UmiNico 3: The Events of the Day and Nico
Summary:
A closer look at the events of "Chrysanthemum's" debut.
If Nico was able to give a touching performance, it was because she was touched, herself.
The British actress who played Chrysanthemum in almost 150 performances had her own reasons for identifying with her drugged, dishonored character.
First, apparently American movies had wanted her, but the producers made her go on diet pills which caused a breakdown.
Second, she was suspected of having an affair with a member of the royal family — the Queen's consort — which she denied all her life. In the performances, her real-life husband played John, and he'd been so sensitive to her reputation he had them rewrite 'Sinner Me' so much it became almost meaningless. Then he requested it not be put on the album that accompanied the show.
So it was impossible for Hana or Kanako to find a recording of it. It turned out they had had to hammer out the tune for 'Sinner Me' by themselves by finding the sheet music, and recover the original lyrics. That was dedication.
Their final hammering-out was what Nico had been exposed to the first time she entered the clubroom.
Nico identified with the actress, a determined woman from a modest background much like her own, and with the character. She felt like if her current situation were well-known, she'd be judged poorly, though not as badly as Chrysanthemum, whose own family threw her out on the street after she made her way back from being kidnapped and enslaved.
They had actually had to excise a few songs in addition to some dialog in order to be able to perform it in a reasonable time with a "skeleton crew." Nico was introduced to a funny term they picked up when studying British theater. To tell Nico not to laugh in one scene, they said, "Don't corpse-suru!" Apparently, corpsing meant laughing, for example, when you were supposed to be dead. The combination of skeleton crew and corpse-suru, unfortunately, made Nico laugh during rehearsal, but, thankfully, not during the performance. It didn't help that Sana made her laugh, especially with the way she imitated the original John by trilling her Rs excessively.
Kotori ended up backstage, helping with the many, rapid costume changes, though the rest of Mu's, minus Maki, had been able to sit up front and marvel at her work. They were joined by A-RISE, whose mini-concert with Nico was probably the biggest draw getting people to come to Otonokizaka on a Sunday for an experimental old-fashioned American musical comedy about sex and drug trafficking. It had demo-ed the play a bit and created word of mouth. The draw of Mu's being homegrown, strong idol contenders and hence, semi-famous, had done the rest.
At the matinee, they had been deeply impressed with how many songs Nico had learned in such a short time. The Yazawa family had told them that Nico had been singing Chrysanthemum songs around the house non-stop, to the point where they were a bit tired of them. But in any event, Nico was definitely the quickest song-learner in Mu's. They had just never considered that fact before. That was the one point during the matinee show that Maki almost said something. She obviously was aware of Nico's ability to learn lots of songs quickly. But she must have thought better of talking, because she hunched down and put on a blank expression.
During the night time performance, Nico sang three more songs. She dominated the show — a sign of how impressed the drama club had been with her. Her "rough, untrained voice" ended up being perfect for her role, and her attack on the songs was both beautiful and as varied as the songs demanded. Just doing her best and not caring how she was judged turned out to work better for Nico.
When it came to singing in English, she was no Kotori, who was usually flawless, though with a cute touch of a Japanese accent。But Nico was probably second best. And something about this performance brought out the best in her. All four actresses were respectful and helped each other do their best, although the spotlight was more often on Nico and Sana. Hinata did a great job with her song — in Japanese so as not to lose the audience — lecturing Nico to not be a slut and beware of men. When Nico immediately sang Sinner Me as a "too late!" response, everyone laughed. Nico sang only one long song in Japanese - again so the audience would not lose the plot — and it really stood out.
It was the best performance of her life, and she didn't even mean for it to be.
Umi watched Nico sleep. Her blissful expression made it all worth it. Tonight was not the night to tell her about Maki - it was Nico's night. She'd even be in the papers! The director had made a point of singling her out for praise — her talent and dedication both. Tomorrow would be time enough for bad news. Maybe on the way to school with Honoka and Kotori. Nico had been tired but enthusiastic tonight. It was only Umi's second night having sex. She pondered what Nico had said — that you learned a lot 'doing it.' You really did. Nico deserved to be how she was that night. Utterly at peace.
Umi resolved to be the same way. In order to quiet her mind, and her conscience, she decided she would reach out to Maki. Probably the next morning while Nico was drinking coffee. They had neglected talking things out with her for far too long. Since she clearly felt they were all turning against her, Umi would simply ask her for "her side." Not that she or the rest of Mu's looked at it that way, but Maki certainly did. It was best to start with where the other person was, rather than where you wished they were. And with that, and tired out from making love with Nico, Umi did manage to get to sleep right away.
Since Nico was a big part of why she was cutting ties with Mu's, Maki had no idea why she went to the preview of Nico's downloadable album. She felt a little bad that she hadn't gone to her big performance, though she realized Nico wouldn't be surprised by now. Probably the rest of the school would note her absence. Well, it wasn't her problem anymore.
She also couldn't have said why the first song she picked was the angry song about Nico thriving to spite her ex-lover, who wished her ill. It would only make her feel worse. Only the first minute was available in the preview. Maki drew in a sharp breath. Hearing Nico's voice saying what she was saying ...
"There is someone that will hear this, and she will think it is about her. It is not you. It could never be you. Never, ever would I see you like this. I want you to know that."
It felt like a shock of cold water to her entire body. It was almost a relief when the sample ended. On re-listening, she realized it was a dirge disguised as an angry cabaret song. That figured.
The preview shifted to "Blue Spirit Blues," and Maki could feel what a sheer cry of torment it was. She felt her cheeks get wet and she decided to lay down without closing her laptop. Suddenly, any efforts she could make to control herself were futile, and her body shook with sobs until she finally cried herself to sleep.
