The second portion was a musical rehearsal with the "coreographer" teaching the dancers a tap number. The guy playing the choreographer was amazing. I can't tap to save my life and I am always in awe of people whose toes just fly over the floor like that. It didn't hurt that he was also quite cute *hehehe. Anyway this number segued into a huge red sequined bedecked tap dance spectacular with lots of sparkles and clickety-clacks. I got tired just watching them.
It was during the next portion that all of the American vocal talent was used. Various soloist and couples came gliding in on raised cylindrical platforms accompanied by baby grand pianos all lit up with tiny colored lights (Liberaci would have been proud.) and then proceeded to sing portions of memorable show tunes. The guy that sang "Some Enchanted Evening" from South Pacific had the most amazing voice. It was probably the best rendition of that song that I have ever heard. Some other songs included "On the Street Where You Live" from My Fair Lady, "Make Believe" from Show Boat, "Summer Time" from Porgy and Bess, and of course "Beauty and the Beast" from.....duh, Beauty and the Beast. All the singers were really good, but the costumes and the neon pianos were in really bad taste. Tacky, they were REALLY tacky.
After all of the singing there were a few dance numbers and when we heard the intro to OOOOOOOOOOKLAHOMA, Lei and I both cringed. We knew that they were probably going to do it, but we had prayed they wouldn't. Oh well, watching Japanese girls in blonde wigs and gingham pinafores kept us amused. Lets see...there was the mambo and "America" from West Side Story and a VERY short excerpt of Cassie's dance from A Chorus Line. All the dances were really well choreographed and a blast to watch.
It was during the next portion that Lei and I became the world's worst audience members. It was a montage of various diva songs with the performers wearing the appropriate costume and accented by simple set pieces. There was "Don't Cry For Me Argentina" from EVITA, "Hello Dolly" from Hello Dolly, and a few others. Towards the end a huge Michelin tire came floating down from somewhere offstage and what looked like a badly tattered raccon got off. This raccon proceeded to sing "Memory" from CATS in an incredibly inappropriate high squeaky soprano voice. As she was singing the HUGE tire slowly floated up in the air and flew off stage. Lei and I almost died trying to hold our laughter in. The costume literally looked like a bunch of raccon pelts sewn haphazardly together and then when the tire started flying off stage during her song...it was just too funny. I NEED to get a video of this so y'all can see what I mean.
The show ended soon after with a rousing rendition of "ONE" from A Chorus Line and the cast members took there curtain calls. Aside from the singing racoon, the show was VERY good and they used songs from a wide number of shows. I think Lei and I were the only ones in the audience that knew anyone them though. We got so into it, that by the time the show was over, we left the theatre singing "Broadway Baby" at the top of our lungs. No director came up to "discover" us, so we were slightly disapointed. Just kidding! *hehehe* It is amazing that for a 30 minute show, Disney created such an amazing theatre. All I can say is, if you like musicals, you gotta see this show if you ever get to the Tokyo Disney Resort!
