RJM report~

[fencer_x]

So I went to see Rock'n Jam Musical 2009, the first time it's been performed since...2007, I think?

I'm not sure how much of the plot is the same (for all that there IS a plot), but I CAN say that every single song viewable in this video from the 2005 performance was performed in this run, in the same order, and in the same context. This makes me think maybe just the cast changes? Saa...

It was divided into two acts. The first act took place in a bar, with flashbacks to some 30 years before, where two old men reminisce about their time as young men in the 60s and 70s forming their own band. They were a 4-man troupe (Tamura Yuuichi, Kishi Yuuji, Watanabe Daisuke, Nagayama Takashi) trying to make it big in a contest, but facing stiff competition from an amazing vocalist (Kimeru). The day of the contest, though, one of their members gets jailed--their vocalist--and has no way of contacting his band members to ask for help. The God of Music, however, grants him his wish for a way of contacting them and he finds a cellphone (...in 1970 XD;) and uses it to call his members to come bail him out. They manage to make it in time and blow the doors off the contest hall, making it big.

Back in the present day, the two men remark that the current singer in their bar reminds them of the vocalist (Kimeru) that they went up against so many years ago, and another occupant of the bar reminds them of their old bassist (Nagayama Takashi).

ACT 1

1. The End (The Doors) - Terada Keiko
2. The Movie in My Mind (from Miss Saigon)
3. Are You Gonna Be My Girl? (Jet) - Kimeru
4. Satisfaction (Rolling Stones) - Tamura Yuuichi, Kishi Yuuji, Watanabe Daisuke, Nagayama Takashi
5. Ticket to Ride (The Beatles) - Tamura Yuuichi, Kishi Yuuji, Watanabe Daisuke, Nagayama Takashi
6. Venus (Shocking Blue)
7. Blue Bayou (Linda Ronstadt)
8. My Sharona (The Knack)
9. The Wall (Pink Floyd)
10. Telephone Line (ELO)
11. 25 or 6 to 4 (Chicago)
12. Space Oddity (David Bowie)
13. I Was Born to Love You (Queen)
14. You've Gotta Friend (Carol King)

ACT 2 (there was a 15-min intermission here)

The second act had absolutely NOTHING to do with the first, and was just a random collection of songs. Nagayan came out dressed in this outfit to give a little talk about moving from the 70s into the 80s, The only thing remotely resembling a storyline was Nagayan coming out in this outfit and acting the part of an employee/interviewer in front of a major department store pulling people off the street and asking them, "If you could be anyone or anything else, what would you want to be?" in an effort to increase the store's sales. The people he stopped were as follows:

Businessman - wants to be a rockstar (Kishi Yuuji)
Students/gay lovers - want to be a prince (Kimerui) and a star (Watanabe Daisuke) [...yes, they seriously were supposed to be an in-the-closet gay couple. They walked out on stage with their arms around each other giggling, and Nagayan spotted them and went, "Oh! Well this is certainly something you don't see every day in Japan! Here we have a gay couple!" and immediatley Kime and Dai-chan jumped away from each other. Kime then got pissed and went Black!Fuji on Nagayan for the implication that he looked gay, but the conversation was quickly turned to, "What would you be if you could be anything else?" -- at the end of the whole scene (a few songs later), the two eventually decide to stop caring about who sees them and walk off holding hands and smiling really cutely at each other XDDDDD]
Factory employee - wants to be a stage/film producer (Tamura Yuuichi)
Rocker - wants to be just a normal girl (Terada Keiko)
Businesswoman - wants to be a hippy (Shimokawa Mikuni)
Mother-to-be - wants to be a dancer (Ikeda Yumiko)

All get sent into the store and change into the outfits of the person they wish they were, and a whole new set of songs starts, with each one getting a song to sing.

My absolute favorites of this part were the cast singing Time Warp with Tamura-san as Hard Gay (complete with the outfit, crotch grabbing, and hip thrusts of course) and, god help me, WATANABE DAISUKE AS THE RUM TUM TUGGER. The moment he stepped out onto stage for the songs before his in this white skin-tight body suit with a man, fur leggings, and awesome makeup, I almost died in my seat XDDDD Coming in just behind that in awesomeness, though, was Kime and Nagayan playing the part of the thoroughly unimpressed Mr. Mistoffeles ("The Rum Tum Tugger is a terrible bore♪") -- if you've never seen Cats and don't have a clue what I'm talking about, I STRONGLY suggest you watch this clip and imagine Tezuka-buchou singing it. There, now you're as scarred-but-loving-it as I am 8DDDDD (and know that Dai-chan's outfit and makeup was not terribly different from that).

The full second act went:

15. Shounen Jidai (Inoue Yousui) - full cast
16. I Love Rock and Roll (Joann Jet) - Terada Keiko & Nagayama Takashi
17. Working Day and Night  (Michael Jackson)
18. Time Warp (from Rocky Horror Picture Show) - full cast
19. Step Into the Bad Side (from Dream Girls)
20. Rum Tum Tugger (from Cats) - Watanabe Daisuke, cameos by Kimeru and Nagayama Takashi
21. On My Own (from Fame)
22. Corner of the Sky (from Pippin)
23. Aquarius (from Hair!)
24. Dream Girls (from Dream Girls)
25. K-Jee, Open Sesame (from Saturday Night Fever)
26. I Shoulda Told You, Without You (from Rent)
27. No Woman, No Cry (Bob Marley) - full cast
28. Dancing in the Street (David Bowie)
29. Dancing Queen (Abba)
30. Rock'n Roll All Night (Kiss) - full cast

For the final song, #30 there, the whole audience stood up and danced along, it was WAY fun. Kime and Dai-chan came into the audience and slapped hands with people, everyone was jumping around and singing along, it was so energetic and exciting, like FGKS or Hona Sainara XDDDDD

All in all, I would TOTALLY go and see it again if the stupid tickets weren't $80 XD;;;