This review of 1789, by freelance theatre and film reviewer Kotooda Chieko (d. 2018), was published in the June 2015 issue of Kageki.
Moon Troupe – 1789: Les Amants de la Bastille review; “Another Revolutionary new musical from Takarazuka”
The spring Moon Troupe production started with the 101st Class Audience Address. Three class members spoke as the rest lined up behind them—the usual arrangement, but it left a remarkable impression. I could practically see the word ‘hope’ written in their elegant rows. Something like that, to those who don’t have that kind of experience to bring it to mind, is simply dazzling. It was a marvelous address.
1789: Les Amants de la Bastille is a French musical, first staged in 2012, and this is its first Takarazuka production. There were high expectations for adaptor and director Koike Shuuichirou.
The prologue begins abruptly with the projected title “July 14, 1789: Bastille Prison” and the shouting of an angry crowd. A youth climbs the walls of the prison. This is the protagonist, Ronan (Ryuu Masaki). The tag of the title was ‘Spectacle Musicale’, and it was full of spectacle from the very first moment. Creating a huge set and spinning it is something of a party trick of Director Koike Shuuichiro, but it turns up very early here, raising expectations even further.
The timeline then turns back 1 year, where farmers are protesting that they cannot pay their taxes due to the drought. Ronan’s father is shot by the Comte du Peyrol (Seijou Kaito). This event causes Ronan to decide to travel to Paris, arriving in the city as it is boiling with revolution. As he is about to collapse in the street, he is saved by the journalist Desmoulins (Nagina Ruumi), a young Robespierre (Tamaki Ryou), the printer Jean-Paul Marat (Ayazuki Seri), etc. In the next scene, Danton (Saou Kurama) also appears, making it a cavalcade of famous figures of the French Revolution.
The setting transforms once more, into a scene in the palace at Versailles. This transition is wonderfully done, with such extravagant sets. I’m sure everyone was thinking ‘So naturally they had a revolution’.
The nobility amuse themselves with gambling. Marie Antoinette’s (Manaki Reika) costume is the most incredible of all. The queen stands in the center of a roulette wheel, with her skirt made into the roulette wheel itself. I wonder whether I should credit the set designer (Oohashi Yasuhiro) or the costume designer (Arimura Jun).
Louis XVI (Mishiro Ren) is obsessed with lock forging, and his younger brother, the Comte d’Artois, is plotting to gain the throne if his brother should fall. He sends his three underlings (Shimon Yurika, Asami Jun, Kizuki Yuuma) to try and catch the queen and Fersen (Akatsuki Chisei) at their tryst.
The unique aspect of this musical is that it basically alternates the narrative between the revolutionaries and the royals. Linking the two groups together is the caretaker of the Dauphin, Olympe (played by Saotome Wakaba on the day I saw the show. The alternate is Umino Mitsuki.). She encounters Ronan when she accompanies the queen to her tryst with Fersen at the Palais-Royal, and continues to interact with him after that.
Here let me note the other switch role, Ronan’s younger sister Solene (played by Harune Aki on the day I saw the show. The alternate is Hanahi Mira.). She plays Danton’s lover, and the two [Solenes] have a great solo number. You could say it’s the certification of their true vocal talent. With all of the alternate casting together, there are apparently 4 cast patterns for the show, so it’s worth following to Tokyo.
Due to it alternating between the revolutionaries and royalists, it has aspects that are innovative for a Takarazuka musical. Most audience members will be fully versed in the world of The Rose of Versailles, and THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL has been restaged as well so there are many who will have seen it multiple times. To be clear, there are things it has in common with them as a show about the French Revolution.
Furthermore, people who like Takarazuka musicals are generally interested in royalty as well. in Elisabeth, although the protagonist might be the god of Death, it’s about royalty, and even ME AND MY GIRL is about someone who turns out to be part of the nobility in the end.
Thus, I think 1789: Les Amants de la Bastille deserves a special mention for being staged amidst this trend, and for casting the Top Star as a revolutionary. Furthermore, this portrayal of a revolutionary is full of passion and Ryuu Masaki’s style of leadership comes through as well. I loved Ronan and Olympe’s number, [french name], and the powerful energy of the revolutionaries in the first number of Act 2, [french name] bowled me over.
Takarazuka’s new choreohrapher, KAORIalive has joined this production and in this sequence shows a dance number the like of which has never been seen before in Takarazuka. Seeing these moves, we were all on the side of the revolutionaries at once, but at the same time, the royalists are all portrayed very skillfully, especially Marie Antoinette, who has a wonderful scene in which she declares her resolution as Queen. I can see the meaning in placing the Top Combi at both extremes of the revolutionary and royalist sides.
Finally, the last scene concludes with the Declaration of the Rights of Man. The video projections (by Oku Shuutarou) here are also wonderful: I almost want to say it’s my personal favorite scene.
As I was still turning over the story and this rapid history of the French Revolution from the popular uprisings to the Declaration of the Rights of Man, the finale quickly started. Miya Rurika, who had previously been playing the chief of palace intrigues, is transformed into a gentle young man in a sky-blue suit and crosses the Silver Bridge. The debut rockette is in Tricolor costumes. The gorgeous choreography (by Miori Yumino) interlaces the three colors. And I have to mention, performers these days have such long legs. As the Top Combi of Ryuu Masaki and Manaki Reika perform the duet dance I find myself thinking that this really is what Takarazuka is all about, and then as the grand parade starts, in a moment I forget all about the French Revolution and its battles.
The real assessment for 1789: Les Amants de La Bastille as a work will come later, I feel. As the cast polishes their performance further, and the audience gets to know all the musical numbers, I expect it will become even more enjoyable than on the first viewing. The musical numbers have to permeate [the fandom first]. This is the same path previously travelled by Elisabeth, The Scarlet Pimpernel, and so many other shows.