Review: Rose of Versailles 2001, Fersen and Marie Antoinette
Bersaiyuu no Bara 2001 (Rose of Versailles, 2001), Fersen and Marie Antoinette
Soragumi 2001
D
Hans Axel von Fersen: Wao Yoka (Wao)
Marie Antoinette: Hanafusa Mari (O-Hana)
Oscar Françoise de Jarjayes: Ayaki Nao (Saeko)
André Grandier: Mizu Natsuki (Mizu)
Louis XVI: Oomine Mayu (Mayu)
For more, see the TakaWiki page:www.takarazuka-revue.info/tiki-index.php
Rose of Bersailles, commonly referred to as BeruBara, is a musical version of Ryoko Ikeda’s famous manga chronicling the French Revolution from three points of view: Marie Antoinette for the nobility, Oscar Françoise de Jarjayes (a female captain) for the military, and a young girl named Rosalie for the peasantry. It’s a beautiful work, full of romance, drama, and a lot of historical information. The art is gorgeous; the story keeps you on the edge of your seat. Because there’s so much material to cover, this version of the musical (there are many) focuses on Marie Antoinette (O-Hana) and her love affair with Hans Axel von Fersen (Wao).
With such great source material to work with, you’d think the play would be a rousing success just by cutting and pasting scenes from the manga.
Nope.
BeruBara opens with sparkly girls in enough pink to make you blind singing “Goran nasai!” (“Look!”) over and over, because nothing says “revolution” like pink sequins and rosettes. Fourteen year old Marie Antoinette is sent to France to marry the crown prince. There’s a time jump of eighteen years, and we find out she’s in love with Fersen. Oscar shows up and tells Fersen he’s ruining Marie’s reputation, but she’s rebuffed and we go on a tangent of Oscar’s story.
Oscar: By the way, I’m in love with you and have been for about seventeen years.
Fersen: Oh gee. Have you considered that servant of yours, Andre? He’s hot and in love with you.
Oscar: Hey, yeah! Forget you then. Andre!
Andre: Yes, light of my life, love of my heart?
Oscar: Let’s knock boots.
Andre: Cool!
The French Revolution begins right around when they’re getting naked.
Oscar: Hey Andre, let’s join the rebels.
Andre: What? Why?
Oscar: I dunno.
Andre: Great, I’m glad we cleared that up. Oh fiddlesticks! I’ve been shot.
Oscar: Oh no! Andre!
Andre: (gets up) Oscar! (shot again)
Oscar: Andre!
Andre: (Gets up again) OSCAR! (falls)
Oscar: Um, I get it Andre.
Andre: (gets up again) OSCAR! Let’s sing a song!
Oscar: (surreptitiously looks around and then shoots Andre herself so he’ll stay down.)
After that turkey of a death scene, Oscar and her soldiers raid the Bastille to happy music of the kind where many clowns come popping out of a tiny car.
Meanwhile, Fersen has returned home just in time to find out Marie Antoinette is in trouble. He returns to France by making several speeches about how much he loves her, thus blowing enough smoke up his own butt that he’s able to launch himself.
Fersen: Your Highness, I must return to Versailles. Of course, this will risk my life, possibly cause an international incident, and mean that a lot of really bad solos with only one line because Ueda Shinji ran out of imagination before this play was finished.
King: My God, man! What could possibly be worth that much trouble?
Fersen: (grabs cape and waves it dramatically in the wind) LOVE!
King: Oh, well. That’s all right then.
Meanwhile, Fersen’s worst prediction comes true: the songs are mostly one-line horrors with lines like, “Why, why, why?”; “Love, love, love”; “Look, look, look!”; “Rose of Versailles, Rose of Versailles, Rose of Versailles”; and “Love, it is (insert cliché phrase here)”; ad nauseum. Didn’t anybody edit this?
Anyway, we move on to act two which is much, much more impressive than act one. Marie agreeing to be tried and her last love scene with Fersen when he visits her in jail are beautiful scenes, perfectly set up and wonderfully acted.
Then the Rockettes came out.
Look, I know that sparkle and glitter is a big part of Takarazuka. A few dance numbers after Marie Antoinette’s beautiful death scene would have ended the show perfectly anyway. However, following Marie’s ascent to the guillotine with more girls in pink high-kicking was an astonishingly bad idea. And it wasn’t over: after that came an otokoyaku dance where everyone was dressed in gold and silver lamé. Even Wao and O-Hana’s final duet dance sounded like it had congested elephants blaring in the background. Except for the otokoyaku dance right before the finale, the revue served to completely destroy the emotion the second act had done such a good job of evoking.
In the end, Ueda Shinji took a story about romance, politics, hatred, revolution, and death and turned it into a soppy mess with pink glitter sprinkled on top (for pete’s sake, he made the peasantry look selfish for rebelling). BeruBara the manga is a great story. This play is a disaster. Unless you’re a huge fan of Wao and Hana who will be able to enjoy their scenes together as much as I did, or are a lover of sumptuous costumes, there’s not much to enjoy here.
Soragumi 2001
D
Hans Axel von Fersen: Wao Yoka (Wao)
Marie Antoinette: Hanafusa Mari (O-Hana)
Oscar Françoise de Jarjayes: Ayaki Nao (Saeko)
André Grandier: Mizu Natsuki (Mizu)
Louis XVI: Oomine Mayu (Mayu)
For more, see the TakaWiki page:www.takarazuka-revue.info/tiki-index.php
Rose of Bersailles, commonly referred to as BeruBara, is a musical version of Ryoko Ikeda’s famous manga chronicling the French Revolution from three points of view: Marie Antoinette for the nobility, Oscar Françoise de Jarjayes (a female captain) for the military, and a young girl named Rosalie for the peasantry. It’s a beautiful work, full of romance, drama, and a lot of historical information. The art is gorgeous; the story keeps you on the edge of your seat. Because there’s so much material to cover, this version of the musical (there are many) focuses on Marie Antoinette (O-Hana) and her love affair with Hans Axel von Fersen (Wao).
With such great source material to work with, you’d think the play would be a rousing success just by cutting and pasting scenes from the manga.
Nope.
BeruBara opens with sparkly girls in enough pink to make you blind singing “Goran nasai!” (“Look!”) over and over, because nothing says “revolution” like pink sequins and rosettes. Fourteen year old Marie Antoinette is sent to France to marry the crown prince. There’s a time jump of eighteen years, and we find out she’s in love with Fersen. Oscar shows up and tells Fersen he’s ruining Marie’s reputation, but she’s rebuffed and we go on a tangent of Oscar’s story.
Oscar: By the way, I’m in love with you and have been for about seventeen years.
Fersen: Oh gee. Have you considered that servant of yours, Andre? He’s hot and in love with you.
Oscar: Hey, yeah! Forget you then. Andre!
Andre: Yes, light of my life, love of my heart?
Oscar: Let’s knock boots.
Andre: Cool!
The French Revolution begins right around when they’re getting naked.
Oscar: Hey Andre, let’s join the rebels.
Andre: What? Why?
Oscar: I dunno.
Andre: Great, I’m glad we cleared that up. Oh fiddlesticks! I’ve been shot.
Oscar: Oh no! Andre!
Andre: (gets up) Oscar! (shot again)
Oscar: Andre!
Andre: (Gets up again) OSCAR! (falls)
Oscar: Um, I get it Andre.
Andre: (gets up again) OSCAR! Let’s sing a song!
Oscar: (surreptitiously looks around and then shoots Andre herself so he’ll stay down.)
After that turkey of a death scene, Oscar and her soldiers raid the Bastille to happy music of the kind where many clowns come popping out of a tiny car.
Meanwhile, Fersen has returned home just in time to find out Marie Antoinette is in trouble. He returns to France by making several speeches about how much he loves her, thus blowing enough smoke up his own butt that he’s able to launch himself.
Fersen: Your Highness, I must return to Versailles. Of course, this will risk my life, possibly cause an international incident, and mean that a lot of really bad solos with only one line because Ueda Shinji ran out of imagination before this play was finished.
King: My God, man! What could possibly be worth that much trouble?
Fersen: (grabs cape and waves it dramatically in the wind) LOVE!
King: Oh, well. That’s all right then.
Meanwhile, Fersen’s worst prediction comes true: the songs are mostly one-line horrors with lines like, “Why, why, why?”; “Love, love, love”; “Look, look, look!”; “Rose of Versailles, Rose of Versailles, Rose of Versailles”; and “Love, it is (insert cliché phrase here)”; ad nauseum. Didn’t anybody edit this?
Anyway, we move on to act two which is much, much more impressive than act one. Marie agreeing to be tried and her last love scene with Fersen when he visits her in jail are beautiful scenes, perfectly set up and wonderfully acted.
Then the Rockettes came out.
Look, I know that sparkle and glitter is a big part of Takarazuka. A few dance numbers after Marie Antoinette’s beautiful death scene would have ended the show perfectly anyway. However, following Marie’s ascent to the guillotine with more girls in pink high-kicking was an astonishingly bad idea. And it wasn’t over: after that came an otokoyaku dance where everyone was dressed in gold and silver lamé. Even Wao and O-Hana’s final duet dance sounded like it had congested elephants blaring in the background. Except for the otokoyaku dance right before the finale, the revue served to completely destroy the emotion the second act had done such a good job of evoking.
In the end, Ueda Shinji took a story about romance, politics, hatred, revolution, and death and turned it into a soppy mess with pink glitter sprinkled on top (for pete’s sake, he made the peasantry look selfish for rebelling). BeruBara the manga is a great story. This play is a disaster. Unless you’re a huge fan of Wao and Hana who will be able to enjoy their scenes together as much as I did, or are a lover of sumptuous costumes, there’s not much to enjoy here.