Matobu: “Love and Death in Arabia” is an Egyptian costume production, so to get as much of a sense of that as possible during rehearsals, we put on Japanese clothing over our Western clothes, as we would when rehearsing for a Japanese production.

Ozora: That’s right, like yukata (1), right? But our real costumes were much thicker and heavier, so we were surprised (laughs).

Sou: Speaking of surprises, there was Yuuhi-san (Ozora)’s mustache. During rehearsal….

Matobu: (laughs)

Ozora: That’s right (laughs). On the rehearsal day when I first put on the mustache, I thought it would be bad to surprise her, so I planned to tell Yuu-kun (Matobu) in advance before we met, but then rehearsals started while I was thinking that….

Matobu: I looked back over my shoulder during the performance, and there was Yuuhi-san with her mustache and I seem to have gone: “Ooh!!” (laughs). You didn’t have any stage makeup on, but it was a perfect match, and very cool (laughs).

Ozora/Sou: (laughs)



Matobu: Aren’t there a lot of lines which are difficult to say this time? Like “Egypt”?

Sou: “Egypt” is hard to say, isn’t it? (laughs)

Matobu: “Ibrahim (Ozora)” definitely (laughs).

Sou: I call him “brother” (2), so that’s simple (laughs).

Ozora: (laughs) When I had to say “Ibrahim” for the first time, for an article or something, I chewed it over (laughs). After all, you don’t say your own name, do you? ….Ah! I do~!!

Matobu: You do~!!

Ozora: I say, “I’m Ibrahim”~!! (laughs)

Sou: Ahhh, and now from tomorrow onward you’re going to be all self-conscious, how tough (laughs).

Ozora: Little Brother (Sou), you’re not very endearing~!!

Matobu/Sou: (laughs)

Matobu: It seems like you’re often getting into sibling quarrels in the wings of the stage, hm? (laughs)

Sou: Constantly (laughs).

Matobu: I wonder why that iiiis?

Sou: Because O-niichan (3) (Ozora) always starts it (laughs).

Ozora: Because Tussun (Sou) has done something bad (laughs). So I give him a gentle poke. And when I do that, he gives it back to me doubled (laughs).

Sou: (turns to Matobu) I do not!!

Matobu: No, don’t tell it to me (laughs). It’s Tussun, so he probably does do it (laughs).

Sou: I~ do~ no~t.

Matobu/Ozora: (laughs)



Matobu: There’s a rumor that Thomas (Matobu)’s Egyptian clothing was a present from O-niichan (laughs).

Ozora: That’s because O-niichan is Thomas’s sponsor (laughs). Well, but I think Tussun gave him some presents here and there.

Matobu: The rings and accessories are from Tussun (laughs).

Ozora: “The Muslim turban with the gold border” and such?

Sou: Yes, that’s right (laughs).

Matobu: There’s this feeling that Tussun waves his tail with all his might for Thomas (laughs).

Sou: (laughs) That’s because for Tussun, the earth revolves around Thomas. During the fight scene between Thomas and Aziz (Mayuzuki), just how far will I go to cheer Thomas on…? It’s amazing. I use every word possible to cheer him on (laughs).

Matobu: I think he wins the fight because of Tussun (laughs).

Sou: Though O-niichan is completely cool during the fight scene (laughs).

Ozora: Well…

Matobu/Sou: (in a low voice) “Aziz~!!”

Ozora: --I say (laugh). Because Aziz plays foul. It’s a thorough rebuke, but Aziz doesn’t stop.

Matobu/Sou: (laughs)

Sou: O-niichan, you often act with your forehead, don’t you?

Matobu: He does, He does!! He’ll answer you by deepening the wrinkles between his brows (laughs).

Sou: I know~!! (laughs)

Ozora: (laughs) Stop it~ You’ll make me self-conscious~ Now I won’t be able to move~ (laughs)

Matobu/Sou: (laughs)

Ozora: This time Ibrahim is a calm character with only a small portion of his face visible below his turban, so he doesn’t move about actively…. Perhaps that’s why all his expression is concentrated in his forehead (laughs).

Matobu/Sou: (laughs)



Ozora: Eritan (Sou), during rehearsals of that scene where you turn towards the bandits and shoot, you got a huge bruise on your knee, didn’t you?

Sou: Yes. When I go down on one knee and point the gun, it’s like I’m performing in a dream, and it’s over before I notice it.

Ozora: A very enthusiastic performance, eh?

Sou: Yes (laughs).

Matobu: Later in that scene, when he’s removing the bullets from his gun, Tussun sulks, “My father and brother are different…” and is very adorable (laughs). A “he’s that sulky!?” kind of feeling.

Ozora/Sou: (laughs)

Sou: The Thomas in that scene has become kinder day by day, but with Tussun around the kindness can’t be helped (laughs).

Matobu: (laughs) Lately, when you come up front you’ve been doing a gesture to tuck your turban back behind your ears like Kinpachi-sensei (4) tucks his hair, then continue to hold it as you head backstage, and isn’t that sulking? That’s really too adorable and amusing (laughs).

Sou: That gesture is how Tussun shows when he’s feeling aggravated (laughs).

Matobu: Which reminds me, that time when the feather in your earring got caught in your mouth, you said, “Huh?” extremely naturally, didn’t you? (laughs)

Ozora: Tussun is so free~ (laughs).

Matobu: Very Tussun-like (laughs).

Sou: (laughs) In the harem scene, when Thomas is singing, the court ladies are always giving him high praise. “Doesn’t he have a nice voice?” or “Out of all your friends, he’s the most wonderful.”

Matobu/Ozora: (laughs)

Ozora: “Out of all the friends you’ve ever had,” they want to say (laughs).

Sou: I’d only had bad companions (laughs). Sometimes I say things to the court ladies like: “Next time, I’m going to teach him Arabian” or “I bought those clothes for him”….

Matobu: I don’t think that’s true.

Ozora: I don’t either.

Matobu: I think the clothes were from O-niichan.

Sou: I was just saying it!

Ozora: Why were you just saying things arbitrarily? (laughs)

Sou: That’s… just Tussun, I think…. Tussun when he’s been invited to the harem….

Matobu/Ozora: (laughs)



Sou: The “Phantom Ship” scenes in the revue show are really interesting. Particularly Yuu-san’s final adlib (laughs). You get more talkative day by day (laughs).

Matobu: (laughs)

Sou: I think the audience also looks forward to it every day (laughs).

Ozora: I look forward to it too (laughs). I always listen and laugh while I’m changing costumes (laughs).

Sou: (laughs). And also that final fall you take is amazing. You fall with a bang.

Matobu: That, you know, I thought that out (laughs).

Ozora: Eeeeeh, I want to see it!

Sou: Though I always think, “That looks like it hurts!”

Matobu: It doesn’t hurt at all.

Ozora: This time I’ll do my best to change quickly and try to watch from the wings (laughs).



Matobu: The chuzume (5) has a familiar feel, like when the curtain goes up on a Nihonmono, and is a lot of fun.

Ozora: Yeah. The lights go out, and everyone entering in their glorious costumes goes out onto the ginkyou to standby.

Matobu: When the lights snap on, pin-pointing us, the audience members all say, “Wow!” with their mouths open (laughs). It’s rare in a Western-costume show.

Sou: And furthermore, it’s a chuzume without a curtain going up.

Matobu: Hey. Speaking of the chuzume, there’s also the highlight “Eight Charmant”, where the eight otokoyaku display their long, beautiful legs.

Ozora: When I run into them at the side of the stage, it’s “Oooh!” Very intense.

Sou: Probably because of the tappers (6).

Matobu: Yeah. For a short moment on stage, they surround me, and they’re all looking at me with intense eyes (laughs). They’re tempting me (laughs).

Ozora/Sou: (laughs)



Matobu: Eritan, how’s the rockette scene?

Sou: I wonder if I get a boost of youthful power? Somehow I always become really energized when I go out in that scene (laughs). It was the same during rehearsals when I was taking part in the independent rehearsals (7). It was a rehearsal with underclassmen at its core, so was generally early in the morning, but after the independent rehearsals I’d be energized.

Matobu: Ohhh?

Ozora: Could it be that you sucked up that youthful energy, Eritan, and….

Matobu: And everyone else became exhausted….

Sou: And thanks to that I’d hear, “Somehow, when Sou-san participates in the independent rehearsals, I become tired”, and such (laughs).

Matobu/Ozora: (laughs)



Sou: “Ebb Tide” is truly graceful, isn’t it?

Matobu: Yes, truly graceful.

Ozora: A pure scene (laughs). The theme of that scene is “first love”. First Mitsuru (Hanagata) and Himeka-chan (Tsukino) come out, next Mattsu (Misuzu) and Sumika-chan (Nono), and finally Miho-chan (Maishiro) and I come out, but lately I’ve been asked, “Is that you gradually becoming older?” by someone who came to see the show.

Matobu/Sou: Ooh!

Ozora: But that’s not right!! (laughs)

Sou: The scenario is that the three couples are the same age?

Ozora: Well, about the same age, I’d say. Mitsuru and Mattsu are definitely not the stages of my youth (laughs).



Matobu: The Eritan in “The Sea is Burning” is eeeevil.

Ozora: Eeeevil.

Sou: (laughs)

Matobu: And also, the people in the same group as Eritan put on a show of being really lowbred (laughs). The way they talk is also peculiar (laughs). Lately the one who particularly has that feel is Mano Sugata (laughs).

Sou: You mean her “yabbee yo…!” (8)? (laughs)

Matobu: That’s right!! (laughs) After Serra (Sou) has stabbed me with the knife, when he pulls the knife out, she says “yabbee yo…!” in the same kind of tone that Tanaka Kunie used in “From the Northern Country”(9) (laughs).

Ozora/Sou: (laughs)

Sou: That’s her talking to herself, maybe? (laughs)

Ozora: The words in her heart? (laughs)

Matobu: Everyone else says something like, “Hey, Serra!” and performs normally, but she (imitating Tanaka Kunie on the escalator) “yabbee yo…! Yabbee koto ni natta yo…!” (10) (laughs) As if she were saying “Southern Fox…” (laughs).



Ozora: Yuu-kun and Ayane-chan’s duet dance is great!

Matobu: (laughs)

Sou: During the duet dance during the chuzume, and the Grand Staircase duet dance at the end too, Yuu-san is totally sexy and I love it (laughs).

Matobu: (laughs)

Ozora: Yes, it’s my favorite (laughs).

Matobu: Enough already (laughs).

Ozora: That place where Yuu-kun holds out her hand to Ayane-chan and her face says “Come here” (11) (laughs).

Matobu: Because those are the words that have taken-over in my heart. “Come here” (laughs).

Ozora: (laughs). That hard feeling as you hold out your hand while looking at Ayane-chan is good (laughs). And yet it’s a little over-bearing (laughs).

Matobu: (laughs)

Ozora: Maybe we can call it Yuu-kun’s male presence? Ever since rehearsals I’ve been all: “There, that’s it! That’s right! Sensei, you get it!” (laughs). Doing a two-person comedy routine all alone (laughs).

Matobu/Sou: (laughs)

Matobu: Ever since Yuuhi-san talked about the “come here” on Sky Stage, it seems like a mountain of letters have been written about it (laughs). “What Yuuhi-san said about the ‘come here’ was exactly right”, and so on (laughs).

Ozora/Sou: (laughs)

---

Cut Bits
(From the “Graph Drips” section at the back of the issue.)

On the Dialogue

Matobu: “Okugata-sama” is also pretty difficult to say, and “Okugata-sama no oyasashisa no orei ni…” (12) is completely… (laughs).

Sou: For me, it’s saying: “Awaremi-fukai arraa wa…” (13)

Matobu: We know! (laughs)

Ozora: (laughs)

Matobu: I’m always thinking, “You can do it!” in my heart.

Ozora/Sou: (laughs)


On the Mustaches

Sou: When O-niichan (Yuuhi) is laughing off-stage, she always has to press her mustache on with a finger so that it doesn’t come off, and she looks completely silly (laughs).

Matobu/Ozora: (laughs)

Ozora: Among the actresses playing Bedouin, most of them have mustaches, so it’s amazing when I’m talking with them all. There’s a ton of people pressing their mustaches on (laughs).

Sou: That seems to be becoming a habit, doesn’t it?

Ozora: It does (laughs).

Sou: Sooner or later you’ll be doing it even when you don’t have a mustache… (laughs).

Matobu: Like you’re trying to hold your mouth on… (laughs).

Ozora: (laughs)


On the Songs

Matobu: Eritan, is the rockette song “Ooo~ atsumare~” (14) only? (laughs)

Sou: Noo~ooo~ (laughs). It’s “Hi~totsu umare~ Fu~tatsu umare~” (laughs).

Matobu: O-niichan told me she heard “Ooo~ atsumare~” (laughs).

Ozora: Yeah (laughs). That’s what I heard. When I told Eritan that, she said, “No!” and got angry (laughs).

Matobu: Another sibling fight!? (laughs)

Ozora/Sou: (laughs)

Sou: Lately the “u” in “umare” has gotten emphasized when we sing (laughs).

Ozora: I know (laughs). You’re trying hard, huh? But I was talking to Marin (Yuuma) recently. She said now it sounds like “futa tsumare” during the “fu~tatsu umare” (laughs).

Matobu/Sou: (laughs)

---

(1) yukata: a light summer kimono
(2) aniue: “older/big brother”, polite and slightly antiquated
(3) o-niichan: “older/big brother”, the “chan” makes it sound more like something a younger person would say
(4) Kinpachi-sensei: a character in the TV drama “Class 3-B Kinpachi-sensei”
(5) chuzume: the special scene generally about mid-way through the revue when almost the entire troupe comes out to perform an up-beat number
(6) タッパ (tappa): something French? Not “tupperwear”, I’m guessing, though that’s all that my various dictionaries want to give me.
(7) independent rehearsals: rehearsals without an instructor
(8) “yabbee yo” is a very casual, masculine way to say “yabai yo”, which means loosely: “This is dangerous!”/”Crap!”
(9) “From the Northern Country” (Kita no Kuni kara) was a TV drama set in Hokkaido that ran in the early 80s, with some more recent specials. Tanaka Kunie played the main character.
(10) “yabbee yo…! Yabbee koto ni natta yo…!” = “This is bad! Things have gotten bad!”
(11) “Koi yo” = “Come”/”Come here”
(12) “Okugata-sama no oyasashisa no orei ni…” = “I am grateful for your ladyship’s kindness…”
(13) “Awaremi-fukai arraa wa…” = “His aura of deep compassion…”
(14) “Ooo~ atsumare” = “Ohhh, come together”
“Hi~totsu umare~ Fu~tatsu umare~” = “One is born, two are born”
“Futa tsumare” = “Stack the lids”