{"id":670,"date":"2018-02-12T01:10:00","date_gmt":"2018-02-12T08:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zukalations.com\/?p=670"},"modified":"2021-01-09T22:15:12","modified_gmt":"2021-01-10T05:15:12","slug":"aizuki-hikaru-working-hard-at-her-first-exterior-theatre-lead-immortal-thorns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zukalations.com\/index.php\/2018\/02\/12\/aizuki-hikaru-working-hard-at-her-first-exterior-theatre-lead-immortal-thorns\/","title":{"rendered":"Aizuki Hikaru: working hard at her first exterior theatre lead \u2018Immortal Thorns\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This interview with Aizuki Hikaru about her lead in\u00a0Immortal Thorns<\/em>\u00a0was written by Tsutsui Seika (approximate reading) and published by Sports Hochi on January 10th<\/a>. (Archive link here.<\/a>) It also features some discussion about Aizuki\u2019s classmate Serika Toa moving into Cosmos Troupe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Aizuki Hikaru: working hard at her first exterior theatre lead \u2018Immortal Thorns\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Takarazuka Revue Cosmos Troupe\u2019s third-ranked otokoyaku, Aizuki Hikaru, is currently putting all her effort into her first exterior theatre lead, Immortal Thorns<\/em>, which is playing at the Osaka-Umeda Theatre Drama City (until the 15th). Cosmos Troupe\u2019s \u2018pureblooded star\u2019, who is welcoming new Top Combi of Makaze Suzuho and Hoshikaze Madoka in the Troupe\u2019s 20th anniversary year, says ‘I\u2019m considering the troupe over myself – I hope we can all keep going forward with energy and solidarity.\u2019 She is keeping her ‘Cosmos Troupe Love\u2019 in her heart as she takes on the challenge of this difficult role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the first time Ms. Aizuki has taken center stage in 3 years and 4 months, since her first lead show\u00a0SANCTUARY<\/em>\u2014a Bow Hall show which played in September of 2014. It is also her first Tokyo lead appearance (it will play in the Tokyo Nippon Seinenkan from January 23-29).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She is in high spirits – ‘I always wanted to have a Tokyo lead one day. That was one of my goals. I really want to put all I have into this, but\u2026\u2019 The reason for this is Director Kimura\u2019s advice. He said to her ‘Ai-chan is the sort of person to always give 200% in anything. I think if you could show the kind of coolness that comes from being sparing with your energy it would make a big difference,\u2019 and has been aiming for a more ‘minimalist\u2019 performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Immortal Thorns<\/em> is a restaging of the original production from 2003, which starred Flower Troupe Top Star Haruno Sumire (currently a professional actress). Aizuki plays Errol, a man who has lived in despair for over 300 years after being given ‘eternal life\u2019 by his father. ‘While at the start he is a very pure-hearted, good-natured young man, as he keeps on living, anything and everything start to seem pointless and his mental state deteriorates.\u2019 A ‘full-power play\u2019 type of performance wouldn\u2019t suit this character.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Errol is also conceited and self-centered – ‘they told me \u201cdo it at your own pace, however you like\u201d but he was too different from me,\u2019 she said about her struggles to put together the character. Aizuki loves tidiness. ‘I find cleaning cleanses me mentally. An untidy room is an untidy heart. But they told me that kind of diligence isn\u2019t needed for this – maybe I should have left the clutter?\u2019 she said with a wry laugh. It seems that in playing a character with such a nihilistic mindset she is breaking new ground for herself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aizuki has spent her whole Takarazuka career in Cosmos Troupe, and it will her 12th year in the company this spring. ‘I do have pride in being a born-and-raised Cosmos Troupe member.\u2019 Along with this pride she is highly disciplined mentally. In the 2016 show Elisabeth<\/em>, she was challenged with the role of the assassin Lucheni. ‘While I\u2019d never embarrassed myself in rehearsal before, [the director] totally blew up at me in front of all the junior actresses. After that I won\u2019t be embarrassed about anything,\u2019 she declared firmly. About the eerie character of Rasputin from Land of the Gods<\/em>, previous Top Star Asaka Manato\u2019s final play, she said ‘without that experience I wouldn\u2019t have been able to do this.\u2019 Her emotional strength will be a great support to the new Cosmos Troupe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cosmos Troupe\u2019s new Top Combi\u2019s pre-debut production, West Side Story<\/em>, opened on the 12th. Aizuki\u2019s classmate, 93d class member Serika Toa, who transferred from Flower Troupe, is also appearing in the performance. In this situation where ‘everything\u2019s changing\u2019, she remembered the advice left by Asaka – ‘there were times I had to give my all for the sake of the troupe,\u2019 she had said. ‘Rather than for myself, at this time it\u2019s better for me to work for the Troupe, and that will also benefit the future me later on. Instead of considering my status, I need to do my best as a single actress. I hope to convey that to the junior actresses and then the effect of that will improve their growth.\u2019 Her spirit of optimism as a Takarasienne is truly ‘Immortal\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Talking Kansai dialect with buddy Serika<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among all her classmates in the 93rd class, Serika is the one Aizuki would talk the most with. ‘Basically we just get on really well. Lots of times we\u2019ll just end up chatting about totally pointless stuff (laughs),\u2019 she said, using Kansai dialect despite her own origins being in Chiba. ‘I actually use Kansai dialect a lot. It feels really nice. Even more so with Serika. Her dialect is really thick [Serika is from Kobe],\u2019 she said with a smile. Although at the time she was transferred Serika said ‘if Aichan\u2019s there it\u2019ll be fine,\u2019 and seems to have trust in her, Aizuki sees her as a good otokoyaku rival. ‘I\u2019m looking forward to seeing how she puts her character together in rehearsal,\u2019 she said, full of excitement for their upcoming Grand Theatre performance together.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This interview with Aizuki Hikaru about her lead in\u00a0Immortal Thorns\u00a0was written by Tsutsui Seika (approximate reading) and published by Sports Hochi on January 10th. (Archive link here.) It also features some discussion about Aizuki\u2019s classmate Serika Toa moving into Cosmos … 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":[8,4],"tags":[13,360,199,186,68],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zukalations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/670"}],"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=670"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/zukalations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/670\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":671,"href":"https:\/\/zukalations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/670\/revisions\/671"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zukalations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=670"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zukalations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=670"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zukalations.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=670"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}