This interview with Director Suzuki Kei and Angel’s Ladder leads Suzumi Shio and Otoha Minori was published in the March 2012 issue of Kageki.
Angel’s Ladder roundtable talk
Participants: Suzuki Kei (director), Suzumi Shio, Otoha Minori
Suzuki: This story is set in the English Lake Country of the 17- and 1800s, and concerns a romance between a man from the upper class and a woman from the middle class. The original work, Pride and Prejudice, is called one of the foundational romance novels. Both of them pass each other by due to their own prejudices, but in the climax all the misunderstandings are resolved and they realize their love for each other – it’s an archetypical romantic drama. The titular ‘Angel’s Ladder’ is not referenced in the book, but I wrote it to reporesent Toyoko’s (Suzumi’s) character of Darcy. The Lake Country is apparently very cloudy, so I thought of using the clouds to signify his ‘pride’. And then the light filtering through the clouds makes one think ‘oh, that’s what he’s really like…’
Suzumi: This is the first time I learned that when the light is filtering through the clouds it’s called ‘Angel’s Ladder’. Apparently it is also referred to as ‘the path of angels’.
Otoha: How lovely!
Suzumi: In the story, there’s something like an Angel’s Ladder…storybook?
Suzuki: There’s a children’s story about it in the play.
Suzumi: I thought that was a very cute touch.
Suzuki: Quite romantic, right?
Suzumi: (laughs) Today was the initial day of rehearsals, and I arrived feeling very excited. Since it was announced I would play the lead role in this show, I watched movies and TV dramas, and read the original book, and in the process I started thinking that the role of Darcy is really like me…and really perfect for Takarazuka. The supporting characters are also fun, with a lot of depth, so I was really looking forward to seeing what Director (Suzuki) Kei did with it when writing the script. I was really moved while reading it today.
Suzuki: Thank you so much.
Suzumi: I thought ‘All this happens in 2 and a half hours!’ At the first table reading1, all of the cast put tons of individuality into their characters.
Suzuki: It was really fun.
Otoha: As I read through the script, I was really moved by Darcy’s change of heart as well… I’m so happy to be in such a beautiful show. Lizzie is a member of a large family, and during the table reading I couldn’t stop laughing. With Junko-san (Ema Naoki) as my mother and Chigu-san (Chigusa Miki) as my father, I can see that it will be a very lively and bright household. The junior actresses playing my sisters are really powerful too, so I was trying to picture how it would turn out when the proper rehearsals start…
Suzumi: I was thinking that the casting of the 5 sisters was so cute.
Suzuki: In the story ‘The Bennet Family’ is a sort of key-word, so I think that will be very fun.
Otoha: I was in one of your previous shows, New York Rhapsody, as well, and I’ll give my best in rehearsals for this show too.
Suzumi: I feel like Director Kei is the director I have the strongest bond with. I worked with Director Kei on my first lead, the Bow Workshop Love Goblin, as well as my last shinjin kouen, Glassy Landscape, and even an international tour.
Suzuki: We get along remarkably well (laughs)
Suzumi: ‘Remarkable’, he says (laughs)
Suzuki: But we haven’t worked together on one of my original shows, so this time we finally have that chance.
Suzumi: Today I was really overwhelmed by Director Kei’s warmth and kindness. You wrote such a great show and put so much love into the cast and everything… Although you may seem very brusque, you’re really kind on the inside (laughs)
Suzuki: No, no…I seem brusque? I never knew… (laughs) Anyway, I told everyone this already today, but of course I really wanted to write something Takarazuka-esque – The closer I could get to that the better, I thought.
Suzumi: Hearing that made me think once more about a lot of things. It’s really important that it is a Takarazuka original show.
Suzuki: Therefore I feel that Darcy, Lizzie, and Pride and Prejudice itself are all good elements to use towards that goal. It’s no fun if everyone does it the same way. I really want to see Toyoko’s Darcy. I think through the character of Darcy, your appeal will really shone. That’s part of the fascination of Takarazuka, I think, and I’m relying on that too. Once Toyoko and Haruko (Otoha) are together we’ll proceed by trial and error. Everything is an ‘element’, that’s all. That’s why I thought of changing the title from the original work.
Suzumi: Haruka is playing my lover again in this show.
Otoha: Yes. This is my second time in a row playing Suzumi-san’s lover, since A Second Fortuitous Meeting. Since that show, everyone has been telling me ‘you’ve really changed!’ I really learned a lot from that as a Takarazuka Musumeyaku.
Suzumi: You’ve always been so lovely and straightforward…
Otoha: Oh no…thank you very much.
Suzumi: Therefore you should believe in yourself more and work on breaking down barriers.
Otoha: Yes. Though that ‘breaking barriers’ will be a bit of a challenge…
Suzumi: But you’ve really been changing steadily, so in the course of this I think you should work on breaking more of the barriers around you.
Suzuki: Though this isn’t really related, if your pairing is performed according to the traditional hierarchy, going straight from the script there is a ‘lead’ and ‘supporting’ role, but I think that won’t do in this situation so I want you to try to overcome that framework. I think you two have to thoroughly create ‘Toyoko and Haruko’s world’ together.
Suzumi and Otoha: Yes.
Otoha: In this show, will the finale have a duet dance, or…
Suzuki: There is. That’s foundational, after all (laughs)
Otoha: Thank you! I love Takarazuka duet dances, and I longed to be able to do them even before I joined the company. In New York Rhapsody I was able to do one for the first time and I was so happy… I’m really looking forward to it in this show too.
Suzuki: Takarazuka’s duet dances are different from your typical ‘couple dance’, aren’t they.
Suzumi: They’re really special.
Suzuki: Right. And they’re not the same as when two people dance together in a musical play. The ‘Takarazuka’ part is really important, so it feels like ‘if it’s not there, don’t bother!’
Suzumi and Otoha: (laugh)
Suzumi: They showed me the costume design pictures, and the costumes for the finale are really beautiful. I’m very excited for it.
Suzuki: When we did the poster photoshoot, there was one shot we didn’t use, so I’m thinking of recreating it in the play.
Suzumi: Right, your favorite couple shot (laughs). It had really lovely composition. But onstage, I feel like the audience might think ‘Huh? Where is this happening?’
Suzuki: It’s fine, don’t worry. It’s a scene where they’ll be like ‘Ah~ They’ve finally…’ Wait and see, it’ll be good (laughs)
Otoha: I’m so happy to have been given the role of Lizzie in this show. When she first meets Darcy, she thinks he is very proud and unpleasant, but then she realizes that he has begun changing because of what she’s said to him. By the very end, he’s changed enough to ask her ‘will you marry me’, and I think that’s one scene I’ll have to treat very carefully in performance.
Suzuki: I think being able to clearly tell the person you like ‘will you marry me’ is one of the happiest things there is. I feel like that plain statement is how proposals started in the world, and they gained decoration later. Therefore, since it’s a foundational romance novel,I decided I wanted to use really foundational dialogue, which is why in the end he says it straight out.
Suzumi: I see… In this show there are many people who are transferring to other troupes, and Junko-san is also appearing after recently going to Senka, so I think a lot of passion will come from all of their feelings. I really love acting, myself. Darcy isn’t a role where I’m expressing his feelings with my whole body, but I really want to lay myself bare as I’m performing with everyone. I’m going to do my best and I hope everyone in the audience will go home full of happiness.
Suzuki: In any case, in order to make this a good show that looks the best it can be, I want to observe you and get to know you well. I’m going to join you in getting to grips with the show – let’s keep pushing on without giving up on anything until opening day.
1 – Table reading: first cast read-through in character.