Original Article at Sanspo: http://www.sanspo.com/geino/news/090309/gne0903092133001-n1.htm
03-09-2009
Star Troupe| "It was Truly a Happy Day" Aran Kei Says Farewell to the Grand Theater
Photo Caption: At the Sayonara Parade, the audience send-off from the inner court; Aran Kei leaves the Grand Theater. On the 9th, at 8:09pm, Takarazuka City, Hyogo Province
The sayonara show for Takarazuka Star Troupe top star Aran Kei, My Dear New Orleans/A Bientotheld it's last performance (senshuuraku) on the 9th, at the Takarazuka Grand Theater in Takarazuka City, Hyogo Province.
In this show, in addition to Aran Kei; her partner, musumeyaku top Toono Asuka; otokoyaku stars Tatsuki You, Kazu Ryouka, and Mahiro Shun; as well as Asamine Hikari, Shiran Masumi, Suzuno Katsuki, Hoshikaze Erena, and Kazuki Shin made it a total of ten troupe members all retiring simultaneously.
At the point in the show where normally Aran is made up as a beauty, she wore hair ornaments with Hikonyan, a mascot character popular in Shiga prefecture, to great audience response. "I wanted to leave an impression at senshuuraku, so I wore the idol from my home province," she explained at her interview.
The Sayonara Show began with Aran appearing on the Grand Staircase and singing "Hanafubuki, Koifubuki", then singing and dancing "El Cumbanchero" with 28 otokoyaku. After a medley by the other retiring stars, it turned to an Aran Medley, and she appeared dressed in disguise as Grappin from "The Scarlet Pimpernel" and presented "Taka no You ni" ("Like a Falcon in the Dive"). "The show A Bientot has a very sayonara mode. I wanted to lighten things up, so I put in Grappin."
Taking off that outfit, she next sang the theme song from Singin' in the Rain, followed by the song she sang in Korean during the Korean Tour, "Bo Go Ship Da" (I Want to See You), "El Halcon", and other memorable songs one after the other. During "The Rose" the audience waved penlights that had been distributed to the seats. As the next top star, Yuzuki Reon, sang "Inherit the Stars" ("Hoshi o Tsugu Mono") in the background, Aran threw roses to the audience from the silver bridge. Lastly, everyone sang "A Piece of Courage" ("Hitokakera no Yuuki") in chorus.
The retiring stars all descended the stairs dressed formally in black-crested haori with green hakama. Each spoke individually, starting with the first, Mahiro, who said, "It was wonderful to be a performer these seven years." Kazu: "I loved the air here at the Grand Theater." Tatsuki: "Sixteen years of Takarazuka life. I want to do my best with a smile till the end." Asuka said, "Twelve years; this wasn't an easy decision. I'm very sad," and began to cry.
Aran, the last to descend, said "These years, I've been having a long dream. All of you with me now gave me the power to believe in my dream." As she spoke, a voice called from the audience, "Don't quit!" "That's impossible, but it makes me so happy that you said that," she replied with a smile.
At her retirement interview, she said openly, "It's truly been a happy day, but when I think that it's the last of the Grand Theater, I feel very sad. Since the play, I've been keeping a tight hold on myself, so I couldn't see the faces of the people there to see me off." As for her successor Yuzuki becoming the new Star Troupe top, she said, "I want her to feel free to make a Star Troupe that's different than it was in my time."
After displaying her hand print, it was time for the Sayonara Parade. In a light drizzle, Aran's father joined 6000 fans to see her off. Riding in a dark blue foreign car with the roof down, she parted from the familiar core of Takarazuka.
She will not retire officially until the last performance of the Tokyo Theater run (from March 27th through April 26th).
Responses from Aran Kei's Retirement Interview are quoted individually below.
Aran Kei: "I am Aran Kei of Takarazuka Revue's Star Troupe. I'm going to keep saying it while I can (laughs). Starting with this morning, today I've been welcomed by my wonderful, kind, warm colleagues, and gone out on stage and been welcomed by a warm audience, so it was truly a happy day. When I think of it being the last time I'll set foot on the stage at Takarazuka's Grand Theater, I become desolately sad, so I tried my best not to dwell on it. But even so, many memories came back to me. These have truly been a happy nineteen years."
--- What specifically comes to your mind?
Aran: "My Hatsubutai [Debut Show]. Back then, it was the old theater, but what I really remember is the upperclassmen getting angry at me, the problem child, and all the faces and such."
--- You had said, "I want to go out bravely, like the cherry blossoms." How is the flower blooming now?
Aran: "Since there's still Tokyo, I'd say it's almost in full bloom." [Hachibusaki = 80% blooming]
--- Whose idea was it to have "Hikonyan" appear in the show?
Aran: "It was mine. I wanted to leave an impression at senshuuraku. My home province is Shiga, so I thought it would be good to wear Shiga's idol Hikonyan."
--- What about the particulars of the Sayonara Show? You appear unexpectedly as the strange Grappin.
Aran: "No matter what, I wanted to change the "Mae" in "Sakura - Ayashi made ni Utsukushii no Omae" ("Cherry Blossoms - You're so beautiful that you bewitch") to "Grappin". The regular show itself is made in such a way that it feels like a Sayonara Show, so it's always in Sayonara Mode. And so, I thought it would be nice to lighten the Sayonara Show itself up with an appearance by Grappin. Can I do it a while? And it turned out well."
---You never seemed about to cry, but were there any moments where you had to hold yourself together?
Aran: Yes, there were. I just couldn't look at the faces of everyone there to see me off. I really wanted to look carefully at each and every person's face, but I didn't think I'd be able to bear it, and so I just sort of looked out blurrily. (Laughs)"
--- When you went out in the play's last scene, was there something in particular that came to your attention?
Aran: "In My Dear New Orleans, New Orleans is inseparable from Takarazuka for me, and in my heart I was saying, "My Dear Takarazuka."
--- Were you thinking you didn't want to cry if you could help it?
Aran: "I was. If I cry, I can't sing the songs, and, if I cry, the audience cries. I can't exactly say that I'm immune to infectious crying either. I have great endurance, but when I would see the audience crying, there were times when I couldn't help crying too. "
--- And did the call of "Don't quit!" from the audience effect you?
Aran: "It makes me happy. To be able to retire while people are kind enough to say that to me, is the greatest joy there is."
--- Since Yuzuki Reon will now lead, what are your thoughts for Star Troupe from here on?
Aran: "I want them to make a different Star Troupe. Without getting trapped by how it was before. I want Yuzuki to be herself and behave freely on stage."
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(The article on the revue's website at http://kageki.hankyu.co.jp/news/detail/41b06df1c8590c053f8bbe139b50e2e0.html has different photos, and one question the Sanspo article doesn't:
Q: What did you say to those who are retiring with you?
A: The ten of us who are retiring each had so many different memories overwhelming us today. We were each flooded with our own thoughts, when we met we didn't really say anything special to each other.
Note: The original Japanese text used on this site is the property of the Takarazuka Revue and Hankyu Corporation. It is used without permission, with the intent of publicizing the revue to a larger audience.
The translations on this site were done by me. I reserve all applicable copyright on them and DO NOT give permission for them to be redistributed, published, retranslated, used as fansub scripts, etc.