This book, which is something of an ‘oral history’ of Takarazuka’s Rose of Versailles adaptations, was published by Ascom in late 2005, and features chronological accounts from otokoyaku who had performed in the franchise from its first origins through the 2001 productions. Since the book is derived from transcriptions of interviews taking place often many decades after the fact, there may be discrepancies between accounts.

Please note that the term appearing through the text as ‘theatre-comic’ is translated from the Japanese term gekiga [劇画]. Although this term is described as applying to mainly male-oriented comics in most English-language sources, this is not accurate. The definition of this word changed to also include sweeping, romantic female-oriented works with Rose of Versailles being arguably the most famous of theatre-comics. Takarazuka even published its own magazine of theatre-comics in the 1970s.

Chapters have been split in two to make them more readable without too much scrolling to reach the explanatory footnotes. Some paragraph breaks have also been added for ease of reading in English. I have also included some images printed in the book as well as sourcing many other archival images to illustrate the text.

Installments will be posted every two weeks, with some breaks if the next chapter is not complete.

Haruna Yuri

1945 – Born August 5 in Hyogo prefecture
1963 – Debuted in Takarazuka with Flower Poems
1974 – Became Top Star of Moon Troupe with Pale Dawn¹
1974 – First performer to play Oscar² (playing Andre the following year)
1977 – First performer to play Rhett Butler³
1988 – Retired from Takarazuka with War and Peace

Other notable works:
The New Tale of Genji, Eternal Tale, Love Blooms Out On the Murasakino, etc.

Post-retirement activities:
Aside from stage performances (such as: Scrooge, Cinderella, Stepping Out, Professor Corczak, Sakura Fubuki Tanuki-Goten, etc.), television appearances, and dinner shows, she also teaches in universities as a visiting scholar, lecturing on theatre studies.

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Make sure you appear as ‘Haruna Yuri’

“Shou-chan, this is just the perfect manga for Takarazuka to adapt!”

The first time I heard of The Rose of Versailles was hearing this from a fan. I read it when fans brought me copies of ‘Weekly Margaret’ telling me “read it, read it!” so that’s when I first understood what it was about. At that time everyone from little kids to adults read manga, but it had a very grown-up feeling to it.

I don’t really know how exactly how the company ended up producing Berubara⁴, but at the time, Takarazuka hadn’t done very many Rococo-era plays. So, I think the idea that it would look splendid on the Grand Theatre stage must have been a factor in the decision.

Before we knew it this atmosphere of ‘We’re doing it, we’re doing it,’ began to brew, and even within the company we were all flustered. “Shou-chan, if you were in it what role would you like to play?” “Well, I think…” We were all talking about our favorite characters. Fersen, Bernard, Giroudelle…they were all wonderful men.

It was a theatre-comic, so everyone’s so cool, right? So handsome, and legs soooo long (laughs). Every one of them is an ideal sort of man where you would think “Oh, if only someone like him really existed.” And it’s all playing out against the setting of the French Revolution, where, in the end, Marie Antoinette perishes on the guillotine. So, it’s based in real history and makes such a grand spectacle. Also, I think one of the most amazing points about this theatre-comic is that Ikeda Riyoko was able to take the characters who didn’t actually exist and insert them into the history so skillfully.

As for me, personally, I really wanted to play Andre. From the first time I read it, it was Andre for me! He’s so cool, and manly. But then I realized what a commotion was brewing outside concerning who was going to play whom. And as one of the people involved in that, my feelings changed to “I’m good with whatever” (laughs).

In the end, everyone agreed that I should play Oscar. Apparently, this petite face and these delicate features fit Oscar’s aura (laughs).

Things moved along and the roles were decided, and it ended up that after one Tokyo Takarazuka Theatre show, before the final curtain went down, we would go out onstage and announce who we would play. In street clothes, too. I was horribly nervous. The moment I said “I am Haruna Yuri. I will be playing Oscar,” there was a huge reaction from the audience, “Wa~” from the first to the third floor. It gave me goosebumps. And also, for the first time I realized the weight of playing the role of Oscar.

‘This is going to be a big problem…’ I thought.

Although there were some people saying I should play Oscar, the company also received piles of letters in opposition. They would say stuff like: “A living human could never do it. Don’t destroy the image from the theatre-comic.” I can see why, too. After all, my legs aren’t that long, and I can’t make little stars dance in my eyes (laughs).

Therefore, this made me start to feel a lot of fear and pressure—what if I ruined everyone’s mental picture? What if, as soon as the curtain opened on the first day, everyone started throwing the seat cushions at me? “Get off the stage, you hack!”

The rehearsals started in the midst of all this, but right away creating Oscar’s outer appearance turned out to be a struggle. First, there was a photoshoot at a studio in Shuueisha headquarters, so that they could publish photos in ‘Monthly Margaret’. It was decided that I would do my makeup and get the costume on at the Tokyo Takarazuka Theatre dressing rooms, and then go to the shoot.

Since I had to do the makeup myself, I got the biggest closeup drawing of Oscar I could and placed it right in front of me so I could draw everything just as it was in the picture, from where her eyebrows started and ended to the angles. After all, Director Hasegawa Kazuo⁵ had told me “At least you have to make it look like the source material,” and “Put stars in your eyes!”. “How the heck am I supposed to do that!?” I kept saying to myself (laughs), but I really tried my best.

I had worked so hard on the wig as well; it was a specially dyed gold wig that was starched and curled into ringlets, and I tried to make the bangs look just like Oscar’s. Since the most important thing was to make a human being look as close to the theatre-comic as possible, everything had to be constructed from scratch.

After putting on the whole uniform costume and getting everything perfect, I got in a taxi and headed to Shuueisha. But, on the way there, I completely forgot what I looked like, and since I was looking out the windows, some people who saw me from outside were really shocked (laughs). And I would think, ‘Oh, right, I have a wig on’ (laughs).

When I got to Shuueisha, Director Ueda Shinji and many other people involved with the production were waiting for me. I only heard this story later, but apparently, the moment they saw me as Oscar, everyone thought at once ‘It’s really going to work!’, so they were all overcome with excitement. I was pushing myself so much that I don’t really remember what happened.

Once the appearance was settled, next was Director Hasegawa’s exhaustive acting instruction. Here was a whole new challenge! “Do this, do that”, putting me in poses that made my neck hurt, and then, on top of that, “Look this way!” until it felt like I was going to tear a muscle doing these exhausting positions. I started to worry I’d put a knot in my intestines (laughs). This is what is called ‘kata’⁶ in the theatre world, to make sure you look beautiful on stage.

I’d never performed as a woman in a play before, so I thought I might struggle with it, but when I actually tried doing it, it was fun. Director Hasegawa said “you have the uniform on, and you look up as you try to withstand the sadness, but then, look down and let the tears fall on your bosom. Then, as you wipe away the tears you’ll look very feminine.” When I did that, gosh, it was so cute! (laughs) That was just how we did the acting direction.

But if we just left it at that, I’d only be a marionette, so, at the very end, I had to put my own ‘heart’ into her. I didn’t want it to seem too much like a performance, though, so I tried to act naturally. I would think I was sad at sad times, and I feel like I was able to change naturally between feminine emotions, and manly feelings when wearing the splendid uniforms.

Finally, Director Hasegawa told me “When you first come on stage, come out as ‘Haruna Yuri’.” Rather than as Oscar, he said that I should enter just as Haruna Yuri, with a sense that “Haruna Yuri has arrived!”

At the very beginning, I was completely the dashing otokoyaku Haruna Yuri—“I am Oscar Francois du Jarjayes!” “Please withdraw!”, I’d do it very sharply and gallantly. The idea was that as things went on, my emotions would gradually become more feminine. So my personal focus was to do it very frankly, very ‘straight’.

My favorite of Oscar’s scenes was “We mustn’t waste everyone’s sacrifices!⁷ Advance, citoyens!” and then that final battle scene. It was the most amazing feeling to do that scene. And then I get shot. “Andre…are you really gone?” “Vive la France…” and then dying, it was awesome! Performing that was the ultimate happiness. And it was the most emotionally moving part for me, as well.

By the way, in the scene where Oscar and Andre join the battle, one time, I took my sword out in a really cool way, ‘Swoosh!’, and I stabbed it into the floor and couldn’t get it out. The stage had a linoleum floor, so the sword was wobbling back and forth, and I was desperately tugging at it, but it wouldn’t come out. Meanwhile, the enemy soldiers were gradually approaching and I was thinking ‘What on earth am I supposed to do!?’ If that was in real life, we would have been slaughtered in an instant (laughs).

Happily for me, I also got to play Andre. I love Andre as a human being. There’s that garden scene where Andre says ‘The stars are so beautiful’ ‘like Castor and Pollux, I’ll keep protecting you’! I love that scene in particular.

And also, I couldn’t get enough of that poisoning scene. He gives Oscar the poison—‘Forgive me!’ ‘I’m glad I lived until this day!’—Andre’s personality is strongest in that scene where he finally confesses his real feelings. It’s the high point of the show for me.

I think Andre’s biggest appeal is his manly generosity. If he doesn’t have that sexiness from generosity, or kindness, he won’t be appealing as a person. My skills as an actor might not have been the best. But, I thought it would work out if I could just convey power, or passion, to the audience, so that was what I wanted to get across.

Of course, the kata were important and I took care to do them properly, but with just that, the audience won’t feel anything, right? You don’t have to do an incredibly good job, it doesn’t matter if you mess it up or whatever, I feel like if you get that pulse, that stirring in the blood, once you can feel that ‘heart’, then the people watching will catch that feeling. So, I played Oscar and Andre wholeheartedly.

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1 – The exact dating of Haruna’s Top Star ascension is arguable, as the Top Star system wasn’t clearly delineated until later (and Haruna did not spend this entire period in Moon Troupe). Dai Takiko also claims to have been Top Star during part of this time and appears in many lists (sometimes she and Haruna are listed as ‘Double Top’).

2 – In The Rose of Versailles.

3 – in Gone with the Wind.

4 – Fan abbreviation for Rose of Versailles, from the Japanese title, Berusaiyu no Bara.

5 – Ueda Shinji was not the main director of the very first Rose of Versailles productions; while he wrote the script, the original director was film and kabuki actor/director Hasegawa Kazuo.

6 – A kabuki term for stylized, abstract poses.

7 – Not a translation error; she is either misremembering the line slightly or it changed prior to the first recordings in 1974. (The actual line is “We mustn’t forget his [Andre’s] sacrifice!”) All quotations are translated exactly as related by the interviewee.