This interview with Rei Makoto ahead of the opening of Romeo et Juliette was published by Kobe News on January 21, 2021. The original article, written by Kataoka Satomi [estimated reading] can be found here. (Archive link here.)

I want to perform my own kind of Romeo – Takarazuka Star Troupe Top Star Rei Makoto

In the Takarazuka Revue Star Troupe’s Grand Theatre production opening on February 14, Romeo et Juliette, Rei Makoto will give her long-awaited performance of Romeo as Top Star. She has performed in Romeo et Juliette ever since its first production, though in different roles. About her hopes [for the new production], she says “This is a monumental work for me that raised me completely into who I am now. I want to value all the experiences I’ve had up until now while creating a new Romeo et Juliette.”

After the original work by William Shakespeare was adapted into a musical in France, it was first performed in Japan by Star Troupe in 2010, with adaptation and direction by Koike Shuuichiro. It was performed over and over, by Snow Troupe in 2011, Moon Troupe in 2012, and once again by Star Troupe in 2013. In the first production, Rei performed as ‘Love’, an original character for the Takarazuka version. “I didn’t know what I should be doing, and I didn’t understand what [Director Koike] was telling me either, so I was just floundering and struggling,” she says with a wry laugh as she looks back, “but thanks to that people learned who I was.”

She played Romeo in the 2013 junior performance, but at that time, when she tried to express his suffering and sadness all she could do was cry. “Now I’ve started to be able to think about why it is that Romeo was in pain,” she says about her personal feelings of growth.” Even though the audience knows the whole story, they can stil watch anxciously as the couple’s gears of fate all go wrong,” is her analysis of the show’s appeal.

Last year, when she returned to the stage after the period of self-isolation due to the coronavirus, “I felt joy from the bottom of my heart,” she says, and realized once again that she is a stage performer to her core.

“I want to stand firmly and powerfully, and perform my own Romeo without wavering.” And also, to all the fans who have supported her and encouraged her unchangingly, “I want it to be the opening to a year full of gratitude.”

The performance runs until March 29. It will then play in the Tokyo Takarazuka Theatre from April 16-May 23.