This story has references to past Wonderlands x Showtime stories, including:
- WxS Main Story
- Halloween Event Story
Title: A Night of Sound Sleep
Characters: Rui, Nene, Tsukasa, Emu
Part 1
Scramble Crossing
Nene
…………
Rui
…………
(Now, what should I do?)
Nene
But her singing is…… way different. I know this because I've practised singing for musicals troupes since I was young.
I can’t put it into words well, but the way we sing our songs are different. Still, I don’t know how to match her standard……
Rui
(The ways they sing are different, huh……)
(Seiryuuin’s singing voice certainly carried her inner strength and had an impressive quality to it)
(However, Nene’s voice should at least be on par with hers too.)
Nene
…………
Rui
(If only she didn’t think that she was "losing" to her……)
(This is challenging…… One can’t simply brush off the impressive memories or emotions that they felt.)
(If there's anything that could build up Nene’s self-confidence……)
(No, it probably wouldn’t solve the issue of what she feels she lacks in her voice either.)
…………
Rui's Room
Rui
Now then, what should I do……
What have I pondered over so far? If my memory serves right……
One can’t simply brush off the impressive memories or emotions that they feel.1
Thus, Nene will need something that can be a source of confidence for her…… right?
Hmm…… Memories, and emotions… can’t be brushed away……
Rui
…! That’s right, Nene could possibly…!
If I want conclusive evidence, I have to search for that. If I recall correctly, I placed my old materials around here……
Rustle
Rui
Got it. If it can play back perfectly it would be great though……
Young Nene
『—𝅘𝅥𝅮 ———𝅘𝅥𝅮』
Rui
This is it: a recording of one of Nene’s first musical performances.
I borrowed these to use as references for stage production, but I’m glad I held onto them till now.
Young Nene
『—𝅘𝅥𝅮 ———𝅘𝅥𝅮』
Rui
(Among her past roles was one of a lively and cheerful girl, but whenever she sang with all she’d got, she’s at ease.)
(Plus, she’s fully enjoying the performance. Those feelings were clearly conveyed in her singing voice.)
(But, in the performance after this, Nene was selected to be the lead actress, and then……)
Nene
My next line… I can’t remember it…! What do I do, what do I do, what do I do……!
Rui
(I only heard of this incident from others long after it had happened, so I’m not sure of the details but……)
(Nene might still be tied down by her memories of that moment.)
(Assuming so, that can be the only reason why Nene can’t sing as well as she wants to.)
…………
(Am I in a position to tell Nene about this?)
Rui
(If I do, Nene will definitely rectify the issue in whatever way she ought to. However……)
……Is telling her really okay?
…………
Tsukasa
Is that truly the best play you wanted to put up?
nene
Don’t you also agree that you can’t produce good performances in this state either?
Rui
…………
……One cannot produce a performance on their own. And we are no longer alone.
(I will tell Nene and the others what I noticed tomorrow.)
(I have faith in us to be able to move forward from this.)
Hehe, the Christmas show itself still has plenty of areas that could use some touch ups.
Rui
There’s still plenty of time till morning. All right, time to spend a little longer consolidating my ideas.
This is also for the sake of producing the best performance, after all.
Part 2
Phoenix Wonderland
Wonder Stage
Rui
Now, we ended our Christmas show marathon2 just a few days earlier with overwhelmingly positive reviews for all of our performances.
So. Shall we get started on brainstorming for the content of our next performance?
Tsukasa
Right. It’s best to start working on it earlier since we will eventually have to juggle both the next performance for the contest, and our regular ones. Both are equally important.
Emu
That means we are having a strategy meeting now, right!?
Rui
Correct. Also, there’s something I wish to report to everyone here.
Nene
Report?
Rui
Yeah. Two rounds of the contest have ended - with the Halloween and Christmas shows.
Hehe. Thanks to them, I was able to thoroughly scout the enemy.
Nene
When did you……
Tsukasa
Great job! Then, since you said “report”, it must mean you have good news, right?
Rui
Exactly. After watching the shows put up by the other troupes here, I managed to pick out the “Two Key Strengths” that we have.
Emu
Uh huh, uh huh!
Rui
The first of these, is Wonderlands x Showtime’s novelty.
Nene
Novelty?
Rui
Do you all know about the other troupes that work here and the kind of performances they put up?
Tsukasa
Well, I know some… At the Hero Stage, they put up performances about heroes who defend the amusement park from mysterious bad guys by challenging them to various games, I think.
Emu
And at the Costumed Mascot Stage, they put up performances that tell stories about Fenny and the other mascots!
Rui
That’s right. Think about those points further. Is there any performance at the Hero Stage where heroes and enemies don’t appear?
Likewise, is there any performance at the Costumed Mascot Stage where Fenny, much less the other mascot characters, do not appear?
Tsukasa
Isn’t that impossible? If that’s the case, then it’ll become a whole other production altogether.
Rui
That’s right. The other performance stages in Phoenix Wonderland have their own distinct image and character that are more or less fixed.
Thus, they are tied down by their respective themes when producing shows.
On the other hand, we are still newcomers to the fray. We are not defined by a certain image, which is a good way of saying we do not have a “form”.
Nene
Ah, so what you mean is that we are not hindered by such themes and can perform for a wide variety of genres?
Rui
Exactly! That’s our first key strength.
The next key strength lies in the individual quirks that each member possesses.
Nene
Well, the quirkiness is certainly strong… All we have here are weirdos, though.
Tsukasa
Oi, why are you looking at me when you say that!?
Nene
No reason.
Rui
Hehe! Almost every performance troupe here has their own star actor like Seiryuuin is to the Phoenix Stage.
So, their performances usually highlight and depend on that actor.
Tsukasa
Isn’t it a given that those who can be the lead actors would be actively involved in the performances?
Rui
There’s that, of course. However, even if the script itself changes, the actors are always unchanging.
Moreover, when a similar character is played in a different story, or if the story is split into a series of performances, the actors have to play the same roles over and over again.
In short, their performances are stagnant.
Emu
But don’t we also always have the same members performing too?
Rui
We don’t suffer from that because we can perform a variety of different roles well.
For example, Tsukasa has played roles ranging from the handsome lover, to the comic relief, right?3
Based on those two alone, they are already drastically different roles.
Furthermore, through Tsukasa and Nene’s performance as co-leads4 in our Christmas show, we have learnt that we can work with such types of performances as well.
Let's also not forget that you, Emu, are very expressive and also stand out impressively as an actor. Since you are also good at acrobatics, you already have the foundation needed to play a lead role.
Rui
In other words, all of us here have the potential to shine as a lead actor.
Tsukasa
I see. If we were to make the best of our individual strengths…
Nene
We will avoid getting typecast and can perform a wide variety of genres.
Emu
Yeah! It's not the Wonder Stage if we can't take our audiences to all sorts of worlds after all!
Tsukasa
Really? Now that I think about it… You could call that the “Wonderlands x Showtime” concept.
Rui
Yeah. I believe this is the prime opportunity for us to demonstrate our unit’s concept.
Tsukasa
That’s true. In other words, we can’t hesitate!
Rui
Now then, my preamble took longer than expected, but I hope to create a performance that brings out our strengths of novelty and individuality which I mentioned earlier.
Nene
Yeah, agreed.
Emu
Me too, me too!! Ehehe, I’m so excited now𝅘𝅥𝅮
Tsukasa
Right! Now, let’s plan our next performance to perfectly show off our strengths!
Rui
Yeah, let’s make our next performance the best we can once again with everyone’s effort.
Notes
- This is not a mistake, the lines are word-for-word the same as above (Return to text)
- I went a bit liberal on describing this as a Christmas show marathon, because it’s implied that they held multiple performances over a period of time, so I just thought this would help encompass that (Return to text)
- Rui uses 2 terms which are pretty fun to talk about. 二枚目 and 三枚目 historically refer to 2 types of (the many) roles that the tachiyaku, the young male kabuki actor can play. 二枚目 is the handsome guy who often appear in love scenes. 三枚目 refers to the jesterly role – making the audience laugh through the actor’s actions and dialogue. They have since evolved to refer to those who play handsome guys and comedic roles respectively. The ｘ枚目 refers to the order of the actors’ names appearing on the signboard for the performance (二枚目 is 2nd, and 三枚目 is 3rd). (Return to text)
- The term referring to co-leads in Japanese is Ｗ主演 (daburyuu shuen) -> Double mains, literally. (Return to text)