This year’s final Star Troupe performance Teemuzu no kiri ni wakare o (Farewell in the Mists of the Thames) brought us the wonderful duo of Ootori Ran and Haruka Kurara. With her recital, Ootori Ran has further increased the brilliance with which she shines. Haruka Kurara’s development is also drawing a lot of attention with her second major role since Scarlett.

One day during rehearsal, we had this duo speak to us about theatre, acting, and other things.



About the Recital

Haruka: I had you show me the second Tokyo performance of the recital.

Ootori: Yes. I felt I gave 100% of my power to that recital. It’s a very refreshing feeling. There’s nothing I regret about it.

Haruka: Really?

Ootori: I don’t think “Oh, I should have done this, or I should have done that.” Not at all. Well, I guess that’s all due to the work of my teachers and all the people around me.

Haruka: After I saw it, I thought, “I was that person’s partner?!!!”

Ootori: (laughs)

Haruka: Really, I actually thought that. During the Tokyo run of Gone With The Wind I would somehow find out when something happened, like that you had received your sheet music. Watching the recital, I remembered how tough it must have been to memorize the music.

Ootori: During that production, I was practicing for the recital every day. I had decided to dedicate all my personal time to that recital until it was over. I robbed myself of my own amusement and concentrated completely on the recital. But that’s why I have no regrets, now.



Mysterious Destiny

Haruka: When I was Scarlett, I also couldn’t believe that I had the honor of playing opposite you, Sou-san (Ootori). And yet I will be your partner again this time…

Ootori: Yeah.

Haruka: I’m afraid I will be a nuisance to you since I cannot do anything. But I will work hard, and I think it is a wonderful thing to be working with you.

Ootori: If you stop and think about it, I was already a top star when you joined Takarazuka. Scary—!

Haruka: (laughs)

Ootori: There were days when the first and second year Music School students went to the theatre, right?

Haruka: Yes.

Ootori: When you were watching me on stage, I bet you didn’t think that someday you’d be playing opposite me.

Haruka: No, I didn’t. Though I think about that often when I watch Boku wa Kimi (I Am You).

Ootori: Yeah.

Haruka: Wa ga Ai wa Yama no Kanata ni (My Love Beyond the Mountains) was another production I saw while I was still a fan. That’s why my friends say they can’t believe I’m allowed to play opposite you, either.

Ootori: Ah-ha-ha! (laughing) Your friends?

Haruka: Yes. When the friends I used to go to the theatre with came to see me as Scarlett, they said, “We really can’t believe it. Weren’t we sitting next to each other in the audience until just recently?” (laughs)

Ootori: I bet! (laughs)

Haruka: Really, I feel very strange about it, too…

Ootori: Yeah. You know, many years ago it must have been decided that in the year 1977, the threads of our destinies would be bound together. Many years ago, from the time we were born…

Haruka: Yes. But it’s scary somehow to think like that…

Ootori: That’s true. Who knows, in three years or so, we might be destined to be tied together to something else that will surprise us.

Haruka: U-fu-fu (laughing)

Ootori: Destiny is scary, isn’t it.

Haruka: You never know what will happen. I was an otokoyaku for a while, too, you know.

Ootori: Yeah.

Haruka: That sort of thing gets me, too—having the honor to team up with you in a female role! Even after Scarlett, I didn’t think I would go on playing women’s roles…

Ootori: Yeah, I can imagine.



Helping Each Other On Stage

Haruka: I apologize for making you help me all the time, for ending up relying on you completely since we were paired.

Ootori: No, I’m not constantly helping you. There’s times when you really help me, you know!

Haruka: Really?

Ootori: Really! We have to help each other on stage. You can’t do theatre by yourself.

Haruka: Yes.

Ootori: I definitely can’t tell a lie, y’know. If I didn’t actually like you, I wouldn’t be able to say the line “I love you” even on stage, you see.

Haruka: Yes.

Ootori: The fact that I can say that means there’s something about you that makes me fall for you that much. The stage is for each other. It’s not one-sided.

Haruka: That is true.

Ootori: In the very beginning I kept thinking that I’d have to cover up for you if you made a mistake. Now I don’t worry about that anymore. So relax, you’ll be fine.

Haruka: But…

Ootori: Until now, I used to think that if I made a mistake, you’d mess up, too, so I tried very hard to be strong and reliable. But gradually I realized that you’d become strong, too, so I relaxed.

Haruka: Now what should I do!

Ootori: Do it yourself from now on, I don’t mind (laughs).

Haruka: During these rehearsals, I sensed that something about you was different from the rehearsals for Gone With The Wind.

Ootori: That’s true, I only think about myself now (laughs).

Haruka: Yeah, but I agree that I need to do things properly on my own.

Ootori: Right, you have to do that (laughs)



The Heart is Important!

Haruka: In my case, even if I think about something a lot, I can’t actually do it.

Ootori: Really? This month everyone’s been saying how good you’ve become.

Haruka: I think that must be because Shibata-sensei has been teaching me properly.

Ootori: Yeah, Shibata-sensei has. Ueda-sensei from Gone With The Wind lets you do the role the way you think it should be done. On the other hand, if you do it badly, he cuts you out. He’s not the type of teacher to give you orders.

Haruka: No, not at all.

Ootori: I guess that was good at the time. You might have flipped out if someone had been telling you exactly how to do something during that time in the beginning when you didn’t know how to move on stage…

Haruka: I imagine so. During Gone With The Wind I didn’t know anything, and I was very afraid of the things I didn’t know.

Ootori: But Shibata-sensei makes you do things the way he envisions them. His way of directing is the exact opposite of Ueda-sensei’s.

Haruka: Yes, I was very surprised when the rehearsals started. I wasn’t sure how I should do the things he told me to do.

Ootori: Yeah, yeah.

Haruka: For example, he told me the way I said “Robert” (the name of Ootori’s role) was completely wrong. He told me a lot about how I should say it. When I say something wrong, he’ll tell me so, but I don’t know where I’m wrong…

Ootori: I see.

Haruka: But, Sou-san, you told me, “Sensei wants you to think about the underlying emotions, the heart behind the words when you say them.”

Ootori: Yeah, he wants you to express the feelings, in the end.

Haruka: Yes.

Ootori: Shirai-sensei was like that, to the point that he would spend seven hours on one phrase. He would make you say that one phrase over and over. He’d say it, too, of course. But it doesn’t work if you try to imitate what the director says and sound like him.

Haruka: Yes.

Ootori: It’s not the voice itself. If you pick up on the feelings behind the director’s words and put those emotions into what you say, the director will tell you it’s okay.

Haruka: So that’s how it works? I didn’t understand that in the beginning, so I ended up listening only to the director’s voice. But thanks to what you told me, Sou-san, somehow I finally came to understand what the director was trying to say.

Ootori: Ah, really? That’s good, that’s good (laughs).

Haruka: It made me very happy. Honestly. But I still can’t make Princess Anne so cute that you can’t lay your hands on her, Sou-san (laughs).

Ootori: There aren’t many lines for that part, either.

Haruka: My acting has to be good, doesn’t it. That’s hard.

Ootori: But isn’t she easier to play than Scarlett?

Haruka: I guess so…

Ootori: Scarlett was an incredibly individualistic character. She was even married before. Princess Anne, though, is a role much more suited to you. It might have been better for you to do this role before you did Scarlett.

Haruka: Maybe.



Like Alain Delon???

Ootori: Robert is a man who is very good at his job. Inside, I try to play him like Alain Delon.

Haruka: U-fu-fu (laughing). There are a lot of women around him, aren’t there.

Ootori: That’s right. It’s troublesome (laughs). But his love with Princess Anne is tragic and they separate.

Haruka: Even though he tries to go to her, he is held back…

Ootori: And so I leave.

Haruka: Yes.

Ootori: Recently when I spoke with Uno Juukichi-san, I learned something great. He told me that it’s impertinent to create a character on your own. He said that when you receive a role, you should imagine how some other skilled actor would play it and try to imitate him.

Haruka: ...

Ootori: So that’s why I’m playing Robert as I picture Alain Delon would do this role.

Haruka: Is that so?

Ootori: Uno-san said that if you’re playing Scarlett, for example, you should tell yourself “I am Scarlett, I am Scarlett.” Then that role’s typical character will come out. I admitted to him that on the first day of Gone With The Wind I had told Haruka Kurara-san “You are Scarlett, you are Scarlett”. He said that was the right thing to do.

Haruka: That helped me.

Ootori: Yeah, he said that those words are very important, that if you think something, it will come out, so you should believe it in your heart.

Haruka: Well then, this time I’ll tell myself, “I am Anne, I am Anne.”

Ootori: Exactly. You should think, “I am Anne, princess of England.”

Haruka: Yes, I will try that.



The Princess’s Downfall?!

Ootori: This is the first time we’re together for a revue.

Haruka: Yes. I’ve only played a woman in a revue for a little bit during the big meeting for the magazine subscribers.

Ootori: This time the show features a female thief.

Haruka: A noble girl who is actually a burglar.

Ootori: And as a thief, I’m supposed to steal things, too, but instead my heart is stolen.

Haruka: Yes. Um, Sou-san, I wear long skirts for the whole performance. I think they’re going to cause problems for me again.

Ootori: Yeah, that could be.

Haruka: During the Night and Day part of the Tokyo production, I stepped on my skirt and ended up sitting down on the staircase.

Ootori: Yeah (laughs).

Haruka: I didn’t know what had happened to me! All of a sudden I was down and I looked up at your face with surprise. I was scared for about three days after that.

Ootori: I was shocked! (laughs)

Haruka: Without thinking you called, “LOOK OUT!” (laughs)

Ootori: I did? (laughs)

Haruka: It was scary, dancing on the staircase. This time in the prologue, we use the silver bridge, don’t we?

Ootori: Yeah.

Haruka: I’m terrified of that because my skirts are huge. I wonder if I’ll fall into the orchestra pit or tumble into the audience? I’m already really scared. I’m especially nervous because it’s the prologue.

Ootori: Dear readers! Especially those of you sitting in the first row! Please look forward to Kurara-chan falling into your laps!

Haruka: (laughs) I’m so worried…

Ootori: When you fall, make sure you go by yourself. Don’t drag me down with you, I’m telling you! (laughs)

Haruka: Huh? But I’ll be clinging to you! (laughs)

Ootori: NO! No way, no way (laughs). The orchestra pit is really deep, though, so let’s try to be careful, okay?

Haruka: Yes, I’ll do my best.