This survey of the main stars in both Rose of Versailles 2001 casts was published in GRAPH in May of 2001. At the time, Star Troupe was performing Oscar and Andre in Tokyo, and Cosmos Troupe was performing Fersen and Marie Antoinette in Takarazuka. Due to length, the two troupes’ responses will be posted separately.
A few notes on their answers, as well as possibly more familiar Japanese titles for the songs mentioned, are included in [italicized brackets].
Rose of Versailles Special Report
The Rose of Versailles 2001 is currently playing to great praise from both East and West.
There must be many readers of the comics who were already entranced by the luxurious and beautiful world displayed on the stage.
Therefore, we here at GRAPH wanted to take a look at things a little differently than from on stage, and make a special report on The Rose of Versailles. Its title: “Berubara Q and A!”
Questionnaire:
1) Which performance of The Rose of Versailles was the first one you saw?
2) Is there a line in The Rose of Versailles that stands out in your memory?
3) Is there a prop in The Rose of Versailles that stands out in your memory?
4) If you were assessing your Rose of Versailles nerd level from 1 to 5, where would you be?
5) What costumes from The Rose of Versailles would you like to wear?
6) What are your favorite songs from The Rose of Versailles?
7) What are your favorite scenes from The Rose of Versailles?
8) If you could play a character besides your own role, which character and which scene?
9) Which character from The Rose of Versailles would you choose to marry?
10) Have you read the original comic?
11) What comics did you like as a child?
12) What comics do you want Takarazuka to adapt?
13) What did you think of the commercial shoot? (Commercial cast members only)
14) What did you think when you saw yourself in costume and makeup as your character?
15) What did you think when you first heard you would be playing your character?
16) What do you think is the main point of your character?
Star Troupe – Oscar and Andre (March 30 to May 6, Tokyo Takarazuka Theatre)
Minoru Kou (Oscar)
1) I saw the 1989 Star Troupe production during rehearsals for the New York performances.
2) “Because Marie Antoinette…is Queen of France!”
3) The sabres and rose shanshans.
4) Right now I’m at a 3 (laughs).
5) If I was just doing it to play around, I’d like to try one of those hoopskirt dresses (laughs).
6) “If We Have Love” [‘Ai Areba Koso’]
7) The Bastille Scene.
8) I’d like to tease Andre as Loulou (laughs).
9) Andre (laughs).
10) I did. When I was in middle school.
11) I read just about all of Ikeda Riyoko-san and Hagio Moto-san’s comics.
12) “Illegal Messiah.” [A work by shojo comic artist Shinohara Udou serialized starting in 1993. I struggled to find any other information about it.]
13) Even though I always do my own makeup and dress myself for performances, for this all I needed to bring was myself and the staffers did everything for me, I felt like a doll (laughs).
14) The photo was taken before rehearsals was started, so I felt like maybe I hadn’t really entered into the world quite yet? (laughs)
15) “I’m in for it now!” (laughs)
16) Her focus on humanism.
Message to GRAPH readers:
“Star Troupe for costume spectacle” is something people traditionally say, and I want to totally overwhelm the audience from the moment the curtain opens, so nobody can disagree ‘This is Takarazuka! This is the Rose of Versailles!’ It’s a dreamlike world, so all of Star Troupe is working in rehearsals in order for the audience to enjoy themselves and forget all the difficult things in their lives. Please come to see us.
Hoshina Yuri (Marie Antoinette)
1) I saw the 1989 Snow Troupe Grand Theatre production while I was in the Takarazuka Music School.
2) Of course it’s “Because Marie Antoinette…is queen of France!” (laughs)
3) Stephan the doll.
4) I think I’m a 1 (laughs).
5) I never get any child roles, so I’ve always yearned to play the child Oscar (laughs). So I’d like to wear child Oscar’s costume.
6) “Fear of Love” [‘Ai no Obie’]
7) ‘Come and See’ in the prologue, and the scene in the jail where Antoinette ascends the steps of the guillotine one by one.
8) Of course it’s child Oscar, and “If you’re strong enough, I’ll make you one of my retainers!” (laughs)
9) I think it’s got to be Giroudelle.
10) I have.
11) “Glass Mask”
12 “Dolls” [A collection of dark fantasy stories about magical dolls, by Kawahara Yumiko, serialized from 1995-1999; an English version was published through Viz.]
13) They were filming while I scattered rose petals, but then the amount or the way I dropped them would be wrong so that take would be thrown out; it was difficult in a different way to Takarazuka, I thought.
14) “May it please Your Majesty…!” (laughs)
15) ‘A queen…?’ I thought (laughs). When it was first decided, I thought I could just work hard, but now that rehearsals have actually started, I feel like I can’t get through on just that.
16) She’s got a huge presence, like ‘here I am!’ (laughs). That’s about it (laughs)
Kouju Tatsuki (Andre, March 30-April 13)
1) The 1977 Flower Troupe regional production.
2) “Because Marie Antoinette…is the Queen of France!”
3) The rose shanshans.
4) Maybe around 3.5.
5) Marie Antoinette’s red gown.
6) “If we have love” [‘Ai areba koso’]
7) The scenes after Andre dies up until the Bastille scene, and the prison scene with Fersen and Marie Antoinette.
8) I have a lot of memories of it because of the junior performance I did, so Fersen in the prison scene.
9) It’s got to be Andre, I think.
10) I have.
11) “Candy Candy” and “Aim for the Ace!”
12) “Emperor of the Land of the Rising Sun” [Extremely famous and influential series by Yamagishi Ryoko, serialized from 1980-1984, about 6th-century historical figure Prince Shotoku]
13) There were so many staff all over for such a short scene, so I felt like it was difficult in a whole different way to stage performance.
14) “Yes, that’s Takarazuka” I thought.
15) It made me realize I’d become the kind of senior actress who could play Andre.
16) I want to take my own individuality and my own interpretation, so I can say ‘this is my Andre’ without ruining the image from the manga or the pattern laid down by my seniors playing Andre in the past.
Kozuki Wataru (Andre, April 14-April 27)
1) The 1989 Star Troupe Grand Theatre production.
2) “There’s a white flag over the Bastille!”
3) The brush Maron-glace used to brush Oscar’s hair (laughs).
4) 3.
5) The little noble girl (laughs).
6) “Come and See”. [‘Goran Nasai’]
7) The Bastille.
8) The scene of Fersen in the carriage (laughs).
9) Bernard.
10) Yes.
11) “Candy Candy”
12) “Ten made agare!” [A 1980s shojo comic about Okita Souji and the Shinsengumi, written by Kihara Toshie, famous shojo mangaka who has had many works adapted by Takarazuka]
13) I had fun.
14) It was funny (laughs). It was a weird feeling somehow.
15) “Me?” I thought (laughs).
16) I want to wrap all of myself around Oscar (laughs).
Juri Sakiho (Andre, April 28-May 6)
1) The 1989 Snow Troupe Grand Theatre performance.
2) “Just for this night, I want to be Andre Grandier’s wife!”
3) The axes the Parisians have in the Bastille scene (laughs).
4) Around 3.
5) Marie Antoinette’s hoopkirt dresses (laughs).
6) “Fear of Love” [‘Ai no Obie’]
7) The “Go, Fersen!” scene (laughs).
8) I want to play Marie Antoinette in the prison scene when they call “Widow Capet!” and she says “Yes.” (laughs) Just that one line “yes” is fine.
9) Well, Andre, of course.
10) Yes.
11) “Dancing Generation” and “N.Y. Bird” [2 related comics by Makimura Satoru, serialized between 1982 and 1984, about a young girl who wants to become a world-class ballerina.]
12) I don’t know (laughs).
13) It was hard keeping my eyes wide open the whole time.
14) It felt unreal somehow. I’d never worn a uniform with sparkly medals and a cape, so I was kind of happy (laughs).
15) I couldn’t really believe it.
16) I want to be an Andre who is manly but still has some boyishness to him.
Yumeki Noa (Giroudelle)
1) I saw the 1990 Flower Troupe Grand Theatre production after the Takarazuka Music School entrance exam ended.
2) “You can’t see? Why did you come with me!?”
3) The sabres.
4) 1 (laughs).
5) A hoopskirt dress.
6) “You of the White Rose” [‘Shirobara no Hito’]
7) Fersen and Marie Antoinette’s tryst.
8) It seems like it would be fun, so maybe Jeanne’s scene at the guillotine. [This is a scene from older productions that is no longer used.]
9) I’m playing him, so, Giroudelle.
10) I read it recently (laughs).
11) “Aim for the Ace!”
12) “The Sun on the Banks of the Red River”. [A historical fantasy comic by Shinohara Chie, serialized from 1995-2002, where a Japanese girl time travels to the ancient Hittite era, where she is believed to be a goddess. It was adapted by Takarazuka for Cosmos Troupe in 2018.]
14) When I put the wig on I felt like Giroudelle, but I still need some improvement.
15) Everyone had been saying “You’ll get Giroudelle”, so I thought “Oh, I really did” (laughs).
16) Since even Oscar’s father sees him as the ideal marriage partner, I want to be a Giroudelle everyone yearns for.
Aran Kei (Fersen)
1) I saw the 1989 Snow Troupe Grand Theatre production.
2) “You can’t see? Why did you come with me!?”
3) The rose shanshans.
4) About a 2.
5) Marie Antoinette’s hoopskirt dresses.
6) “If we have love”. [‘Ai Areba Koso’]
7) The Bastille.
8) I want to be the Little Noble Boy in the prologue (laughs).
9) Maybe Andre.
10) I have. Recently I re-read it.
11) “Captain”.
12) “Princess Knight”. [A famous founding shojo comic by Osamu Tezuka, serialized from 1953-1956, about a princess who is disguised as a prince. An all-female production was staged in 2006 by Hello Project! group Morning Musume, with scripts and direction by Takarazuka playwrights.]
14) Not really there yet. Still needs work.
15) I was a bit shaken thinking I would be having a hard time getting into character, and thinking about how I had reached the seniority where I could play Fersen (laughs).
16) I don’t even know what kind of Fersen I’m going to be yet (laughs).