Woo! Here we go!! 
Continued from: ☆ part 1 ☆ part 2 ☆ part 3 ☆ part 4 ☆ part 5 ☆ part 6 ☆ part 7 ☆ part 8 ☆ part 7 ☆ part 9 ☆ part 7 ☆ part 10
Skipping the questions this time so that we can get right down to the story! (Don’t worry, I’ll answer everything on the next post, though!!)
The time had just come for us to go take our seats.
All we had to do was walk, right? Simple, right??
Walk we did. Into the elevator, down to the first floor. Some cast members waved at Sensei and some ran forward to shake his hand. Some of them didn’t even look at us. Until we got to the stage at least. The curtain was still down, and a lot of the cast members were gathering in a huddle under the dim lights.
“Ganbare!” (Do your best!) Sensei shouted out suddenly, and they all looked up together.
“Okay!!!!!!” came the resounding chorus.
It was more than three years ago, but I remember it all like yesterday! I don’t really care about Tenimyu much anymore these days, but at the time it was a huge, huge thing for me. A defining moment. It made any hardship, sudden overnights, or other weird things that I’d been through more than worth it, a thousand times over!
We passed on by them and through a little door on the side of the stage. This led into the hallway next to the general entrance doors, and luckily the show was about to start, so the hallway was empty.
Well, sort of lucky. I mean, if nobody was in the hallway, that meant that the 2,000 ticket holders for that show were already sitting down, patiently watching the stage for the curtain to raise. And we were about to walk right in front of them.
And walk we did. Watanabe-san, followed by Konomi-sensei, then me, then Kaiwa-san, Marie, and finally Tamusho (and two personal guests of sensei’s).
One. Two.
By the time that I got to the third step, the entire theater burst out in screams. Do you know those kind of really high-pitched kind of *squealy* screams that Justin Beiber’s fans do when he walks by them? Yep, those kind of screams. XD;;;
Apparently many of the audience members knew what Konomi-sensei looked like (or they were just screaming because everyone else was).
I…. I felt really, really embarrassed. And kind of elated. It wasn’t me whom they were screaming for. But hey… I was going to be working on the project that they were so excited about (and I was excited too, of course!). So I was happy, just a little bit, to be included in the fuss. But mostly embarrassed. (I am pretty shy, remember)
(This is the theater we were walking into.)
Being seated with the creator meant that we had some pretty good seats: right smack-dab in the middle of the theater. We were the first row in the middle section, so that gave us plenty of leg room, and plenty of room if Sensei needed to escape.
It was still pretty loud with all of the sudden noise around us and it felt weird with people in front of us all turning to stare and point back at Sensei. But sitting next to the creator? That more than made up for any discomfort. :3 :3 :3
Remember how pretty he looks? :3
It wasn’t long before Watanabe-san disappeared into the back and the lights went off. That didn’t kill the screams… it actually made them worse as the music started and the cast members came on stage.
Okay…. I’ll admit something here.
I’d already seen this musical. Twice. ^o^;;; Tickets sell out within minutes of going on sale, and they had gone on sale months ago. Before I’d ever even started my assistant adventure. So, well.. I actually just mainly watched Konomi-sensei out of the corner of my eye the whole time. ^^;;;;;;
Want to watch the musical too? You can start here:
(The cast members that we saw that night were different, since they rotated. But you get the idea.)
It was a very long, long time until the intermission. All the way through, I kept having to do a double-take to confirm that I was actually there.
But the intermission did come, and I had to go to the bathroom pretty bad by then. It was just Konomi-sensei and I that got up as the lights came on, but we weren’t fast enough, and two girls came running up to shake his hand right as we were at the door. ^o^;;;;
Of course, he was graceful and turned to wave to everyone, to huge applause. I just sorta stood there awkwardly, not knowing what to do. It’s not like anybody knew who I was…. although since I’m taller than him and not.. well, not asian. And a female.. I kinda stand out a lot.
I checked some message boards a few days later (2chan), and some girls had written that they thought I was his wife.
^o^;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;; (I guess I should be flattered..)
Come on… tell me you wouldn’t check too, in my case?
We didn’t return until the lights had gone down again, so there were no more interruptions/exclamations/noises on the way back to our seats.
The musical went by.
By the way, this is my favorite song from that musical:
It made chills go down my spine every time that I heard it, seriously. Hearing it now, it’s really nostalgic even if I don’t have the same feelings about it (I was a huge fan of that slash pairing, btw… actually, it was because of this scene that I became a fan when I’d first seen it).
And, finally, the ending music began to roll. The cast member came out in pairs and waved (cue more screaming/clapping. Btw, me and sensei were both clapping, but we were the only ones in our group clapping. No spirit from my teammates.. ;o; )
The curtain went down, but as was usual at a Tenimyu show (remember, I was a veteran..lol), the clapping didn’t stop until the curtain raised again for an encore. Then, finally, Ryoma’s actor (I think) took the microphone and introduced a “special guest star.”
Which was, of course…. who else?
Sensei walked up on stage, to deafening cheers (my ears will never be the same!), and started talking.
I was so proud. ToT Before, it had been embarrassing (and a little humbling, and a little bit exhilarating) to be in the spotlight, but now that I was in the shadows just watching, it was comfortable.. and fun. So, so fun. =^-^= Sure, the hard work hadn’t really began yet, and I still kind of felt like I wasn’t 100% deserving to be there, but watching someone that I’d really began to like, and who had already done so much for me by allowing me to be there..
..it was a priceless experience.
A DVD of this performance came out in February, and I tried to find copies of it on youtube so that I could refresh my memory of what Sensei said, but I couldn’t for the life of me find it. If I ever do, I’ll post them in a later post! (or if you have it and wouldn’t mind uploading it, please do! I’ll be really grateful!!)
He did announce the continuation of the manga (to deafening cheers, of course), and I remember that he gave one of the cast members (Luke C, who played Kite) his Gucchi sunglasses (they were the real thing!). To squeals 
And then…
The curtains went down, there was another encore, and finally we were escorted back to our waiting room backstage by Watanabe-san.
And we were left there to wait..
We waited for a long time.. about 30 minutes. All of us were wondering what we were supposed to do, but Sensei was nowhere in sight and the staff was running around like crazy. I was wondering if I would be able to get the autographs for my friends, or the picture for Kaiwa-san..
But, I needn’t have worried.
Because it turns out that our night had just began.
It was just getting dark, but I wouldn’t be on a train heading home until after midnight.
Want to read what happened next? Did I get the autographs? The pictures? Or maybe… even better?
All that and more next time.. plus answers to any questions you ask!! (^o^)/
This time, I’m going to leave the comment number the same as before: 40. I know it seems like a lot, but if you reply to the comments of others and start up conversations with them, it’ll pile up fast! ^^ I promise to count them!
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I can’t wait to ready more
i’m really excited to find out what happens next! my favourite tenimyu actor is aibi hiroki too, he was such a great fuji =)
i hope you got to meet some cast members?? *whee*
im getting curious what happened next!
Please post some more, i’ve been following your posts for a while, and i love them
Was this the first Tenimyu you went to visit since you came to japan? If no, Which other Musicals did you visit too?
Oh~! I remember watching the DVD of the show you went to. I love that part where Konomi-sensei gave Luke his sunglasses. (Well, he’s changed his name since then, so he’s not Luke anymore.) I am completely jealous of you right now. Getting to go to Tenimyu with the creator is defintely a dream come true.
hahah! justin bieber fan-like squeals! so awesome!
can’t wait to hear more of your adventures!
nomikai with the cast!!!!!
i’m right aren’t i??
D
It’s cute that they thought you were his wife XD
Shougo. Oh god, Shougo. If I ever get to see him in person, I wouldn’t know what to do with myself. TAT
The “wife” comment is hilarious, and I totally don’t blame you for checking XD.
I wanna read what happened next!!!
Waah~!! Jamie you are so lucky!! Haha. I’ve never been a real fan of the Tenimyu but I’m completely sure it would have felt amazing to be there in your place. I’ve never had VIP treatment of anything, let alone meeting the source of my inspiration, so I would have probably fainted right on the spot XD
And not only were you there, but people actually thought you were married to Konomi-sensei!! I’d say nice score girl! ;D ROFL I can’t wait to read what happened next, you are really starting to like cliffhangers, ne? Haha~!
Have a nice week, Jamie! =D
-Tear-chan
they thought you were his wife!!! xD what an unforgettable experience this all was!! ~__~ but so much pressure too…so many screaming fans. xD
SQUEAL. You must have been floating on air, because all I would have done in your position is pass out from the ridiculous awesomeness of it all. <3 <3 <3
And I'm so sorry to hear that your harddrive died on you. Sure, it's the memories inside of us that are most valuable, but having the photographic evidence that it all really happened really helps.
Is this the type of music most young Japanese listen too? How does it change as they get older? Is it more popular to listen foreign songs then Japanese songs? How are the Japanese styles changing? Thank you for the post once again!
i’ve never seen any of the musicals but reading this REALLY makes me want to!!!!
(must resist.. ’till work is over…! xD )
You must give in! They’re a must for every tenipuri fan! I resisted, kicking and screaming, but got hooked like everyone else. They’re ridiculously fun!
This made me so excited! I was really looking forward to reading your VIP Tenimyu experience, and I’ll be waiting for the next part! Oh, and from the last post’s Ryoma photo, I couldn’t tell from the angle, is that Sakurada Dori or Sakamoto Shougo? I think it might be Shougo but then again he’s my favorite Tenimyu Ryoma so it’s probably just projection, haha
I figured that I’d reply as a comment, since it’s easy to reply to ^^ It’s Sakamoto Shogo. At least, I think it is. It’s supposed to be XD
Yay! My favorite Ryoma! Now I’m super, duper excited and I can’t wait to read your next part! He’s such a cutie, I wanna know if you were able to meet him and stuff :3
Is he the one that was in a serious car accident, or was that a different actor?
It’s a different Ryoma, Fujifan. The one who got into an accident was Yanagi Kotaro. He was part of the first cast. Sakamoto Shougo was part of the fourth cast.
Thanks for the info! There was no reply button on your comment for some reason, so I’m back commenting from this one. There are so many cast members that it’s hard to for me keep up! There are only about four that I’m really familiar with: Shirota Yuu (Shirotan? I’ve seen it spelled both ways), Kato Kazuki, Takumi Saito, and Hiroki Aiba. I have to admit that I’ve not seen all of the musicals since they’re not all in English, which is such a shame.
That’s weird! I don’t remember changing any settings. Anyway, sure thing! I agree that there are too many cast members, I don’t know all of them either, haha. Along with Sakamoto Shougo and Nakagauchi Masataka (he played Niou), Shirota Yuu and Aiba Hiroki are my Tenimyu favorites
UGH! I’ve not seen any Rikkai yet! Maybe I should postpone my plans of re-watching the 100 Song Marathon today and do that instead.
I loved the Rikkaimyu I’ve seen so far, I think Nakagauchi makes a really good Niou.
Enjoy watching Rikkai Fujifan!
I’m going to take a guess and say that they planned an after party to celebrate the finale of the musical and you were invited to go, so you got to meet all of the cast members, talk, take pictures and all of that with them
Am I right? Am I right?
haha I’m sure Jamie-san would love that!!! <3
Let's try to get 40 comments so we can see what happens!
even getting to say a simple "hi and thank you" would make me so happy!
I am so happy to ready this ;_; It sounds so awesome!!!
Glad you had a good time! Can’t wait to see what happens next…
Those made me smile, thank you!
I just stumbled upon your website.. and I used to be a huge Tenimyu fanatic, so this brings back the good old memories! I can’t believe you got to meet the cast, i would’ve embarrassed myself 10x over and died. As it is i’m squeeing (out loud in my heart) reading your posts! Can’t wait for the next part
Hi Hana-chan!
I would have died 10x over as well, so you’re not the only one. ^o^
My dream is to get special backstage tickets/just allowed back there in general.
Let’s try to get to 40 comments as quickly (and efficiently) as possible so we can have the next post. xD
Woah holy cow this is amazing!!! and this is my favorite song of this musical… it’s so… hauntingly beautiful.
I can’t believe that you were able to see backstage (!!!). I am 100000x more inspired to achieve my dreams. I want to live a life worth writing about, like you!!! ^o^
I have friends who I rewatch the musicals with every Wednesday night…it would have been poetic if we were on that one, LOL! (But we’re on Rokkaku.)
I can hardly wait to live vicariously through your memories…I’m guessing that you got something even better *grin*
So…does Konomi-sensei have a favorite character (or three)?
Yay!
Sounds like red carpet treatment!
I am hoping hard that you got the photos, the signatures, maybe even some memorable encounters with the actors that you lived to tell about^^..
I don’t remember if it was in this entry, or the last- but you said something along the lines of going from a fan to part of the manga world overnight. I know exactly that feeling, because I used to work for a music producer. It was like- Do I deserve this? What the hell??
But that’s so incredibly cool. I’m not even a Prince of Tennis fan (I only read volume I a few years ago), but reading your blog makes me want to go read it all.
In that picture above of you and Sensei, you _are_ his height (unless you’re wearing heels… or he is… O_O).
It’s just amazing that you became part of internet rumor (Sensei’s wife is a gaijin!!!) – I wonder how long that thread ran…?
Which picture are you referring to? (There isn’t any of us together in this post)
Oh, and the comments died out there as far as I know.
Looking forward to p12- how exciting!
This is like a re-visit for high school for me. I was a big prince of Tennis fan when I was going through high school. I know I have to pick up the manga again some day. Just reading this is giving me the giggles.
I’m supposed to be studying, but now I’m going to have to put on one of the musicals. I knew looking at this post right now was a bad idea! Kato Kazuki is amaaaaazing.
By the way, I use the term “pocket pet” when referring to someone I want to put in my pocket. I know exactly what you meant by that!
You’ll be counting the comments from your pervious post too, right?
I know this might be slightly off-topic for this post, but hopefully you won’t mind … Is tennis as a sport very popular in Japan? I have to admit that being a fan of PoT made me get back into watching real tennis, which I hadn’t watched for several years. Kei Nishikori has recently managed to become the highest ranked Japanese player in the history of the sport and I’m curious to know if it’s a big deal in Japan or not. I know he used to be a fan of PoT himself. I’ve been following him for a couple of years now and he’s a fantastic player and has done so much fundraising for victims of the tsunami.
It seems like a fascinating way to get a job, kinda wish all job interviews were like that, at least that way you get to know who you’re going to hire and if they work well with the company.
Also, it’d be interesting to know about the whole visa process and how you managed to move out there and which visas you had to apply for etc….
loving the blog btw 
Couldn’t help but smile at the favourite paring part~ memories~ That’s one of my favourite songs from that musical too, I also like ‘Versus’ and the songs sung by Daisuke as Tezuka, even though I haven’t been following Tenimyu since DL7 (I can’t remember many names beyond 4th cast actually), I still try to follow couple of the actors I like =D