Backstage Journal is a short Kageki feature where very young cast members write anecdotes about what’s going on behind the scenes of the productions. They’re not very deep, being full of emojis and more like blog entries than articles, but they are a good way to get to know the newest actresses in each troupe.

This one is by Snow Troupe member Mariki Towa (of the 87th Class), and was published in the June 2006 issue.

Backstage Journal – Mariki Towa (The Rose of Versailles: Oscar 2006)

Hello, dear Kageki readers! I’ve come along once again. I’m Mariki Towa, of Snow Troupe.

This happened one day. Just as I was taking a deep breath 💨 and relaxing in the dressing room after the show… “Hello, Mariki-san. You worked hard today 😊” a woman’s voice said. When I turned around, I saw a lady from the editorial department. She gave the same explanation as I had heard last time and…

Me: …ah, Y-ye~s. I’d be delighted 😅

And so, I ended up with my second appearance in Backstage Journal.

💀 Poison deluxe special 💀

In act 2, Andre (Takashiro Kei) comes into Oscar’s sitting room. Due to the intensity of his love for Oscar (Asami) and being unable to suppress his feelings, he decides to poison her and pours poison into her wine glass. So, Andre takes the paper with the poison folded inside out of his pocket and…!? Andre is in BIG TROUBLE!!! Th…there’s poison papers coming out of her pocket one after the other? How much extra poison did you give Oscar…. 💦 Just kidding~. It was just that she had been stuffing all of the poison papers into her pocket up until that show 😅 All’s well that ends well…

🔍 Mystery 🕵️

In the Bastille scene, everyone grabs weapons to go into the fight, and one day I heard a rumour that the stick Shina-san (Yamashina Ai) was wielding had shrunk, and I immediately went to investigate and discovered that it was around 5cm shorter than it had been on opening day. Shina-san herself had dozens of question marks floating over her head.
The next day, when I thought to check on Shina-san’s stick again, somehow this time it was 10cm shorter. I was extremely curious as to how this could have happened, but although I investigated, I still don’t have any idea of the cause. Perhaps my investigative abilities were insufficient… 💦 However, as time passed and I began to give up on my investigation, the stick’s length went back to what it had been originally. Something like Son Goku’s ‘Power Pole’¹ really does exist in this world. And so, the Stick Affair continued to be surrounded in mystery, and was spread by word of mouth like a backstage legend.  

And so of course, the Snow Troupe story continued in Tokyo.

Although this is personal to me, this is my second time appearing in The Rose of Versailles after my debut performance². I’m so happy to be able to appear in this show twice during my career with the Revue.

Please do come to see the National Tour, as well! Although I don’t know if I will have a third appearance yet or not, I hope to meet you all again one day… 💖

Bonus: One day, someone misheard someone saying ‘Oscar’ in the show as ‘Poscamu’. And so from this day on maybe Oscar will become ‘Poscamu’ to you too…

1 – Goku’s length-changing weapon in Dragon Ball (nyoibou in Japanese)

2 – The 87th class debuted with the 2001 production of The Rose of Versailles: Fersen and Marie Antoinette, in Cosmos Troupe.