(Editted on 17th May 2006 @ 1PM)

Many thanks to Snuffles's friend who helped us get tickets to all 3 shows and even treated us to such a great dinner!!! Book-san, hontou ni arigatou gozaimashita!

Event: Takizawa Enbujo
Venue: Shinbashi Theatre @ Tokyo (Full Capacity @ 1,428 seats)
Dates: March 2006 to 25th April 2006
Duration: Part 1 @ 1hr 15mins, Interval @ 35mins, Part 2 @ 1hr 25mins
Shows Attended: 060414, 060416, 060417


Takki's Castle!! (Back & Front View)

Shinbashi Theatre is not a very big theatre. You can get a pretty good view of Takki and the main stage from most of the seats. But when we were seated on the 2nd floor, we had to keep leaning forward in our seats to get a better view of the hanamichi.

There is a snack bar and souvenir shop on the 1st floor and a small restuarant and another souvenir shop on the 2nd floor. The snack bar, souvenir shop and restuarant were selling everything relating to Takki that they possibly could ie. Top Stage magazine and kabuki magazine that Takki was on the cover of, Takki bento/ramen sets and Meiji's Amino Collagen too!!


Meiji Amino Collagen

There were also mini cakes with Takki's different characters' faces in Enbujo selling as omiyagae!!! The souvenir shop was even selling the Venus single and K8's FTO album too!! I think the restaurant was the one selling the most expensive bento set of 3,500yen. But I think you have to pre-order it before the show started.


3,500 yen bento set

You can also eat this bento set at your seat if you are sitting at the really expensive seats at the left and right side of the theatre. You will have your own individual table with tea served in proper cups too! We each bought the cheapest bento set that we could find. Oishiikatta yo!!! We were all busy snapping photos of the bento set before we started eating.


Taki Komi Gohan Bento Set @ 1,500yen

Inside the train station, near the exit and also on both the 1st and 2nd floors outside the theatre hall, the official Enbujo promotional poster was put up. Everyone was using their kettai and digicams snapping away furiously.


Enbujo Promotional Poster

Well, it's obvious why everyone was trying to take a picture of the promotional poster. There was kakkoii Takki in a suit standing on the left and Takki as Sagimusume on the right. You can really see that lots of attention was spent on the make up and hair in order to bring out all the feminine features a female should have. Takki really looks like a female in the pic! If no one pointed out that the picture was of Takki, he can easily pass off as a geniune female

Extra Notes:

Hanamichi - This is a long walkway running from the back of the auditorium to stage right (audience left). It literally means "flower way" and is one of the main acting areas in conjunction with the stage itself. The name is thought to derive from gifts of money, or hana, given by fans or sponsors on this walkway to the actors of their choice.


Shinbashi Theatre's hanamichi (trapdoor is the pink square)

Many entrances were done along the hanamichi. The audience seated near the hanamichi are really extremely lucky!! They could really see Takki's facial expressions sooo clearly!! The trapdoor located along the hanamichi was used as an entrance many times too.

Mawari Butai - This is the revolving stage which allows scenes to be changed rapidly without a break in the action, as characters 'walk' to the next set which appears around from the back of the previous decor.

Many times, the mawari butai would make a 180 degrees turn and the new set would rise from below while the old set would lower itself and disappear. The stage set-up was really amazing. We were wondering how much space there was underneath the stage as many of the sets were actually hidden underneath the stage, like the burning Tsurugajou and Yoshitsune's burning shelter.

Bukkaeri & Hikinuki - These are techniques used for quick costume changes.
For bukkaeri, the upper half inside part of the costume is pulled down by a stage assistant to cover the lower half outside part. So, the design will match the new upper half costume's design revealed by the change.


Bukkaeri

For hikinuki, the actor wears 2 costumes, with the outer one being kept in place with some threads hiding the inner one. At the right time, the stage assistants will help to pull the threads and completely pull away the outer costume to reveal the inner one.


Hikinuki

The above screencaps were taken from a old junior performance clip from MS I believe. Takki is the one performing and both Tsubasa and Matsujun were the ones helping Takki with his costume. Early training from young for Enbujo ne? Takki used both "bukkaeri" and "hikinuki" numerous times throughout Enbujo. Either the female dancers or jrs will help Takki with these quick costume changes on stage. Reports said that there were supposedly 37 costume changes in total

Act 1: JaPaniizu HiStory
- 春の踊り (Dance of Spring)
- 少年忠臣蔵　四十七士 (Young Chushingura and 47 Samurais)
- 山寺の和尚さん (Yamadera no Osyousan = Monk of the Mountain)
- 滝沢隊長と白虎隊 (Takizawa Commander and the White Tiger Unit)
- MASK
- 滝の白糸 (White Threads of the Waterfall)
- 男の花道 (Man's Flower Path)
- 七変化 (Seven Changes)
- 五条大橋 (Gojou-Oohashi Bridge)

Act 2: 義経 Yoshitsune

Act 3: Tackey's World

Act 1 was Part 1 while Part 2 included both Act 2 and Act 3. However, the actual performance did not follow in sequence as written above in the pamphlet.