{"id":433,"date":"2016-05-24T22:40:00","date_gmt":"2016-05-25T04:40:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zukalations.com\/?p=433"},"modified":"2021-01-09T22:53:51","modified_gmt":"2021-01-10T05:53:51","slug":"stage-turning-points-yuzuka-rei-flower-troupe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zukalations.com\/index.php\/2016\/05\/24\/stage-turning-points-yuzuka-rei-flower-troupe\/","title":{"rendered":"Stage Turning Points: Yuzuka Rei (Flower Troupe)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In this feature from\u00a0Kageki<\/em>, siennes look back at their career and pick out roles that had an effect on their growth as a performer. This one was originally published in the November 2015 issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stage Turning Points: Yuzuka Rei (Flower Troupe)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yuzuka\u2019s Turning Points<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

April-May 2009: Love, That Is\u2026<\/em> – debut<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

May 2012: Chikamatsu: Journey on the Road of Love<\/em> (Bow Hall) – Tokubei
<\/strong>\u2018A role where I felt a sense of \u2018space\u2019\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this production, I didn\u2019t play a human, rather the puppet Tokubei, the main character of Love Suicides at Sonnezaki<\/em>. However, the part sometimes required me to dance as if I had been endowed with human life. It was an abstract role, where I did not speak and only communicated through dancing, so if I was not aware of the mood and \u2018space\u2019 around me, I felt as if it wouldn\u2019t work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since I had not had many chances to perform traditional dance in Japanese-style productions, when I was onstage the lights and music gave my performance strength. That performance changed my sense of \u2018space\u2019 and my onstage presence. It was that kind of role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

February 2013: Ocean\u2019s 11 <\/em>(junior performance) – Terry Benedict
<\/strong>\u2018A performance that changed my methods of character-building\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I thought this was a really appealing part, so when I was told I would be able to perform it in the junior performance I was really happy. Up until then, I had always thought \u2018I suppose I\u2019ll have to do it this way\u2019 or \u2018I guess I\u2019ve got to do it that way\u2019 about my roles, but with Benedict, I thought \u2018I\u2019d like to do it like this\u2019 or \u2018I want to perform more this way\u2019, so it changed my character-building methods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was my first performance in a sharp-cut suit, and while until now I\u2019d had mostly young boys\u2019 roles, the part of Benedict was a strong, manly, grown-up villain. I learned a lot about how to stand and such from Fuuto-san, who played him in the main production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

September 2013: A Song of Love and Revolution: Andre Chenier<\/em> (junior performance) – Carlo Gerard<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Carlo was a part I really liked. I liked Asumi-san\u2019s performance even right after she transfered to Flower Troupe, so being able to play that part made me really happy. I found the various aspects of this role really appealing: he was a boy who became mixed up in something as he went along with his ideals and sense of justice, so he\u2019s a really human, passionate individual.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

June-July 2014: Nocturne: Memories of a Long Ago Summer Day<\/em> (Bow Hall) – Vladimir
<\/strong>\u2018A part I felt I lived as\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was my first Bow Hall lead, and Director Harada considered things that only I would be able to do when he put together the script. Even without considering things too hard, I was able to take the stage as Vladimir, and sometimes I felt I was living as him. I enjoyed the show and each day I felt more enjoyment for performing onstage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

August-September 2014: Elisabeth: Rondo of Love and Death<\/em> – Rudolf (switch role); Der Tod (junior performance)
<\/strong>\u2018Tons of pressure\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elisabeth is such a big show, and it\u2019s extremely famous, yet somehow I was able to play Rudolf, as well as Der Tod in the junior performance. This was my second junior lead role, but I felt way more pressure for this part. Of course the songs were really hard, and I struggled with the technical scenes, but the music and the intensity of the performance gave me energy so I felt like that really saved me. When I was in character onstage, I had the sensation that I ruled it all: I had never had an experience like that before with a role. In the main production, I played Rudolf. He\u2019s vulnerable and desperate, kind and honest\u2026I found the character of Rudolf really appealing, and it was a part I liked performing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

July-August 2015: Rose of Versailles: Fersen and Marie Antoinette<\/em> (Umeda\/Taiwan Tour) – Oscar Francois de Jarjayes
<\/strong>\u2018A performance I felt a lot of power from\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oscar is the role that represents Takarazuka, and anyone who knows anything about Takarazuka knows about it, so before starting rehearsals I was really worried about how it would turn out. I read the original work and fell in love with Oscar all over again, so even though there was only a short time for rehearsal, I tried to get as close as possible to the original Oscar as I put together the character.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes I had trouble when things didn\u2019t go as I wanted, but after the Umeda performance ended and the final performance of the Taiwan tour came closer, I was so moved by the final scene at the Bastille that I almost felt as if I had Oscar\u2019s soul. It was a performance I felt a lot of power from: the power of the original work, the power of the music, the power of the script, the power of the characters, and the power of all Oscar\u2019s fans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the end\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking back on all my roles like this, I\u2019ve realized just how many wonderful characters I\u2019ve encountered. Some of them I would like to try taking on again, but I think all the sensations from when I first performed them would just come over me once more. From now on, I\u2019m sure I will get a lot of roles that I can only perform in that time, so I\u2019m even more determined to give each role my all so I don\u2019t have any regrets afterwards.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In this feature from\u00a0Kageki, siennes look back at their career and pick out roles that had an effect on their growth as a performer. This one was originally published in the November 2015 issue. Stage Turning Points: Yuzuka Rei (Flower … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[30],"tags":[13,354,360,67,42,86],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zukalations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/433"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zukalations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zukalations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zukalations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zukalations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=433"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/zukalations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/433\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":434,"href":"https:\/\/zukalations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/433\/revisions\/434"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zukalations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=433"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zukalations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=433"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zukalations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=433"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}