#ugh just the way they interact and riff off of each other when he joins MC on quests too | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

fumiko-matsubara · 4 years

Photo

How D.R.E.A.M. performs live

An elaborate sequel to this old post and oneshot!

Even if Chiba and Ayaka were no longer members of the light music club, there are plentiful of reasons why they were still able to perform with the others as a fixed band:

As per Ayaka’s suggestion, starting from last year after the cultural festival, it became a long-running part of the club’s activities for its members to perform at a live house on the other side of Kunugigaoka town, which was owned by Ayaka’s family, every other Saturday night.

Even without Chiba and Ayaka anymore, Miho, Eiji, and Daisuke could’ve still been a three-man band due to their respective instruments and that all three of them can sing. However, none of them can play and sing at the same time.

They couldn’t join their other club members because all of them already had fixed bands of their own.

So, they really need the former two in order to perform.

Hence, Ayaka and Chiba, despite both being out of the club, can still perform with them as “place holder members” during club activities, even if both are permanent members of the band.

If there was ever an unwritten rule in Kunugigaoka against a Class E student being a placeholder member during club activities, there is still little to nothing to worry about. This is because very few people only knew that the lead guitarist from DREAM and Ryuunosuke Chiba from 3-E are the same person, and it’s going to stay that way unless Chiba decided to expose himself.

Daisuke has his own studio located near the station, and it’s where the band practices every after school, since they can’t practice in their clubroom anymore. This is because, even if she’s a school alumnus, Ayaka is still an outsider, and being a student in Class E, Chiba is not allowed inside the main campus.

The advisor of the light music club had approved of the arrangement because a) DREAM performs the longest in the live house and is the most popular among the three fixed bands in the club, b) the school wouldn’t have to provide another separate practice room for them, and c) as mentioned above, it is easier for the former club members to meet up and join practice.

How each DREAM members perform live:

Let me cut to the chase, when I say that this is one chaotic band, they’re hella CHAOTIC. They’re just so hyped and wild that you’re gonna get tired from just watching them move around so much. Every other Saturday night, they would always perform 5 songs in one show, with 4 of them being either upbeat or straight up aggressive, and 1 acoustic interlude. Miki, who soon became their personal stylist after being commissioned once, had to be very selective of what she should do to each member.

Ayaka Kitazawa (Main Vocalist)

Ohhh boy. Here we go.

This girl is just fucking WILD af onstage, as she is also the band’s main performer.

She jumps a lot, she runs a lot, and she just moves around so much like a maniac.

Her voice is aggressively strong and impossibly stable- she will violently head bang like crazy while belting out a difficult high note at the same time.

And when I say she head bangs like crazy, she really head bangs like crazy. Put her hair in a tight ponytail? Nah, that ponytail is long gone in less than 5 seconds after the song started playing.

Her skirt is just as impossibly stable as her voice. For three years, never once did it flutter up even if she was always wildin’ onstage.

She always finds a moment to play with her mic in the middle of a performance: flipping it and twirling it with her fingers if it’s wireless, swinging it around if it’s not, and if it’s on a mic stand, she’d carry the stand itself.

Also, wild hair flipping.

Miho Shimada (Drummer)

This one is also WILD af.

Continuous head banging during a much hyped song.

No matter the song, for the band’s live rendition, Miho will always have her own drum solo at the very beginning, and she will fucking kill it.

Because she’s already physically strong and her drumming is really powerful, expect that she’s gonna break at least three drumsticks in just one song.

The quickest she had broken a stick so far was 10 seconds into the first song.

She also plays with them whenever she gets a short break during a song.

One of her cymbals once fell down during a performance since she hit it too hard.

Ryuunosuke Chiba (Lead Guitarist)

Ugh where do I even start with this guy?

Let’s just say that he’s even WILDER.

He doesn’t just head bang, he fucking throws his whole body around.

He moves around the stage just as much as Ayaka does, even jumping while pulling off a riff.

You know he’s gonna pull off a difficult riff when he steps on one of the speakers. And he will MURDER it.

Even though he’s also on backing vocals, sometimes he just gets too wild that he forgets that he’s also supposed to sing at the same time.

Because he aggressively moves a lot, his hair could easily get back in front of his face, thus increasing the chances of people recognizing him. To avoid that from happening, Miki just hair-sprayed the parting of his hair like crazy until it’s very stiff. Hence Chiba’s hair would just go back to how it’s usually styled even after all the violent self-throwing.

He also interacts with Ayaka a lot mid performance since they’re the ones who move around the most, by either obviously sharing a knowing look, mouthing the lyrics with her, or aggressively head banging together in unison.

In contrary to how soft and calming his normal speaking voice was, Chiba’s signature vocal technique when he occasionally sings his own lines is hella strong and raspy, especially when he pushes out a note.

So, yeah. On stage Chiba is a full 180 turn.

Eiji Fukiyose (Bassist)

“I don’t even stand out that much mid performance because of my position anyways. So I’m not gonna waste my energy jumping around like a maniac.” – 1st Year Eiji

Lol he thought.

He’d be the first among the four to run to the stage while Miho was doing her opening solo.

And while he’s talking a short break from playing mid performance, he will hype the crowd out, even guiding them on how they’re going to swing their hands or do their chanting.

Obviously, he is going to be the least tired among the band after a song, since he wasn’t as wild as the other four.

But he still joins them when head banging together at the same time.

Daisuke Terushima (Rhythm Guitarist)

Daisuke was also the band’s keyboardist and used to play it a lot more in his second year. But he has been playing the guitar a lot more often nowadays until it’s what he only plays onstage.

Because he’s the youngest and was the newest member of their band, most of his onstage performances where influenced by the older members.

He head bangs just as wild, sometimes even throwing himself around, runs and jumps around the stage, and also hypes the crowd along with Eiji. But unlike the others, he doesn’t look crazy doing any of those, but just more energetic and pumped.

He’s basically a ball of high energy.

In conclusion, this band is W I L D.

16 notes · View notes

christinealtomare · 5 years

Text

Cody Simpson as Dmitry

DISCLAIMER: I went into this audio knowing that Cody is not a Broadway performer, nor has he been professionally trained to act. I did not expect a replica of Derek Klena and tbh... I wasn’t disappointed. I enjoyed his Dmitry. There is potential here for sure, but if you don’t want to come out disappointed then I recommend keeping in mind that Cody wasn’t hired for his talent. He was hired to bring this show money and help them recoup. With that being said:

Omg I genuinely did not recognize Cody’s voice with that American accent!

He definitely sounds a little robotic throughout. He also sounds nervous during “A Rumour in St. Petersburg” but like he’s definitely trying and doesn’t sound unpleasant?

He seems to grow a lot more comfortable once John (and later Christy!) joins him onstage and his interactions with Vlad feel very natural!

He sounds very mischievous and boyish when describing the con to Vlad and like, it seems like he’s definitely playing Dmitry as younger?

While I don’t love Dmitry being played as younger, I’m glad Cody is doing it. It seems like a smart decision on his part because he is visibly younger and I feel like it would have definitely sounded more forced if he had tried to play Dmitry’s age up and convince us that he’s almost thirty lol.

LMAO Cody’s Dmitry sounds so unimpressed with Marfa’s acting at first but he’s not mean about it?? Just more like “girl wtf /was/ that??”

He’s literally like "wtf is this vlad i asked for ACTRESSES. AN ANASTASIA. NOT GRANDMAMA, ITS ME ANASTASIA"

Also, Maria Briggs remains perfect as ever.

He’s so done by the end of the audition like literally rushes them out of there and not even trying to hide how unimpressed he is haha he says “Out!” twice but then it sounds like he’s about to say “Get—“ which I don’t believe I’ve heard another Dmitry do tbh?

Cody’s Dmitry overall just sounds so much more wistful throughout? Like he’s very much a dreamer who’s slowly becoming more cynical overtime with how much bs has been thrown his way. He’s also much softer and boyish overall.

His Dmitry also has a softer relationship with Vlad. Vlad feels more fatherly with him and their teasing is reminiscent of that.

Especially in the scene where they’re talking about their past like they’re just softly teasing each other rather than joking.

Omg okay so when Anya comes in, there’s this really long pause before he finally says, “I’m Dmitry” and like I wonder…? if he did something acting-wise there because 1) the pause is not usually that big and 2) the audience laughs.

The father/son dynamic makes a comeback when Dmitry is like “this isn’t a soup kitchen, Vlad!” and honestly just seems like an exasperated child lol

Not a ton of chemistry with Anya by this point.

He honestly sounds more excited when asking Anya if she’s ready to become Anastasia rather than manipulative.

His “Learn to Do It” was honestly super interesting, a really good highlight, and one of the moments where his Dmitry really shines!

Cody sounds very fond while singing “a palace by the sea,” as if he’s remembering the little girl he saw at the parade rather than trying to make Anya learn a fact. Even with “charming child’?? It honestly feels like a number where his Dmitry is thinking about 8 year old Anastasia throughout. He’s very present throughout this number, like even though they’re teaching Anya how to be “Anastasia”, he sounds like he’s remembering the real girl behind the facts.

“Like a sinking boat” feels like more of a teasing comment than a critique and it’s cute, ngl.

Also, there was a line flub! He accidentally said “pull yourself together and you’ll pull through it” instead of “something in you knows it” haha <3

When Vlad pulls them together to dance, he just starts like sputtering, “Wha-“

He sounds super impressed and mildly scared after Anya beats up the guys LMAO

When she asks if he wants to see what else she can do, he’s like, “Oh, no!”

“My Petersburg” was the weakest point singing-wise. That being said, it doesn’t sound any worse than expected? He sounds very boyish in it and it seems like he’s trying to have fun with it. That being said, I think the key-change is most jarring in this song because I’m so used to Derek’s belt-heavy version of it.

Also, I think the roboticness + nerves up until this point were because of this song. Because after this number, wow his portrayal smoothens out, he’s more comfortable onstage, his acting is better, and the chemistry with Christy finally comes out!

He genuinely sounds so fond and endearing when talking about Dmitry’s parents. I feel like he must have rehearsed that particular scene a lot, because it actually flowed really nicely! Very wistful.

The chemistry with Christy isn’t the smoothest, but it’s also not a non-existent abomination and I expect they’ll grow into it.

Again, Cody also seems a lot more comfortable post-My Petersburg and the acting, line delivery, and everything feels less robotic.

I think his Dmitry is the most-concerned sounding I’ve heard prior to “Once Upon a December”. He’s very worried about her when she becomes unresponsive.

They literally bicker over getting to Paris! Like he’s not yelling at her at all, they’re legitimately arguing like children and he sounds like he’s trying to calm her down the louder she gets lol

From this point onwards it’s very much a super endearing, best friends-type dynamic!

Omg he doesn’t yell at her at all when she reveals the diamond. He’s just super calm and when she’s like “yA i’ve had it all this time what are you going to do about it???” he’s literally just like. “ok wtf why?”

Before he picks her up to hug her he literally just goes “If you weren’t a girl, I’d— ugh.” AND SPINS HER

He sounds SO excited about the hotel and bathtub LMAO

Also CODY AND CHRISTY CAN HARMONIZE HOLY SHIT

They sound BEAUTIFUL together in “Stay, I Pray You.” Which he also sounds totally destroyed in btw. The whole song is a very good vocal moment for him.

Lol he sounds so exasperated with Vlad’s first class complaining haha

He sounds low-key scared after the gunshots but still tries to comfort Anya really softly :(

He definitely had a stronger portrayal by Act 2. Nerves must have worn off.

HE’S SO SOFT WITH HER DURING AND AFTER HER NIGHTMARE?

COT SOUNDS SO GOOD?

HE’S NOT TRYING TO OUTSING HER AT ALL THEY SOUND GOOD

ITS SO NICE HAVING A DIMYA THAT CAN HARMONIZE AGAIN HOLY SHIT

The Quartet was one of the weaker points but again, he harmonized nicely with everybody.

Omg you can tell he likes “Everything to Win” and he did a great job singing it! Probably his best song acting and singing-wise!

The confrontation with the Dowager Empress was underwhelming tbh, especially because Judy is such a stern Maria and Cody is such a soft Dmitry.

He’s such a melodramatic boi when he tells her to never wave or smile at her again gnfdkls;a

Overall, I felt as if Cody delivered a lot better than I was expecting. He doesn’t have the strongest portrayal but for an untrained actor?? That was good. He also doesn’t try to riff or anything during any of the songs -- he’s singing them properly, really trying, and has a decent grasp on what he wants to do with the character. I’m excited to hear an audio from later this month and others from later in his run because I expect he’ll grow into the role. He’s definitely no Derek but it also wasn’t the dumpster-fire everybody expected and I liked him.

#cody simpson #anastasia the musical #anastasia broadway #production: broadway #cast: broadway #lar.txt #long post for ts #again; he's honestly no more robotic sounding than kathryn or some of the other dima u/s

172 notes · View notes