I haven’t been posting much lately, but since there is actual news I figured I should make sure you’re updated.
This article was originally published on August 29 in Nikkan Sports (there is no author credit, but I think it was probably Murakami Kumiko). Please click through to see photos. (Archive link here.)
Note: I am sure there are different opinions on how Takarazuka has been handling the coronavirus situation. If you have criticisms please reserve them for the company, and not any of the performers.
Snow Troupe star Ayakaze Sakina tearfully thanks fans on opening day of lead show
After being twice rescheduled due to the effects of the novel coronavirus, Snow Troupe star Ayakaze Sakina’s lead show, Fiery Bolero/Music Revolution! New Spirit, opened on the 29th in the Umeda Arts Theatre, Osaka. It plays until September 6th.
Ayakaze and the rest of the cast spent the two days before opening in dress rehearsal, putting the finishing touches on their performance. At the end of the final rehearsal, the night before opening day, Ayakaze tearfully voiced her gratitude to the staff and the fans waiting for the performance, saying “Thank you so much, everyone [that we are able to open despite the coronavirus]”.
This performance was originally scheduled as a national tour lead for Ayakaze, one of the major stars of Snow Troupe, after Top Star Nozomi Fuuto announced she would be retiring, and was planned to open in May. In March, the 35 cast members gathered and began rehearsals, but in April a state of emergency was announced and rehearsals were put on hold. The national tour was cancelled before it could open.
According to someone connected to the company, “there were performers crying” when the cancellation was announced. Afterwards, the theatre changed performance schedules. The production began preparing for performances in the Umeda Arts Theatre in Osaka from August 17-25, and in July rehearsals resumed after a 3 month gap.
However, the situation was still crowded, and rehearsals were once again stopped after one of the scheduled cast members registered a positive result on a PCR test. Opening was postponed. After getting over these two delays, the show finally opened almost 4 months after it was originally scheduled.
The play, Fiery Bolero, is an original work written by the late Shibata Yukihiro, premiering in 1988, when it starred Star Troupe Top Star Hyuuga Kaoru. For this revival, the show is directed by Nakamura Satoru. It is set in 1860s Mexico, at the time when it was under French dominion. The play tells the story of a young nobleman who, after losing his family and estate to a failed rebellion attempt, decides to rise up and take back his country.
Ayakaze, in the lead, plays young nobleman Alberto. Alberto falls in a fateful love with Jun Hana’s character, the daughter of one of his enemies. Popular star Asami Jun gave a great performance as a captain in French intelligence who is hunting Alberto.
As it was originally scheduled to be a national tour, it is a double feature production featuring a revue show1. The revue, created and directed by Nakamura Kazunori, is a renewal of a revue that toured in 2019, themed after all different kinds of ‘music’—jazz, rock, Latin, pop, classical… Ayakaze, who uses her long legs and ideal proportions to her advantage, charmed the fans with the ease in dance that she is known for.
1 – I am not quite sure why this is being stated as a logical equivalence; there have been single-feature plays as national tours, and double features have played in Umeda (though this is slightly rare).