#staff: machida nanoka

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PRxPRince Roundtable talk (March 2019 Kageki)

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This talk for the production of Towaki Sea’s first Bow Hall lead show, PRxPRince, was published in the March 2019 issue of Kageki, and features Towaki Sea, Jun Hana, and director Machida Nanoka.

PRxPRince Roundtable talk (March 2019 issue of Kageki)

Participants: Machida Nanoka (Director), Towaki Sea, Jun Hana

Machida: This is Towaki-san’s first lead show, and also my own first production...I feel a huge amount of pressure.

Towaki: No way!

Machida: More than anything else, Hitoko-chan (Towaki) is so beautiful, so I thought it would be good to make a show with a pretty boy in it. That might be an easy pick (laughs), but since it’s your first lead, I thought that rather than a dark and twisted character, a virtuous prince might be better. Although once you go a little bit deeper, he’s actually a rather odd person… (laughs)

Towaki: For sure (laughs).

Machida: In the end, it’s a coming-of-age story as he becomes a cool prince, so I feel like that’s just perfect for you. Also, personally, when I think about going through a month of rehearsals, I feel like a cheerful story is better (laughs).

Towaki, Jun: (laugh)

Machida: The main concept is that the prince of the tiny nation of Pecchieno is trying his best to overcome the nation’s financial struggles, as well as trying to find a bride. Hitoko-chan’s character, Prince Victor, is a scientific researcher, so he’s a very intelligent person. The hostile neighboring country, Grandi, has a very advanced culture, with increasing amounts of industrial waste and air pollution. On the other hand, Pecchieno is covered with forests, and it is a country that values nature and preserves its old buildings as they are. The prince is concerned about the waste and everything caused by Grandi, so he is conducting research hoping to find something he can do about it.

Towaki: So does that mean there’s a villain around?

Machida: Indeed there is. A woman is the villain.

Towaki, Jun: Oh~!!

Machida: There are three princes, and they all have their own love stories. Hitoko-chan and the heroine played by Jun-chan are totally in love from the start of the story. I want you to be a super sappy couple, I think (laughs).

Towaki, Jun: Oh! (laughs)

Machida: Although everyone appearing in the show is very earnest, I hope that we can use that for the comedy and make the audience giggle. However, I think that in certain ways comedy can be more difficult than tragedy.

Towaki: That’s true.

Machida: I hope that all of us, me included, can keep learning and enjoy ourselves during this rehearsal.

Towaki, Jun: Yes!

Towaki: When I first heard I would be performing a lead role, I was so happy, but when I saw the title had ‘Prince’ in it, I was a little unsure… I’m not that kind of character at all.

Jun: What!? But it’s perfect!

Towaki: No, no! I thought ‘can I really do that?’ And then I heard it would be a happily-ever-after comedy...that was a shock.

Machida: And now I’m thinking again that I ended up picking something really challenging (laughs).

Towaki: But I’m happy to have a lighthearted show for my first lead, and I think that will make it easier for everyone to work hard together and keep looking ahead.

Machida: Victor is a multi-faceted person, and there are a lot of aspects that will depend on Hitoko-chan’s performance. How cool you can make the scenes where he’s cool; whether you can have the charisma that makes girls swoon (laughs). There are some scenes where you’re aggressively pursuing the heroine, you see.

Jun: Whoa~.

Machida: I want the audience to think “That’s totally me!” when they see you, Jun-chan.

Towaki, Jun: Yes…!

Machida: I want the audience to enjoy everything about you, like the parts where you’re a really cool otokoyaku who can make people unthinkingly go “Squee!”, and also really cute parts, so that’s my plan.

Towaki: It seems like you’ve set a high hurdle! I’ll do my best.

Machida: Jun’s character, Elle, is one of the researchers in the prince’s laboratory, and I wanted to make her the picture of a geeky ‘science girl’. She’s like one flower blooming in the midst of a lot of men, and while all the boys are wild about her, she doesn’t pay attention to them, that kind of thing. She’s totally devoted to the prince and her research.

Towaki: (to Jun) What a great girl!

Jun: (laughs)

Machida: She’s also a very strong-willed person.

Jun: While I was startled when I first heard about this show, it’s with Machida-sensei, who was an assistant director for my debut performance, Die Fledermaus.

Machida: Oh, that’s right.

Jun: I was first paired up with Hitoko-san (Towaki) 2 years ago in the tango scene from New Wave!, so I feel really comfortable with her, you could say… I want to support her properly! The role of a researcher is so different from anything about me, though.

Machida: I’m also from a literary field, so I talked to scientist friends of mine while I was writing. There’s a song for all the chemical element symbols, actually (laughs).

Towaki, Jun: Wow~!

Jun: In junior performances I’ve had mature roles, and in the main cast for Phantom I put my all into playing a child, so this is my first time playing such a ‘life-size’, cheerful character. I’m going to keep learning and doing my best!

Towaki: This is the first time I’ve seen Miss Jun Hana being so serious. It’s an honor to meet you (laughs).

Jun: (laughs)

Towaki: Kano (Jun) and I have done more things together offstage. If I had to describe her...she’s not like this!

Jun: (bursts out laughing)

Towaki: Starting now she’s going to start getting more and more undone (laughs). On stage she’s so mature, but she’s actually a little monster.

Jun: You say I’m a monster… (laughs)

Machida: A monster!? (laughs)

Towaki: But I think her smile is wonderful.

Jun: (blushes and laughs) Hitoko-san is really kind, and also thinks about artistic things from so many different angles, so I’m really happy to be able to be with her in this. This is my first time doing so much acting together with her.

Towaki: That’s right. I’m looking forward to it.

Jun: Yes! The poster photoshoot was so fun.

Towaki: We were laughing too much, so it was really hard to get a normal looking smile.

Machida: Mitsue-sensei (Wakao Risa) also got very into the spirit of things. I hope this ends up being a cute show that really suits you both. The music for this show is written by Yoshizaki Kenji, and the choreography is by Wakao Risa and Uejima Yukio.

Towaki: I worked with Choreographer Uejima before when I was in Footloose, and it was such cool choreo!

Machida: I’m really looking forward to it, too. The music for the finale is by Hasegawa Masahiro.

Towaki: So it has a finale!

Jun: I’m so happy!

Machida: I wanted to totally change the atmosphere from the play, and since you are both very skilled at dancing, I wanted to have you get a chance to dance properly.

Towaki, Jun: Wow~!

Towaki: Um, this prince, does he have maids and things?

Machida: He doesn’t. He’s really poor (laughs).

Towaki: So he can’t hire anybody~! (laughs) But he has a family, right?

Machida: Of course. Oh, there’s his old nurse. Do you want a maid? (laughs)

Towaki: No, but since it’s a comedy one of the really big parts of that is creating the atmosphere with the rest of the cast, so I’m just looking forward to those acting scenes with everyone around me.

Machida: There’s your fellow researchers, of course.

Towaki: That sounds so fun! There are so many wonderful senior actresses and reliable junior actresses in this production, so I hope it will be a really fun and cheerful situation in the rehearsal room. While I have the lead role, I don’t want to get too absorbed in that, and keep working on the show through joys and struggles.

Jun: I’m also looking forward to the show even more now that I’ve had the chance to hear more about it today. I’m going to work on training my own skills and do my best so that I can work with Director Machida, Hitoko-san, and everyone else to create this show!

Machida: In any case, this is my first time creating a show…

Towaki, Jun: (applause)

Machida: Thank you so much. Although I’m a clueless young novice, I at least want to make a show that lets Hitoko-chan shine and the audience enjoy themselves. As it’s a comedy, the effect of the lines can change depending on how you say it, so let’s all work on figuring things out until we know the best way of saying things. Let’s all do our best!

Towaki, Jun: Yes!