TOP MANIA! was a 2017 Kageki feature where Top Stars and Top Musumeyaku talked about their work routine during performances. Asumi\u2019s was published in the August issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
TOP MANIA – Asumi Rio<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Before the performance<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Pre-show schedule: I arrive at the green room 2.5 hours before the performance begins. Right after that I change into a tracksuit and tidy up my dressing table, and start doing my stage makeup. After I do my warmups, I eat breakfast, set my hair, and finally put foundation on my hands and put on my lipstick\u2026done! I can go on stage now! (laughs)<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1) <\/strong>I start out with tidying up my dressing table, sharpening my eyebrow pencils, that kind of thing. After the performance, I\u2019ll always be talking to everyone about how that day\u2019s shows went, so before I know it it\u2019ll be time to leave the dressing room\u2026so most of the time I\u2019ll have to leave it in a mess when I go home (laughs).<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2)<\/strong> Formerly, I used to take ages at it, so Miya [Rurika]-chan would keep telling me \u2018you\u2019ve been doing your makeup forever\u2019 (laughs), now that I have been given this position, the amount of things I have to do has gone up, so I\u2019ve become way faster at it. But in the end it still takes me a long time to do the foundation of the stage makeup. My goal is to make it look as if I have masculine angles to my face, but still with a sense of translucence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3)<\/strong> My stretch routine is sort of like yoga, and it\u2019s meant to make it easier for me to breathe. My vocal exercises are done with the idea that I\u2019ll be my own doctor, so I do it carefully while listening to how my voice sounds that day. It\u2019s something I put together when I was ken-9 by mixing up a lot of vocal exercise methods I had learned from various teachers, and I still use it now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 4)<\/strong> At home I just eat some yogurt and then leave. But just that won\u2019t give me enough energy to get through the day, so I\u2019ll eat white rice and miso soup sprinkled with a seven-spice blend from the Violet Kitchen. No matter what the show, I always have that! It really warms me up and it makes me feel like I\u2019ve \u2018switched on\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Something that you have to have on your dressing table<\/em> During the Show<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Something you have to have during a show<\/em> The beverage you drink during a show<\/em> What you focus on during quick changes<\/em> Your favorite moments onstage<\/em> How far can you see into the audience?<\/em> After the performance<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The first thing you do after a show<\/em> Does the role you\u2019re playing have any effect on your daily life?<\/em> Bonus round<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Moments that make you really feel like an otokoyaku<\/em> TOP MANIA! was a 2017 Kageki feature where Top Stars and Top Musumeyaku talked about their work routine during performances. Asumi\u2019s was published in the August issue.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[30],"tags":[13,360,283,42,35],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zukalations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/977"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zukalations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zukalations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zukalations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zukalations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=977"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/zukalations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/977\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":978,"href":"https:\/\/zukalations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/977\/revisions\/978"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zukalations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=977"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zukalations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=977"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zukalations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=977"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Arrive at the green room 2.5 hours before curtain
1)<\/strong> Tidy up my dressing table
2)<\/strong> Do my stage makeup
3)<\/strong> Stretches and vocal exercises
4)<\/strong> Breakfast
Final preparations<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
I always put 4 little ducks, like you put in the bathtub, on my dressing table. During my pre-debut performance, when everyone from the class below mine decorated my dressing table, they put them there, and now no matter what the performance I always bring them along. When I get there in the morning, somebody will always have arranged them so they\u2019re all in a row, or facing each other like they\u2019re all friends, and so on, so it\u2019s really calming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Eye drops.During a show I\u2019ll be trying to make my eyes sparkle, but using them that way ends up drying them out quite a bit, and if I start crying it\u2019ll wash my contact lenses out, so eye drops are a must-have!! Also, spare contact lenses (laughs).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Water! Volvic water! I feel like flavored things will leave a taste in my mouth, so I always drink water!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since I have total faith in the costume staff, I always have a really calm and relaxed feeling\u2026the only thing I due is hold my arms out. Sometimes I\u2019ll be too relaxed and by the time they\u2019re doing up my buttons my eyes will be closed (laughs). Of course, sometimes there will be a day where it\u2019s like \u2018these laces just won\u2019t fasten!\u2019, but I always try not to get flustered, so I\u2019ll laugh it off with them and say \u201csometimes there are days like this, hahaha.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During a play, when I can feel my character\u2019s emotions welling up within me. During a revue, the parade. When I come down wearing the feathers, I can see the faces of everyone else in the troupe welcoming me\u2026I like that moment a lot. But there\u2019s also the prologue, when the audience is applauding, or when people cheer\u2026there\u2019s too many to say (laughs).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When the spotlight is on me I can\u2019t see much at all, but at other times I can see even the second-floor seats. I\u2019ll think things like \u201cOh, maybe that\u2019s a student group.\u201d When I go out on the silver bridge, I can see faces clearly up to around halfway back on the first floor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If I sit back down at my dressing table I won\u2019t budge from there, so I go straight to the office and check on the recordings of portions of the show I had been concerned about. And then I\u2019ll chat with the other members of the cast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think it probably affects me a lot. When I was playing Bill in ME AND MY GIRL I would try to get people to spoil me, and when I play twisted characters it brings out my dark side\u2026 It changes what I decide to wear and the expressions I make. When I look at old photoshoots, I\u2019ll think \u2018I was making that face because I was playing such-and-such a role.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When you\u2019ve been doing it for around 15 years, I think most people feel like being an otokoyaku is normal and don\u2019t really notice it\u2026 But I think maybe it\u2019s because I\u2019m an otokoyaku that I feel \u2018I have to protect them\u2019 about the musumeyaku, and wanting to be \u2018Ladies First\u2019, and feeling like they\u2019re so cute\u2026 Also, when people say that my voice is really low, or\u2026oh!! When I always have to shift the songs down 3 keys at karaoke! (laughs) Recently most of the singers have higher voices, so even for songs by male singers I usually shift down 2 or 3 keys.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"