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 Cosmos Troupe member Haruno Sakura (of the 102nd Class) and was published in the April 2019 issue.
Backstage Journal – Haruno Sakura (Dark Brown Eyes/VIVA! FESTA! in HAKATA)
Hello, Kageki readers! My name is Haruno Sakura and this is my first time writing a Backstage Journal 🌸 Today I’d like to tell you what’s happening behind the scenes of Cosmos Troupe’s Hakata performance, Dark Brown Eyes/VIVA! FESTA! in HAKATA.
1) “The Hiccup Incident!?”
One day Hanashiro (Saaya)-san just couldn’t stop hiccuping. Even when one of the senior actresses told her ways to make it stop, so it wouldn’t happen on stage, she couldn’t get it to stop. But, ‘That’s so Hanashiro!’: The moment she went onstage it was like they switched off. But the instant she exited into the wings the hiccups started again!! When her hiccups finally stopped at last we were all rejoicing. “Aah!” Our Troupe Elder (Kotobuki Tsukasa), didn’t know anything of what was happening, so she got quite a shock. And that put us in torrents of laughter backstage. We couldn’t stop laughing all day.
2) “The Backstage Roller Squad”
In Dark Brown Eyes there’s always a lot of fake snow falling onto the set. But when the scene changes that snow has to get cleaned up. Performing this vital task are Hoshibuki (Ayato), Sakuragi (Minato), and Wakato (Ritsu). Before the next scene could start they’d use cleaning rollers to clean everything up. It was a really funny sight, since they’d get in character even while they were cleaning up the snow. Sakuragi, who played Shvabrin, would lounge in her chair while she was cleaning and give orders to Wakato, who played Second Lieutenant Sergeyev, and she’d protest while rolling away. Thank you for all your hard work cleaning up the snow.
3) “Alexa”
Do you all know about the robot voice assistant ‘Alexa’? Here’s something that happened to us one day. In the dressing room, Haruse (Ouki)-san randomly called Kazuki (Sora)-san ‘Alexa’ and Kazuki-san answered ‘Yes’, so from then on apparently Harusa-san kept calling Kazuki-san Alexa. Haruse-san would ask her to do things like ‘Alexa, get me some coffee’, and if Kazuki-san felt like it she’d respond ‘Of course’, and if she didn’t she’d say ‘I’m sorry, I couldn’t understand that’, and so on. This back-and-forth was really funny so backstage was always full of fun and laughter.
And of course when it comes to February it has to be Valentine’s Day! In Hakata we had a lovely surprise when the costume staff gave us chocolates 💖 The chocolates all had personalized messages, and the Troupe Elder, Matsukaze (Akira)-san, and Nanao (Maki)-san all got [chocolates] shaped just like the moustaches they used in the show! It was a perfect start to a happy day. Thank you so much, costume staff.
Thank you so much for reading all of this. I hope you enjoyed it! I’ll keep doing my best and look forward to the day I can see you all again 😀