J-11 5/13 Nijinsky Shonichi
I woke up that morning feeling mildly excited and down. I was moody because of the previous night, but also looking forward to seeing Nijinsky again. I got ready and headed out early because I wasn't actually all that familiar with where I was going and where iri/de would be. Plus I had to pick up my ticket...
When I arrived, I was suddenly unsure of where to go, but I figured I had time so if I got lost... I got lost. Thankfully I didn't. The theater wasn't as close as I would have liked, but I was oddly fascinated by the city. I passed by a baseball stadium and students handing out flyers for some sort of event at another location in the city. The boy was hesitant at first to hand me one, but I figured I'd be nice and held my hand out. He smiled and bowed and I went on my way.
I nearly walked passed the theater because I was so distracted by the scenery. I honestly can't remember which came first iri/de location hunt or ticket pick up. For the ticket pick up I realized that the theater doesn't actually open til an hour before the show starts. This was after I made a bit of a fool of myself at the hotel counter. Also I felt very conspicuous as I was one of the few people around. I felt better when people started to gather in clumps. I figured they had to be club people, but after yesterday I was a bit afraid to ask. Also, I had no idea what H-chan's Tokyo club looked like so...
Once I saw more people show up and they were obvious with their Nijinsky bags, I worked up the courage to ask. The most obvious group ended up being Kingu's club and they excitedly pointed me to where I needed to go. Once I got there I saw one big club and what seemed to be several smaller clubs. Now, they all had the same club where so I still didn't know which one it was aside from Chigi's. That one was pretty obvious.
I also wasn't sure where to stand so I went over to Chigi's side which already had a gallery. After a couple of minutes I decided to ask the lady next to me. She had a camera so I was pretty sure she'd know which one was H-chan's club. She pointed out which one it was.... then wouldn't stop talking. I was... oddly surprised by how easily she kept up a very one sided conversation. I understood... very very little, just nodded and sou desu ne'd her. I'm sure she revealed a lot of gossip, but... ^_^;
I decided to wait there because I still wasn't sure on how gallery worked. So Camera Lady just blabbed away at me and I started to clock watch. H-chan was late. So apparently was Chigi as Camera Lady started to complain. She kept checking her phone and pointing out to me when so and so's iri times were and I felt very intrusive. Younger girls started to walk in and Camera Lady and I squealed over each one. I was also internally dying at her obvious disappointment and dislike whenever a man came around the corner. I also couldn't contain myself when Ayu and Aki-san popped around. I had/have a very strong Ayu boom going on. Well, both Camera Lady and I were so distracted that we barely noticed when H-chan finally came around. How could we you ask? Well... because she came from the /other/ side. The side nobody was keeping an eye out for. I was so angry XD most especially because I was on the other side and she was bundled up like it was freezing. Like when I last saw her, she also had a mask on so I was mildly worried. But I mostly annoyed. Camera Lady just said "yappari..." and then complained that Chigi was an hour late.
Maybe 20 minutes later, Chigi decided to grace us with her presence. She looked very tired, but smiled big at her club. I was very impressed with how she took everyone's letters and gifts slowly and even commented occasionally. Her club was /huge/ so I was proud and happy that she made the effort. When she was done she did a half jump and thanked everyone for coming out and to look forward to the show.Then everyone left. At that point I decided I didn't wanna wait anymore, yoroshiku'd Camera Lady and went to wait for the theater to open.
I was surprised by how small Nippon Seinenkan was. I mean Bow Hall is the epitome of tiny, but Nippon Seinenkan is up there. So my 14th row seat was pretty damn awesome. Plus I was dead center so I had a much better idea of how the blocking worked. A couple of scenes that seemed odd when I saw it in Bow Hall made sense once I was viewing them straight on. Or maybe they corrected some of the blocking? Wasn't sure. Seeing it a second time I was once again amazed by how well the story flowed and the acting. Plus, the Faun scene was just as blush inducing as I remembered. After the first act ended the girls there was quite a bit of commotion. I thought that maybe the Tokoyo fans were louder, but then I remembered that it was /their/ first time seeing it. Must have been quite the shock XD
Also during intermission I snapped up several stage photos from the bow run. I knew they were going to pre-sell them thanks to a friend. I was pretty pleased with all the shots they chose. I only got two sets, because I only had enough for two sets haha. I didn't expect to want to own... well all of them.
When the show finished there was the usual speech by kumichou, Yumemi, and then a speech from Chigi. There were three curtain calls which flustered Chigi spectacularly. She had trouble getting words out cause she was trying to speak and cry at the same time. I admit to getting kind of teary-eyed through the show and speeches. It's very hard to describe how much this show hit my core.
Demachi was easier for me. I figured out that I could stand behind H-chan's club just fine, now that I knew where it was. Once again I was struck by how strange it felt to be in the gallery as opposed to crouching in line. Well, it took a while for everyone to start coming out so I took stock of how the clubs were lined up. Chigi's massive club took over the side closest to the door, then on the side where I was standing was Isono-san's club then Kitarou's club, followed by Kingu's club and then two other younger otokoyaku I wasn't familiar with. I later discovered Ayu usually had two or three people waiting for her around the corner in front of the hotel doors. I wanted to join them~
Anyways, H-chan came out sort of suddenly and looked ravishing! I was beside myself with how pretty she looked considering how crappy she looked that morning. She wore a loose black top with three quarter sleeves and jeans. Plus her makeup was sparkly and pretty!!!! Yep. I was grinning like an idiot. I was too chicken this time around to say anything to the club. So I just admired from afar.
It was still pretty early when everything was said and done, so I wandered around. I knew there was another station I could take on which I could use my JR pass, but apparently I'm terrible at directions and reading signs (Not news I know). But, I discovered this small park that was really lovely with its arrangements of rocks. I decided I rather liked it there and sat down to admire for a bit. When I started to sort of fall asleep I made the trek back to the other side of the city to the station I came back from.
It was a good day over all.
Next up: Hat Shopping with caithion and Rizu.
I swear I will get through this month XD