Sakakihara Kazuko's Takarazuka First Night & Event Revue

Aran Kei, A Captivating Villain — Star Troupe's "El Halcon -The Hawk-"

Star Troupe Grand Theater Opening Night (Oct. 2nd)
"El Halcon -The Hawk-"

The curtain has gone up for Star Troupe's attention-grabbing production. There are two new shows: "El Halcon", a romance on ocean life by Aoike Yasuko, written and directed by Saito Yoshimasa, and Kusano Akira's revue show "Revue Orchids", which is wrapped in a theme of orchids.

Having a gorgeous spectacle which makes your heart jump, followed by a passionate and sexy tango show is not a bad combination, and the beauty of the kind of costume show which Star Troupe is famous for, and the strong, Latin-flavored show, really makes it a show which brings the troupe's color to life.

The musical "El Halcon", as previously written by Aoike Yasuko, is set on a backdrop of the Spanish and English war for hegemony over the seas, and is a magnificent tale about the life of the cool-headed and ambitious Tyrian Persimmon. I wondered how they would be able to accomplish the task of fitting the original work into the short length of a musical, but Saitou Yoshimasa encompassed nearly all of the life of Tyrian Persimmon with love for the original work and the lead character. The pace is very quick, and the links between the episodes in every scene aren't explained well, but those cracks are filled with the individuality of the characters, so that no matter how many times you go it's even more interesting.

The story is set in the 16th century, where the English Navy Commander Tyrian Persimmon (who has Spanish blood flowing in his veins), holds onto a dream of one day becoming master of the seven seas. For that purpose, he secretly crosses to Spain, tricking and consigning to oblivion various people. Set against Tyrian is Luminous Red Benedict, son of a prominent Plymouth merchant whom Tyrian murdered. Red has become a pirate and is determined to have a showdown with Tyrian. On the other hand, Tyrian (who is steadily increasing his hegemony over the seas) meets the titled French noblewoman and pirate Gilda. They tremble beneath a complicated mix of love and hate, as they battle against each other.

Then Tyrian at last joins the Spanish Armada, setting forth across all the oceans of the world in his ship, "El Halcon".....

As mentioned previously, the arrangement of Tyrian's life as written by Saitou is a way to visualize the two-dimensional world of the comic which borrows freely from the conceptualizations of cartoons and picture story books. It makes frequent use of videos, to smoothly place importance on the scene changes. He is a director who places emphasis on the story, rather than a stage mentality, with the natural entertainment of an "action picture". The action and the staging plays to the gallery, the point being to paint and show suggestively the trickery and threads of love that make up the connections between these people. It is good as a show to give pleasure to the general public. In a sense, think it's correct to say that its nature follows the path of "The Rose of Versailles". In this way, if you remember how the people who went to see that show at the Grand Theater piled up, you could think of this as the activity of the new entertainment writer of Takarazuka.

In that "action picture" world, the cool-headed, cold-blooded, dirty character Tryian Black who kills people without a pang of conscience, is played by Aran Kei. A beautiful and captivating villain in her splendid costumes and long wig. Before it began, I had misgivings of how near she would be able to draw to the inhumanity of Tyrian, as someone who, no matter the role, had always made her gentle heart felt previously. But she portrayed well-defined motivations of self-interested ambition, and established Tyrian as not just a cold-blooded man, but a villain with motive. From the very start of the theme song (Terashima Tamiya's number), the range of the music and her vocal quality blended well, and the world of the lyrics rose to the surface before the audience's eyes.

The female pirate and courageous Gilda was played by Toono Asuka. In the midst of fighting her strength from living as a woman and purity, and she appeared and disappeared many times as a weakness — the woman Tyrian was captivated by. Mid-way through the story she is seen in a white dress. You can feel her high pride as a female pirate and titled noblewoman, and the beautiful emotional impact of the scene where she stands before Tyrian and shows him the scar on her body lingers.

Luminous Red Benedict is Yuzuki Reon. She expresses very well the change between the innocence of the slightly spoiled rich gentleman and the ferociousness of the pirate he becomes after his father is killed. She makes a grand appearance in her long, blond wig, and vividly plays the part of the young leader who struggles against Tyrian.

Tatsuki You plays the Spanish spy, and man with some relation to Tyrian, Gerard. She doesn't have a lot of scenes, but through her you really feel the brightness and passion of Spain. Suzumi Shio is a commissioned officer in the navy who hides a grudge against Tyrian for stealing away his fiancee Penelope. and she projects the nobleness of an officer.

Nicholas, who adores Tyrian and shares his fate, is Ayaka Rei, who will be retiring after this performance. This is a fairly well fleshed-out character in the original, and the image is a little different in the shape of the hair and such, but more than that she puts emphasis on bringing his beautiful form into existence for this choice role. Besides Nicholas, the others always constantly following Tyrian are Ayami Haya and Mahiro Shun. Ayami holds down her charm, and Mahiro her sweetness while they act out the roles of villainous henchmen.

Kazu Ryouka plays Captain Black, who saves Red and becomes a friend. The scar on her face gives her a rough appearance, but she seems to glow with chivalry, and has both a flowery side and a sturdy side. In the scenes with Yuzuki and Kazu, they have an array of young underlings, each with their own individuality which is fun to simply watch. Those members are: Tsurumi Mayuu, Yumeno Seika, Kurenai Yuzuru, Aomi Rima, Ichijou Azusa, Marimura Kaoru, Kisaragi Ren, Kai Hayato, Shiotsuki Shuu, Asato Mao, Shingetsu Saku, and Makaze Suzuho.

Also, the musumeyaku have various positions, and make their appearances tangled with Tyrian. Koto Marie plays the daughter of the superintendent of the English navy, a fiancee lured away by Tyrian and then dumped. She portrays her one-sided, spoiled, and completely unaware of society character well, and when she is lured away by Tyrian, it is a somewhat comical portrayal mixed with the erotic.

Minami Mari, who will be retiring after this performance, plays Tyrian's stepfather's lover, Sigritte, and gives a quality performance as a strong-spirit with beautiful ambitions.

The up-and-coming musumeyaku Kitori Mariya plays Juliette, chosen by Tyrian to keep Sigritte at a distance from his father. This was a role designed by the director, and it has a too-heavy comical bent which worries me. The same for the role of Queen Elisabeth (Hoshikaze Erena) — was this over-done caricature also from Saitou's cartoon outlook on the world?

On the other hand, the female pirates that Gilda spearheads are a highlight, with their raison d'etre, who showed their coolness in the battle scenes. Those members were the veterans Asamine Hikari and Momoka Sari, as well as younger members like Hisaki Seara and Hana Nonomi.

Fortifying many of the side scenes was Ema Naoki as Red's father and a Spanish naval commander. Tyrian's mother Isabella, the woman in love with and loved by Gerard, was Mari Yuzumi. Nishiki Ai was Tyrian's father Edrington and the Ricardo of the Spanish navy. Tyrian's stepfather Sir Persimmon, the man with the multitude of lovers, was Shiran Masumi. They each make their presence felt in the roles that fill in the underplot of the story.

It is a show made up of intrigue and conflict, but there are also scenes to cleanse the heart. There is a scene where young Tyrian (Tenju Mitsuki) and young Gilda (Hazakura Shizuku) meet — an episode which wasn't drawn in the original two series. But here we can see from the outset the boy Tyrian's kindness, the loneliness in his heart, and his violent temperament, which converge with Aran's Tyrian in the distant future, allowing us to grasp the humanity inside the coldness. This was the meticulous calculating of Saitou's arrangement, and it was splendidly successful.

The story progresses speedily with very busy developments, but nevertheless you can feel the scale of the grand ocean romance through the talents involved in the project. The azure sky and seagulls of the movie creator Oku Shuutarou. The easy to remember songs created by Terashima Tamiya's talent, which create a sensation of stretching out to eternity. Through the collaboration of these outside staff, as well as being able to make a stage adaption which didn't part from the respect the original works got from Aoike Yasuko, it means that Saitou yoshimasa's debut work at the Grand Theater was a large step up in his career.