#shiki jemima

[statisticalcats2]

Shiki (2018)

Jennyanydots, Tantomile, Jemima

[misaki-toko]

I went to see the Shiki Theater Company's cats in Nagoya on July 9th, so I reported it.

Ms.Saya's Jemima and Ms.Okudaira's Jellylorum sang "And who would ever suppose that... Was Grizabella the Glamor Cat?".

And they really mocked Ms. Kimura's character, Grizabella, and it was almost scary.

During the Macavity fight, Munkustrap, played by Kanamoto-san, made a very big threat of "Kah!!!". When I saw that scene, I thought, "He's completely a cat."

Kojima-san's Victoria, was so cute when her whole body was filled with an aura of joy during her solo dance.

↓ version without letters

[lightingelectratwo]

Blue=siblings, red=spouse ,purple =offspring, green=adopted

[white-cat-of-doom]

New character portraits from Japan as they get ready for opening night in Shizuoka tomorrow, 17 July 2024!

Kanako Fujiwara as Sillabub.

Ayaka Yoshida as Jellylorum.

Yukako Shingu as Jemima.

Nanako Yoshimura as Victoria.

Namiko Hanada as Jennyanydots.

Akane Aihara as Demeter.

Haruka Yamazaki as Bombalurina.

Rika Takeshita as Tantomile.

Ayu Shimizu as Rumpleteazer.

Ryudo Tsutaki as Mungojerrie.

Kyomi Ishibashi as Cassandra.

Junpei Sano as Tumblebrutus.

Miki Kanehara as Grizabella.

Yuto Tanaka as Mistoffelees.

Yujin Haga as Gilbert.

Suguru Fuminaga as Macavity.

Junpei Wakebe as Munkustrap.

Kazuki Kanemoto as Old Deuteronomy.

Seiji Hashimoto as Bustopher Jones and Gus.

Masaru Kitamura as Rum Tum Tugger.

Kaisaer Tatike as Skimbleshanks.

Shuichi Kawazu as Carbucketty.

Ryujiro Isshiki as Coricopat.

All photos from the previous stop in Nagoya, which took place between July 2022 and May 2024.

[junkyard-gifs]

Shiki Mistoffelees is suave and cocky and always confident, and Munkustrap will just... make sure sillabub doesn't get too close to whatever he's cooking up.

... but when he succeeds... suddenly even this cheeky little Munk-assistant just can't be sure of it.

Munkustrap encourages Sillabub toward their returned leader, and only then notices Mistoffelees' terror...

The careful tender approach...!

And there are our happy zoomy spinnies again. 😌

(Can't forget priorities though: must retrieve our beautiful assistant Bombalurina!)

Shiki production, Nagoya 20/7/2000.

?Tokihiko Sakamoto as Mistoffelees, Shoichi Fukui as Munkustrap, ?Tomomi Hayashishita as Bombalurina, Kenzo Ishii as Deuteronomy, Eriko Murata as Sillabub.

[real-reulbbr-band]

the queen herself, victoria (character ask)

Oh, the most wonderful girl thank you!!

Why I like them

Her solos are some of the most mesmerizing parts of the show for me, and I would love to see them live. There's just this softness and grace about her that's very comforting.

Why I don’t

The entire 2019 Mr. Mistoffelees number was unbearably cringy for me as much as I like the film but particularly when she started singing. It was giving disney zombies....

Favorite episode (scene if movie)

I have three.

One of my first favorite scene is actually from Warsaw where she's dancing with the stars. It really goes back to her connection to the moon that nobody else seems to have.

Alternatively, I love this scene where Jemima wants to approach Grizabella and brings Victoria along with her, and Victoria hesitantly looks back but decides to go along with Jem. They both scatter off when Jenny forbids them from touching Grizabella but I love how it nods back to how they're two half's of a hole.

And of course, one of the softest parts in the show for me and in my opinion one of Victoria's best moments.

Favorite season/movie

I Like Victoria in all versions of cats' media!! even when she's less prominent like in shiki. But for favorites I'll say standard version, 2019 film and broadway revival.

Favorite line

We're doing 2019 for this since Victoria doesn't have any solo lines.

"But at least you have beautiful ghosts."

I know a lot of people don't like this song and the criticisms for it and Victoria's character are fair, but I do think this sort of naive condescend-Iness works as a flaw for her. She doesn't mean harm, she want's to cheer up Grizabella and show that they're similar but ends up making Grizabella still feel isolated just like the jellicles.

Favorite outfit

I've grown to like the white / gold Victoria costume quite a bit but here's some designs I'm fond of:

OTP

Ah, ok so I've been convinced a little but don't be mad please. 2019 verse and standard stage verse is with Rumpleteazer but revival verse is with Plato. I don't why or how that happened either but yea I hope that makes sense.

Brotp

Mistoffelees recently, but mostly with Jemima. Again, two halves of a whole.

Head Canon

She worries a lot about injuries since she's aware about how delicate bones are and how a significant injury could hinder her dancing. So, she tends to watch her surroundings and positing more carefully than others.

Unpopular opinion

Hypothetically, I wouldn't mind if more non-reps went the warsaw/shiki route and didn't have Vitoria do a pas de deux but instead had a different solo involving the stars/moon.

A wish

More non-replica's to go all out with her design. Really emphasize the ballerina part of her look.

An oh-god-please-dont-ever-happen

probably losing her connection to the Jellicle moon, if she can't feel it at all she'll probably panic and assume something's wrong. If you want to look at it from a monochromatic sibling's angle, then she would've lost the one thing that made her "special" in comparison to her brother.

6 words to best describe them

HER WORDS they're perfect

Innocent, Romantic, Unselfconscious, Young, Inhibited, Inquisitive

My nickname for them

Again, I don't use character nicknames. But Vic<3

[mercuriallily]

Top 5 cats you’d like to cosplay?

1. London Bomba

2. Mexico Rumple

3. Shiki Rumple

4. Shiki Bomba

5. London Jemima

[the-clockwork-three]

here's my school's cats poster!

Oh this is so cool. a lot of the characters are actually caught quite accurately considering the fact that I'd say most of the makeup was probably done by the actors themselves.

okay heres my attempt to name the cats. considering the cast is like... 40 people i have to assume theres some oc's in there but also I'm going to pretend thats not an option and start naming them increasingly obscure swings

From left to right hese are Grizabella, ???, Victoria, Old Deuteromy. Considering these are the uhhhhhh plot relevant characters I assume ??? is Jemima

Misto and Tugger!!!

I thought this was Tantomile and Coricopat, but looking at the pose its actually likely Mungojerrie and Rumpleteaser.

this is deff the other set of twins. the colouring says rumple and jerry, the fact that we cant have two rumples and jerries says tanto and cori. I have no goddamn clue who the middle guy is. I'm going to say victor. because hes grey.

Oh hey its "victor" again. and Bustopher Jones. and other unidentifiable swings. I want to say the second from the right is The Rumpus Cat, mostly because the costume has a cool design, but I think YAE doesn't have his song. And the final guy is *spins wheel* Tumblebrutus.

LIGHTNING ROUND. Alonzo. Skimbleshanks and Munkustrap. Macavity.

Oh hi Cassandra. How i can I tell its Cassie? 1. shes less fluffy than the others. 2. shes doing a really good impression of 1998 Cassie's "Do something really weird and look straight into the camera and try to pull it off as cool and fail miserably" act, which i consider a fundamental part of her character.

.... gus? the theatre cat? Wearing clothes means songcat, and i read these clothes as "English Teacher" but also i genuinely cant tell if this is a boy or a girl. if this is a girl ummmmmmmm this is Jennyanydots because griz and rumple are accounted for. and this is objectively the best makeup in the cast omg the lines are so neat.

this one vexes me personally. my first instinct upon seeing the makeup is Quaxo from Shiki productions. however it is unlikely that this American school production is drawing inspiration from japan. so then I think Jellylorum. and then we have the dress. on one hand i sorta think its just that this person arrived a bit late and didn't have time to change into their full costume. on the other hand it reminds me of Bombalurina or Demeter in some non-reps. considering the colouring of the makeup is far closer to deme than bomba I lean more heavily towards her.

For the funsies I'm saying this is Deme

shes grey. shes a cat. this ones Greycat.

we have now reached the end of Solid Ideas. so now i'm just going to speedrun all the "important characters" that i missed and assign them at semi random

Jennyanydots, Bombalurina, Jellylorum

and my favourite girl chorus cats: Electra and Etcetera. decisions made entirely off of ear colours.

wait i actually think "electra" is "jemima" from the very first picture. my favourite girl chorus cats: Jemima/Sillabub (because this is an American production and i a little bit forgot but i will not be changing to the Broadway names) and Etcetera.

[jelliclekay]

What's your favorite cosplay? most popular cosplay? dream cosplay?

My favorite cosplay is Bombalurina. I feel like her makeup just fits me the most and honestly I feel so confident when I'm cosplaying her.

But I think my most popular cosplay is Jemima, she's the one I get the most compliments on.

My DREAM cosplay is Shiki Bombalurina. Someday I will be her.

[impeccablebackside]

What ethnicity would you think the Queens are?

That is truly quite a thought provoking question anon, but I do not think I have a realistically definitive answer. Do let me know what you have in mind though.

Perhaps most importantly with this question, my perspective and opinion is formed from exposure to the 98 film, 2019 movie, recent US Tour, and / or preferred boots of past productions (I happen to have a big hard-on for the 2016 Broadway Revival even though many people dislike it). The point is that a lot of how I imagine any of the queens stems from the specific actors portraying them in more immediately accessible visual media. Nothing inherently wrong with that, as all of the female actors from any of those places are hot as all hell.

The most pressing issue with this is that those actors are almost all predominantly white American or British women, so I tend to gravitate towards those ethnicities (or lack thereof) when picturing the queens. It is an unfortunately narrow-minded way of thinking due to the media I have been mostly exposed to and the fact that I am just some white dude.

That being said anon, I would prefer not to necessarily label any queen as being a specific ethnicity. There have been so many absolutely beautiful women casted throughout the world in different roles during the 40 or so years the musical has been around for. It is simply impossible and foolish to define any queen as being one ethnicity / 'type' because it diminishes or pushes out those who have represented the character just as well but do not fit that specific mould or definition. My opinion is that any ethnicity works for any queen, with maybe the only caveat that Rumple still has to have the Cockney accent. I promise that is not meant to pander or anything, I legitimately think everyone casted in show is beautiful and worthy of praise no matter what they look like.

Anyway, one of my personal favourite things are Asian women casted (outside of the Shiki productions) as Victoria because I think they portray the gentle grace of the white queen quite well. Does that mean they should only be Vic? Absolutely not. There have been a number of really cute Tantos or Jemimas / Sillabubs over the years that have been Asian too. I have a huge thing for the Japanese queens, and Asian actors in general as well. I think 'everyday' Asian beauty, particularly amongst Japanese women, is just so so beautiful. I have a hard time phrasing it in a way that would not come across as my appreciation being built from fetishized or sexualized preferences. It is not a fetish thing, I promise.

Otherwise, it is similar with black actresses anon. One (that immediately comes to mind - there have been more) of the hottest Casses ever in my humble opinion was black. Same with some of the more beautiful Demeters casted in the show.

As the musical progresses, there have been more and more ethnicities represented as well, and I think that is an absolutely amazing thing. For example, more recent (past 2-5 years or so) productions have had more South Asian actors casted and represented. I hope the push for increased diversity in theatre leads to more ethnic performers being given the chance to be in Cats and make their own mark.

All of this is not to exclude every single Shiki cast in the past 40ish years that have been literally nothing but stunning Japanese women casted as the queens, or the multiple Chinese language productions, or the French productions, or the Dutch productions, or the South Korean language productions, or the Spanish production, or the Russian production, or the various South American productions, or the substantial amount of German productions. Plus, that is not even to mention the (more than just a) handful of notable non-replica productions worldwide either with some very hot actors.

For example, if you told me I had to watch of production where Yuka N*tsuka was (simply the cutest) Vic, Rina Punw*ni was Rumple, Mari*h Reeves was Cass, K*rin Sang was Tanto, Gloria T*ba was Bomba, Emmanuelle N'Z*zi was Deme, Gloria A*ra was Jenny, Leah delos Santos was Sillabub, Li-T*ng Hsu as Griz, and Y*meko Aki was Jelly, I would think it would be a proverbial all-star cast. (Sorry for the *s - trying to keep this post out of the search for those names). You could easily switch out every single one of the actors with several others who are non-white, and it would still be an all-star cast.

That is the literal beauty of Cats. Anyone can be one of the queens and they would be a perfect fit.

[statisticalcats2]

Shiki (2016)

Demeter, Tantomile, Rumpleteazer, Tugger, Jemima, Victoria

[misaki-toko]

feeling like a bad girl🎃🐈

[lightingelectratwo]

Coricopat and Tantomile's family tree based on my headcanons! also Cassandra and Exotica's family tree!

Carbucketty is cori and Tanto's dad. he is a nameless swing that wore carbucketty's costume. His sister is Mab the pink fariy cat. there mom is shiki Jemima, her sister is Jane(another nameless swing). Carbucketty and Jemima had Coricopat and Tantomile. Coricopat had AJ with Bombaulrina. Now on to Cassandra's. Her parents are Backus (oc) and Hera(oc). Her sister is Exotica. She had Babylonzo with Alonzo. Exotica had Pouncival with Quaxo, she's now with Tantomile.

[white-cat-of-doom]

An opening night celebration for the Japanese cast in Shizuoka yesterday, 17 July 2024.

They will be in the city until the third week of September before moving to Hiroshima.

Maku Hiura as Asparagus/Growltiger, Haruka Yamazaki as Bombalurina, Shuichi Kawazu as Carbucketty, Eiko Kataoka as Cassandra, Mizuki Omori as Chorus Tugger, Yujin Haga as Coricopat, Marina Tada as Demeter, Akira Goto as Gilbert, Miki Kanehara as Grizabella, Yuzuki Miyokawa as Jellylorum, Mayumi Fujita as Jemima, Namiko Hanada as Jennyanydots, Masatoshi Futamura as Chorus Macavity, Shu Oshida as Mistoffelees, Ryudo Tsutaki as Mungojerrie, Junpei Wakebe as Munkustrap, Osamu Takai and Old Deuteronomy, Ayu Shimizu as Rumpleteazer, Shoyo Kamitani as Rumpus Cat, Yuzumi Shibamoto as Sillabub, Neo Oi as Skimbleshanks, Naomi Takada as Tantomile, TaeSun Kang as Tumblebrutus, and Hitomi Sekino as Victoria.

[junkyard-gifs]

Mistoffelees' magic stops working mid-solo, just as he was trying to show off to Sillabub with a projectile tin can.

A moment of recharging and it worked, and Munkustrap is left to tidy up after him. As usual.

Shiki production, Nagoya 20/7/2000. Eriko Murata as Sillabub, Shoichi Fukui as Munkustrap, ?Tokihiko Sakamoto as Mistoffelees.

[theimpossiblescheme]

I'm gonna cheat a little bit and list my favorite makeup designs for each semi-regular character, over a number of different productions... here we go...

Admetus/Plato: UK Tour 2003-2009

Alonzo: US Tour 4

Asparagus: Hamburg 1987 (I just like it when he has a mustache)

Tumblebrutus/Bill Bailey: UK Tour 2019

Bombalurina: Mexico Tour 2018

Jennyanydots: Mexico Tour 2018

Bustopher Jones: UK Tour 1989

Pouncival/Carbucketty: Asia Tour 2017

Cassandra: Mexico Tour 2018

Demeter: 1980s Broadway (just add darker lipstick instead of the same red as Bomba)

Coricopat and Tantomile: 1980s Broadway

Electra: Brazil 2010 (she has a little heart on her forehead--that's all)

Etcetera: London 2001

George: Asia Tour 2018

Skimbleshanks: Vienna 2019

Grizabella: Oasis of the Seas Cast #9

Gus: Vienna 2019

Jellylorum: Hamburg 1986

Jemima: Mexico Tour 2018 (Pink!Jem, my beloved)

Sillabub: Mexico Tour 2018 (ditto for Pink and Yellow!Silly)

Macavity: Vienna 2019

Mistoffelees: Shiki 1997 (imagine this general design, but with the pinkish nose they give him in the recent UK tour)

Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer: Vienna 2019

Munkustrap: London 2001

Rum Tum Tugger: 1980s Broadway

Victoria: US Tour 1

Old Deuteronomy: London 2001

reblog with your favorite production(s) in terms of makeup designs