#revolutionary musicals

[winteraurora]

Hadestown and Newsies are very interesting revolutionary musicals. Unlike Hamilton or Le mis they are not explicit in their anti-capitalist and anti-government statements. They are subtle. 'Build the wall' and 'bottom line' hold the same meaning in their stories of the capitalist ruler discussing why they do what they do.

Though in 'the bottom line' Pulitzer is more blatant with his cutting of the newsies fees and how this is all for profit, 'build the wall' is more subtle with the explanation of why hades does what he does, as a way to control his citizens, he obviously is useing this explanation as a way to control them. 'We build the wall to keep us free, and the wall keeps out the enemy and the enemy is poverty and our work is never done.'

Both stories also use this familiar tone with the characters. Hades calls his workers 'my children' and Pulitzer says 'I couldn't have given them a better education if they were my own children'

Both stores have good revolution songs with hades town it's 'if its true" "nothing changes" "how long?" And of course "chant (reprise)"

While newsies has "the world will know" and "once and for all"

The fundamental difference between these two musicals is that Orpheus fought back for love, he did all of this for Eurydice for his wife, he went literally to hell and back, he fought through song and through appealing to Hades love for Prosephone.

While Jack fought for freedom through aggression...yes but ultimately he fought to go to Santa Fe which to his is freedom.

And the biggest difference between these two musicals two is the ending. Hadestown is a retelling of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice he will look back we know this. This freedom of leaving hades town comes with a sting attached, with a stipulation of 'is he tricking me? Would he really let me leave?' While Newsies ends with Jack finding his freedom in New York and child labor laws being implemented. (Like in real history)

Sorry I'm not the best at media analysis especially with musicals since to me a lot of it feels like text and not subtext,

[bloodraven55]

nothing says doomed yuri like crucifixion symbolism

[karotka]

Nanami, isn't that cowbell heavy?

[himemeiya]

Though I know my heart would break...

Francesca — Hozier

[mayabread]

need all of you to see this little hop utena does with anthy in the musical

[empty-movement]

"...how boring reality would be if we lacked the sensitivity to recognize beauty in beautiful things."

Mitsuhiro Oikawa & Chiho Saito for H! Rockin' On Japan Magazine, July 1999

That's right! Did you know this movie manga artwork, that graced many a wall in the early 00s, is based on a real photo of movie Akio's voice actor and mangaka Chiho Saito, taken at the iconic Meguro Club Sekitei love hotel? Well, it is!

And you know what else? We translated the interview it came with! H! Rockin' On Japan is a music-oriented magazine, covering the Utena movie more from Oikawa's perspective. The queer vibes in the interview are off the charts, and it's clear as day that the shift in Akio's visual style from the series to the film is in no small part in response to Oikawa's involvement. This interview is a really neat look into the context around that change, and it's all thanks to translation by Nagumo and editing by Ayu Ohseki! I did not work this interview into the magazine pages, since they are text-dense anyway, so you can read the interview here at In the Mouths of Babes, or you can look at the high resolution magazine scans, complete with magazine cover and table of contents, here at the Bibliothèque! And as always, there's a ton more new Utena stuff to check out at Empty Movement proper!

[vvelvetrevolver]

[mortellanarts]

You must absolutely hate me for what I did to you

[transmascutena]

we watched the black rose musical last night and i'm still thinking about how much akio goes around just.. touching other characters, even in scenes he isn't actually really supposed to be part of. it's a really interesting directing choice. sometimes it's just a touch, like a hand on someone's arm or shoulder, but most of the time he's pushing people. very much like in the show, he is putting the actors (the characters) into the positions he needs them in. only here it's very literal. and instead of just telling them where to be, like a stage director might do, it's physical, hands-on, even kind of violent at times, yet still subtle enough that nobody notices. nobody ever reacts to it, they just move to where he needs them to be, stumbling into place and continuing to play their roles.

and i could talk about exactly who gets pushed when and to where (like how the first and last person he does it to is anthy-as-mamiya, how it's a light push, really just a touch to keep the momentum of what they're already doing going, as opposed to the way he kind of shoves other characters), but the thing that really stood out to me is that the only character he does touch but doesn't ever really push (aside from i think anthy, and i do have a lot of thoughts on the scene where they're dancing together that i may get into in another post) is utena. what he does instead instead is pull her.

in the opening number, there's a moment where it seems like utena is about to walk off-stage (like tokiko does in the scene, because their choreography is mirroring each other. very clever), but before she can, akio grabs her arm and turns her towards the center of the stage instead, where she lies down in her "coffin". the show proper starts, of course, with the once upon a time story of utena meeting the prince, and a recap of the first arc/musical. and of course akio is the one who puts her into position for it. she's still trapped in her coffin.

and, i don't know, there's just something especially unsettling to me about it compared to the pushing. maybe just that it's different from his interactions with every other character. or the contrast between the pushing being more direct and aggressive, compared to him subtly and gently guiding her around the stage, into the chair or closer to him. there's something horribly personal or intimate about it i guess, especially since he often takes her hand to do it.

[anisongoftheday]

Revolutionary Girl Utena Opening

Rinbu Revolution by Masami Okui

[parathaf]

roses are red,

you shot him in the side,

violets are blue,

[app1es0uce]

Can someone make an animatic of “My Goodbye” but it’s the USA and King George III?

[karotka]

If it cannot break its egg's shell, a chick will die without being born.

[himemeiya]

Oh yes, they both reached for the gun... [x/x]

[mayabread]

I'd fold personally

[empty-movement]

Musical Utena Twitch Streams this Summer!!!

Empty Movement yields at last to the frenzied public demand for more streams!!

An event a fan likened to 'the Utena fandom's version of Rocky Horror watches' returns once again this summer! We used to stream the musicals very regularly, but at this point, most people have seen them, and uh, slime tutorials of our streams are already available on YouTube, haha. But there are always a few people new to this religion, and even if not, it's been a while since we've worshipped as a group, no?

For the uninitiated, we play these two ~2 hour musicals back to back, usually with some random stuff a bit before and after. (Another opportunity to stream amazing tight rope Utena cosplay?)

Spread the word, and get hyped! We're looking forward to having fun with y'all!