One of the yearly retrospective features from the December 2015 issue of Kageki, featuring Snow Troupe Top Star Sagiri Seina.

Looking Back on 2015: Ryuu Masaki

My first show of 2015, Gone With the Wind was a restaging of the production from January of last year, so it was the first time I was challenged with taking the same role and starting over from a blank for a restaging. In order to give the show a fresh atmosphere once again, I threw out all the feelings I had absorbed from the first time and worked on creating new ones. It was even harder than making a new role from scratch, but it was a good experience for me as a performer.

Then in April was the opening of 1789: Lovers of the Bastille. Looking back on it now, I feel honored at being able to perform in such a masterpiece, and to be honest I’m glad I did it. But at the time I was working so hard on it that even saying I poured all my energy out on stage wouldn’t cover it. I didn’t have enough left over to even think about anything else. My role of Ronan was rather unusual for a Top Star as he is a commoner, and it seems that a big topic was how I would establish myself among everyone else on stage while handling the challenge of putting together this new kind of role. Another major thing was Director Koike giving me one of the show’s themes as my own song, so I was even more aware than usual of how I was presenting myself while singing.

Dragon Night!!, in September, was my first concert-style performance, and while making sure the audience enjoyed themselves was the main goal, I of course enjoyed myself as well! I let myself run free and enjoyed myself from the bottom of my heart.

The last performance of this year is Manon and Golden Jazz. My role in the play, Charles, has a really complex life, and I feel like it might be the first time I’ve encountered a character like him. It’s the kind of role where I think afterwards I will have grown as a person. Director Inaba wrote the revue show Golden Jazz for me since he said jazz suits me, so I’m really happy about that.

When I think about all the characters and shows I encountered this year, it makes my heart beat fast. It was a year where I confirmed once again how strong the support from the rest of Moon Troupe is. Next year I’ll make sure not to forget to let myself enjoy things, and I hope it will be a year that challenges me even more.