Opening Night!

I pick Take up at the ferry port Friday night. He's come to see the Musical in all its glory. We wake up on Saturday in time for lunch at Hiwasa's curry shop. This day, March 1st, is the LAST DAY that the curry shop will be open. A thought which fills me with sadness as it was one of my favorite places to go in Hiwasa. That in mind, I demanded we go Saturday morning, for their last day open. After that pre-show setup/rehearsal starts. Thank goodness it's in my town today. I'm tired of waking up earlier than I have to in order to get somewhere on time. We start rehearsing it, and polishing it up for the Hiwasa stage, then have a 30 minute lunch break. We all run to a local convenience store for a quick meal. Since we have such a short time, I decided to run to the store in my costume (an old granny costume). Only halfway there did I realize that I was in my own town, and surely everyone who knows me would see me. Sigh.

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I'm going to take a moment to tell the story of the play.

Act 1 (Story of Momotaro with some artistic liberty)
Scene 1.
Two narrator children are fighting over toothpaste and they run to their grandpa who solves their dispute. He then tells them a story about Momotaro. Peach Boy.

It starts with an old man going to the forest for wood and an old lady going to the river to wash clothes. (I'm the old lady) She spots a giant peach and pulls it onshore, trapping herself underneath it. Her husband comes along and helps her and they put it in their kitchen. On the table, the old man starts cutting it open when they realize there's a little boy inside who's very strong. They have him work at the farm, until one day a woman from the next town, in this play-Princess Leiah, comes to look for the old man. She asks for his help in fighting the Oni (demons) who have taken everything from their village. The old man cannot because he's to old but Momotaro (the boy) says he can do it. His parents put up a fuss at first but eventually conceded after the old man trains him (using a jazzercise music set to Billy's Boot Camp steps) and the old woman gives him magic dango she made (rice flour sweets). It will boost his strength when he eats them. So he sets off.

Scene 2.
A dog army is in practice, with a foppish poodle at the tail. The Sarge barks orders and the poodle (Louise) is miserable at following them. Finally after a tragic display of ability from the poodle, the Sarge kicks him out of the army. This saddens the poodle who only joined the army so that he could be more brave and obedient for his owner. Momotaro spots the poodle howling with sadness and asks if he would like to help him fight the onis. He gives the poodle a bit of dango ("Who Let the Dogs Out" music starts and the poodle and Momotaro dances) and the poodle is full of energy and able to do every command, sit, beg, shake hands, do sumo, and dance awa odori. Now a team of two, they're off!

Scene 3.
Colonel Sanders is trying to sell his chicken to passers-by with little luck. Why does no one want chicken. His fry cook tells him its because people are tired of chicken and suggests they have something new on the KFC menu. Fried horse? Fried Snickers? Fried cellphone... oops. Just then a pheasant struts by and they get an idea. To a Benny Hill theme, they chase the pheasant around the audience, finally catching her and holding her over the oil vat. Just then Momotaro and the poodle enter, and release the pheasant. As they celebrate the Colonel readies his gun for another go at the pheasant, but she eats some dango, and catches his bullet in her teeth then struts over to the fry cook and the Colonel and knocks them out. A trio, the pheasant, poodle, and Momotaro set off.

Scene 4.
Curtain up to a lazy gangster, G-monkey playing video games in his messy room. His momma comes in screaming at him to clean the room, bashing him with her shoe and broom. When she leaves he goes back to playing games. Momotaro and the two friends enter on the other side of the stage, distressed that they are lost. As momma enters again, swinging her broom to smack her son, the pheasant suggests they ask the monkeys for directions. He catches her just in time and she tries to pretend she wasn't hitting him. She gives them directions and then tries to get her G-monkey to be enthusiastic like those three are. They give G-monkey a bit of dango, and he stands bolt upright. Dolly Parton's 9-5 starts playing as G-monkey speeds through his homework and starts to clean. A cleaning dance sequence ensues with all the characters involved. When its over, G-monkey decides to join the group and they head off. When they all leave the momma says "I thought they'd NEVER leave." and plops down to play the video games herself.

Scene 5.
They reach the final stage of their journey, crossing the seito naikai sea to get to the Oni island. But someone has taken their boat. A note from Gipetto (last year they did Pinocchio as a play...) says he took the boat, and hes sorry but he left them floaty devices to get there on. The pheasant laughs and takes off flying there. The poodle whimpers about how cold the water is, but after a little more dango, they're all in and setting off for the Oni island.

Scene 6.
At the oni lair, the 5 onis are tormenting their two servant girls, being rowdy and generally causing a ruckus to "Feed My Frankenstein." Blue oni, black oni, green oni, purple oni, and the leader, red-oni. The 4 heroes burst in and try to put a stop to it. The red demon laughs and sets his onis after them. 007 music plays as the pheasant swiftly takes care of the green oni. The poodle lays out the purple oni, G-monkey floors the blue oni, and Momotaro knocks out the black oni. Then he approaches the red-oni. They clash, club to sword, but Momotaro's sword pierces right through the Oni's club. Defenseless, Momotaro thrashes the red-oni and then throws him to his animal friends who finish him off. Finally begging to be spared, the red-oni promises to give back everything and never return.

The narrator children are disappointed that the story is over. Momotaro won too easily, there was no message, etc. They demanded grandpa tell more but he said that was all. Finally he agrees to flush out a part two for them when they finish getting ready for bed.


ACT 2 (The Revenge of the Red-oni)
Scene 1.
The kids are back and eager to hear the rest of the story their grandpa just made up. He begins.

Momotaro came home with his animal friends to see his parents. The old man and old woman throw a party (Celebrate Good Times) but it is quickly halted by the red-oni showing up with crutches and arm slings demanding that Momotaro pay his medical bills. He has brought his lawyer with him, and the lawyer clears that the property belonged to the red-oni as settlement for a loan he had with Princess Leiah's town. When the animal's try to stop the policeman from taking Momotaro to jail, the red-oni reminds the lawyer that Momotaro has no license for these animals. The lawyer carts the pheasant and monkey off to the zoo. And what about that thing. The red-oni quickly inserts that it is a Shisa (mythological lion-dog that guards temples) which is even more rare than monkeys or pheasants and belongs in the zoo. Despite the poodles protesting that he is not a Shisa, he is carted away as well.
Then, about to go to Jail a second time, the old man and woman say that hes just a boy... Dr. Freud comes out from behind the red-oni and asks the old woman where she found Momotaro. When she says he came from a peach floating down the river, the old man and old woman are carted away to the mental hospital. Crazy old people. Finally the policeman and the red-oni think that Momotaro belongs in school. He is required to and had not been. The red-oni plans to take the farm and turn it into a parking lot for a nearby tourist attraction.

Scene 2.
Kids are scrambling to their seats as the bell rings. The teacher comes in with Momotaro introducing him to the class. As Momotaro explains that he is born from a peach, and talks to three animals, the other kids mock him. He finally gets enraged and picks up the biggest bully with one hand, not putting her down until she apologizes. This upsets the teacher who tells Momotaro that he cannot just fight people he doesn't like. He's not George Bush. That if he really wants to get even with the red-oni he needs to use his brain AND his muscles. The other kids in class decide to help him out as "Footloose" plays and a school/study dance begins, ending with Momotaro receiving his graduation certificate. He's off to go rescue his family and save his farm.

Scene 3.
The old man and old woman are acting like lunatics bouncing around the room and popping pills. Several other crazies are around the stage. The doctor comes in and starts to question the old lady. What did she want to be when she grew up, etc. The old man buts in and said he wanted to be a lumberjack! The Monty Python Lumberjack song begins sung by us, and ending in the old man dressed in drag. Just then Momotaro bursts through the door and approaches the doctor. The doctor says they are too crazy to leave until Momotaro shows a DNA test that he in fact did come from a peach. Ok, the old lady can go, but the old man still has some mental issues with his cross dressing lumberjack fetish. The old lady says its ok, because hes wearing her clothes, and finally fed up, the doctor tells them to leave. Not before the old lady gives him a giant sack of peaches as a goodbye present.

Scene 4.
The animals are getting yelled at by the zookeeper for talking. Animals aren't supposed to talk. They protest but eventually give in. The first customers come. A creepy man and his daughter (?). They marvel at the beauty of the pheasant, approach the "Shisa" who scares them with a roar, and then get to the monkey. The girl asks the monkey to dance, and he replies that he can but his cage is too small. She is excited he can talk to and lets him out. Some 90s dance music plays as the monkey tries to sneak away but is caught by the girl and then starts to dance for her. He frees the poodle and the pheasant during his dance, and as they make a run for it, the zookeeper catches them and throws them back in their cages. Just then Momotaro and his parents arrive, with a monkey license and a pheasant license. He also carries proof that the poodle is a poodle and not a shisa. The animals are free to leave and they all devise a plan to get their farm back.

Scene 5.
The red-oni is directing traffic and taking money at his new parking lot. Suddenly all the heroes burst in policeman included. They trick the red-oni with a bag full of "money" which is actually newspaper. When fooled he gets mad and goes after Momotaro. The policeman steps in and says fighting is bad. They have to settle their differences respectably. Someone suggests a Dance Dance Revolution contest. If Momotaro wins he gets his farm back, and if the red-oni wins he can keep the car park.
The finale starts playing (DDR music) and they start to dance. They are joined in sections by first old man, old woman, and doctor, then all the animals and the police officer, then the other onis, then the school students. Finally (as a desperate attempt to include all the actors in a final dance) the narrators jump on stage and have a section, where everyone else is "who are they" as the line between reality and story blurs for a second. Then everyone dances. Finally its down to Momotaro and the red-oni. The latter is struggling and finally falls to the floor exhausted. Momotaro wins! The red-oni threatens his standard I'll be back, but Momotaro reminds the police officer that there are no Oni's at the zoo. The police officer thinks its a good idea and carts the red-oni away.
Everyone is thrilled except for the old lady. She is sad that her farm is now a parking lot. Where will they live?! Superman theme plays as the animals and Momotaro take a bite of the dango. The cars are soared off stage and a farm scene is put in its place. The old man and old woman jump and scream with excitement.

The narrators come on and announce the end. The two kids are delighted.

Curtain comes up to the red-oni in the zoo, and the bows start.

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I'm met with little gifts from a couple of my students before the show starts. My Flamenco class had brought cookies for the cast. An adult conversation class provided us all with juice. It was so nice to see them care that much. :) It is our first show so naturally we're all a little nervous. Rehearsals have all been 70% at best and we only had one full rehearsal with everyone there. When the curtain went up tho, nothing could be done but to do it. And we did it. The crowd was few. Maybe 70 people max. We had several mistakes. But all in all it was a great show. I had closed off my eyes to the audience during the whole performance so only until it was time for me to thank everyone for coming did I see who was there.

All of my adult conversation students were there, some flamenco students, and even some of my Junior High School students. My neighbors were even there with their kids! I was surprised most of all to see my Vice Principal there. He was sitting by himself the whole time, so it really meant a great deal to me that he would come see my show. I greeted everyone, received bouquets of flowers and a teddy bear, and when the whirlwind was over, I was exhausted. The bad news was that I had to drive that same night to Tokushima City for the next day's show.

After cleaning up and packing the cars, we left in a caravan toward Tokushima City. Rehearsal/set-up before that show started at at 9am because it was a matinée, so we had to be ready and early. I drove, falling asleep along the way, all the way to Tokushima City. When we arrived... Pass out. Done. Some people went out to Bar Bitch's opening night, (a bar that James and I named... we're so proud... even tho that was one of our least brilliant suggestions..) but I was much too tired.

Sunday morning, I drive to the theater. No parking nearby, as was to be expected, so after unloading the car, I had to drive 5 minutes away to a place where I wouldn't pay for parking and then walk back. We were all tired but the show must go on. This time, Tokushima Hall, we had a much larger crowd. Over 100 I'd safely say and mostly young children. In terms of quality, it was a better show. Our energy was higher and the audience response was greater. We all felt really good about how we managed to pull this thing together. Take left for home immediately after the Tokushima Hall show, and James Claire Louise and I went for Italian food. We discovered this gorgeous restaurant with great taste and fantastic proportions in town.

There were great write-ups of our musical in the different newspapers and we made quite a bit of money with suggested donations. Several people said it was the best show that they had seen yet. And many couldn't stop talking about how well I did as an actor. Haha.

Pictures!

posted by Living and Teaching in Tokushima @ 8:57 AM Comments: 0