. Well, finally one of the women got up, walked over to me and asked in English: “Pardon me, but are you Brooke Shields?”. I was a little surprised. I said ‘no’, and she apologized for being rude (I told her that I was flattered, but she still apologized) and she and her friend left. It was pretty amusing. People have told me that I look like Brooke Shields before, but this is the first time that I’ve actually been mistaken for her. After the show we did some more shopping, stopped in at a cafe for a cup of tea which we immediately followed with dinner at a place that had a “7 gyouza (potstickers) for 150yen” deal going on. I wasn’t hungry, and the gyouza weren’t that good, so I was feeling slightly ill as we left the restaurant. As we walked out, though, we saw these two very fashionable looking women, one of whom was quite tall and had short hair and I thought aloud ‘I bet that they’re Takarazuka actresses..’ to which my far more outgoing friend answered ‘we should ask!’ and bounded up the escalator after them, leaving me fluttering in consternation in her wake. I looked distressed enough that an older couple going up the escalator asked me if I needed help, to which I said that no, she’d be back soon enough. Not a minute later the same couple beckoned me upstairs to show me that my friend was coming back. She had met the two women, asked them if they were actresses, and they said yes. She came back with their names and, sure enough, when I got home and checked my program from ‘Me and My Girl’ there they were in the chorus section! I wish that I had the courage to chase after random people.
-This show answered a long-standing question of mine: with the shear number of shows that they do every year they need astronomical numbers of costumes, but do they actually re-use them? Well, in this show I clearly recognized two, and maybe even three, costume pieces from other shows. I knew that they couldn’t possibly make all-new costumes for every show, especially the smaller ones, but it was nice to have this visually confirmed.
-The new school year at the Takarazuka Music School just started, which meant that we saw several students in their uniforms. I adore the uniforms, mainly because it appears that they haven’t changed at all since the ‘60’s. They even have little hats.
-When I thought a little more about what time I was actually seeing these students, it occurred to me that they were leaving school at about 6pm. That’s really late, and if they were first years they were going to have to be back at ridiculously early o’clock to clean the school top-to-bottom. Pretty strict.
-Just because gyouza are 7 for 150yen does not mean that they are a good deal.