Oozora: In the rehearsal room, we were working towards shonichi, trying to a degree to make a perfect work. But of course when you get on the stage you see new things and there are day to day discoveries, so I think steadily it’s become fun.

Ranju: Me too. Things like the direction of the play and the nuances have expanded bit by bit.

Hokushou: On shonichi I was so nervous I was shaking. So much that I couldn’t hold my cigarette in my mouth (laugh)

Oozora: Micchan (Hokushou), I didn’t see that at all!

Ranju: Not at all, not at all!

Hokushou: Truly, on shonichi I was so nervous I couldn’t even sing the songs, but this time more than usual I get to act together with various people, so I can’t help but enjoy it now.

Oozora: That’s right. With the audience’s reactions too, it feels like “Eh, they’re reacting like that here?”

Ranju: Especially in the parts with Renault (laugh)

Oozora: Yeah. I often deceive Renault, but I didn’t imagine it would spark laughter from the audience.

Hokushou: In the scene where he’s tricked by Rick (Oozora) and held at gunpoint, it’s like “You don’t have to laugh there!” (laugh)

Oozora: There’s fun in the fact that he’s expecting to be the one deceiving but is instead deceived - but more than anything I think it’s because Renault is a lovable character (laugh) Come to think of it, the audience on shonichi was really nervous, weren’t they?

Ranju: It came through really clearly!

Hokushou: Truly, they were watching us closely.

Oozora: It’s been a while since I’ve had that kind of very tense shonichi. So I think Renault has become a stress reliever (laugh) The story itself has a lot of serious scenes.

Ranju: Things like Rick and Laszlo (Ranju)’s scenes are especially serious, aren’t they. For me, this is the first time that I’ve worked together with Yuuhi-san (Oozora), but truly it feels like “Is this really the first time?!” Of course, the beginnings of rehearsals were very new, but…

Oozora: We’re already no longer new? (laugh)

Ranju: It’s not like that (laugh) During rehearsals, because Yuuhi is a person who is so perfect at adult roles, I too was conscious of trying to become that way. But when we got on stage I clearly grasped your feelings and your approach to being Rick. While I was feeling that, I too was able to feel like I was living like Laszlo, and now it’s really fun.

Oozora: I feel the same way. From rehearsals onwards, I thought “So this is the way Tomu does it!” and it felt fresh. Even though I felt like it was new, when we exchanged lines it didn’t feel uncomfortable at all and we could do it naturally. Surprisingly I don’t have many scenes with Laszlo, but every day there are slightly different pauses in our dialogue, and it’s really interesting. The feelings that we give off to each other are a little different, but there’s something about us that’s alike.

Ranju: I’m very happy (laugh)

Oozora: I’m being presumptuous, but… (laugh)

Ranju: No. The truth is I also felt the same way.

Hokushou: For the first time in a long time I got to stand onstage with Oozora-san again, and it really filled me with nostalgic feeling.

Oozora: I understand, I understand! I’ve also definitely been feeling it lately! In Hakata it was a different kind of performance and I didn’t feel it, but this time it was like, “This, this, this kind of feeling!” (laugh)

Hokushou: It makes me think of times like “Guys and Dolls.” As I’m performing, I think “This really takes me back.” But recently, Koike-sensei pointed out to me that Renault likes Rick too much…

Oozora: (laugh)

Hokushou: Even if there is a level of friendship and mutual trust with each other, it’s no good if they’re not still trying to find a deeper connection.

Oozora: Renault has a hidden side, doesn’t he. Because you’re a very straightforward person, I thought you were having a hard time creating the role, but on shonichi you got it.

Hokushou: That’s right. I had a feeling of “This is it!”

Oozora: I thought that you were the kind of person who could get your mood up when you get on stage, but you immediately got it in the shonichi performance, and that impressed me (laugh)

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Oozora: In any case Laszlo is adult, isn’t he? Completely different from Rick (laugh)

Ranju: (laugh) At the very end though Rick is adult.

Hokushou: The scene where Rick and Ilsa (Nono) are reunited is interesting. Because Ilsa is so unduly surprised and gasps “Ah!”, I’m also going “Eh, what is it? What is it?” Everyone can see there was something between the two of them (laugh)

Ranju: When everything comes to that much of a halt and the two of them gaze at each other, well, it’s like “There’s something there, right?” (laugh) But Laszlo knows that Ilsa is disturbed, and cares enough to say “Shouldn’t we go?”

Hokushou: He cares a lot~~~~~!

Oozora: Comparatively, Rick’s feelings are petty (laugh)

Hokushou: I don’t know why, but it’s like he drops a bomb (laugh)

Oozora: When I say things like “I even remember the color of the dress you were wearing”, you can sense there is a past. The atmosphere between the four of them obviously turns bad (laugh)

Ranju: Laszlo is too adult.

Oozora:About that, as Rick I hate that aspect of Laszlo (laugh). First of all, Ilsa has a man at her side, and worse yet he’s “super star Laszlo”, right? Even under normal circumstances it would be a shock, but on top of that Laszlo is this really great, broadminded person. So it’s a big shock (laugh)

Ranju + Hokushou: (laugh)

Oozora: Even though in the past Rick also fought against the Fascists like Laszlo, since now he can’t do that Laszlo is even more dazzling. With Laszlo’s great sense of humanity, it makes the ambivalence in Rick’s heart all the more obvious.

Ranju: But Laszlo judges Rick as a person and a man to be trustworthy and thinks it would be okay to give Ilsa up to him. Because he loves Ilsa from the bottom of his heart.

Oozora, Hokushou: Whoh!

Ranju: Because he wants her to stay alive.

Hokushou: As expected, he’s adult~. But no one is nice to poor Renault (laugh)

Ranju: Renault is, well…yeah… (laugh)

Oozora: (laugh) As Rick, I feel like I was betrayed by Ilsa, but when I get affirmation that our time in Paris wasn’t a lie I’m able to come to terms with Laszlo’s greatness. When I think about an option by which no one will suffer, I feel the same as Laszlo and give up Ilsa.

Ranju: After we have our man-to-man talk and then Rick takes that course of action, as Laszlo I can feel that Rick has made a strong resolution. So when we get to the airport, Laszlo reads the situation and goes off to get the luggage.

Hokushou: He reads the situation, huh (laugh)

Ranju: But when he eventually thinks it’s about time to get back, Ilsa is weeping openly. As Laszlo I couldn’t look at Ilsa’s face when she was like that at the beginning of the run.

Oozora: She’s really crying hard, isn’t she?

Ranju: But recently I’ve been thinking, “I never want to let you cry these sad tears again!”

Oozora, Hokushou: Whoh~~~~~~~!

Oozora: That’s a better line than “Here’s looking at you, kid!!”

Ranju: (laugh) When I was able to think like that, somehow I could act differently.

Hokushou: It’s amazing, isn’t it? In contrast, I’m ashamed of myself.

Oozora: It’s okay for Renault.

Ranju: It’s okay to be human.

Oozora: He’s a lovable character. Truly, Rick understands Renault’s way of living. He looks at Renault, who is living successfully during wartime and thinks he's a jerk, but that way of life isn’t wrong. So he has a favorable impression of him.

Hokushou: I think Renault is the same. He feels drawn to Rick.

Ranju: But he often tricks you~ (laugh) I don’t think this onstage, but if I was sitting in the audience I would say “He’s getting screwed over agaaaaaaain” (laugh). It’s really cute.

Oozora: He’s making a smirking face, but the next moment he’s getting tricked (laugh)

Hokushou: (laugh) But in the airport scene, while Rick is talking about his feelings with Ilsa, behind his back Renault is thinking “Idiot~~! Romanticist~~!” as he’s listening.

Oozora, Ranju: (burst out laughing)

Hokushou: (laugh) “Just run away already!”

Oozora: Renault would have run away. Rick has no sense.

Hokushou: Renault is honest. He’s frank about the situation at hand and plays both sides with his connections to the resistance in Africa.

Oozora: He’s a person who can live without worrying no matter what happens (laugh)

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Hokushou: In terms of things to watch for, as you would expect it’s definitely “Here’s looking at you, kid”!

Oozora: As expected, whenever people think of this movie, they think of that line. It’s a clichéd line, but because Koike-sensei was able to bring out the spirit of it, I’m able to say it naturally. Even though it’s a cliché (laugh) (1)

Ranju: It hurts even when you say it in the airport scene.

Oozora: That’s right. It’s only said three times, but since each time Rick’s feelings are different, I think the nuance of it also changes.

Ranju: Also, the anthems scene is a highlight, isn’t it?

Oozora: That’s right, that’s right! By chance that picture appeared in a newspaper, and when I looked at it, everyone had different facial expressions and I was really impressed. Even though it was that big of a crowd of people, not a single person’s expression was predetermined. Those were living people.

Hokushou: You made color copies for everyone, right? (laugh)

Ranju: It really comes at you strongly. Everyone truly had a lot of life force.

Oozora: I think there's a strong feeling that every individual person has their own drama. Even in the finale, there’s a scene where the musumeyaku come at me one after the other and they all have different, concentrated looks. It’s like they’re all saying “I’m the one, right?” (laugh) I’m already feeling like soragumi is the best!

Hokushou: Oh yeah, it’s like all these women coming back to dance with you, and they’re all saying, “Baby, let’s just forget about the past.” (laugh)

Oozora: It makes me want to grin. But when I look back and see the crowd of Ricks there, I’m able to sharpen up again. (laugh)

Hokushou: From the airport scene onwards, it’s surprising to see a crowd of Ricks in the wings (laugh).

Oozora: Everyone is Rick. It’s the “Let’s look for the next owner!” scene (laugh)

Ranju: Ricks-in-Training (laugh)

Oozora: It’s like “You are the owner!” (laugh)

Hokushou: When we ran through the whole show in the rehearsal room and you two did the duet dance everyone spontaneously burst into applause.

Ranju: That’s right. It’s almost like you’re having a conversation during your duet dance…

Oozora: I was really happy.

Ranju: Sumika also seems adult, doesn’t she… Even though normally she’s very “Ah How do you express that other than she’s very “Ah” (laugh)

Oozora: Sumika is very “Ah (laugh) With this sort of pair at the center, I definitely want everyone to see the reborn, adult Soragumi.

Ranju: I agree. Just with this being such a great work, everyone’s energy and ability to concentrate are so amazing. I feel that with Yuuhi-san at the center we can build a good, sturdy pyramid. I’m glad to be a part of that.

Oozora: I don’t know about how I look, but with the production in general, if you come see it you will feel Soragumi’s power. At this point on the ladder, I feel very lucky to have encountered this kind of role. I want to do my best with 120% power so that everyone can enjoy the world of Casablanca!

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(1) In Japan “Here’s looking at you, kid” is one of those lines that is so overdone that no one can take it seriously any more and people groan when they hear it. Think "Run, Forrest, run!" in western culture ;)

(2) Yuuhi is referencing the fact that the sound she's making when she says "Ah" won't translate to paper.