Mari Hanafusa (花總 まり, Hanafusa Mari)(born February 28, 1973) is a former member of the Takarazuka Revue, in which she specialized in female roles (Musumeyaku).[1] She is from Tokyo and joined the revue in 1991 and retired in 2006. She is the first and the only musumeyaku of her class to receive top billing.

Troupe membership history

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  • Star Troupe: 1991–1993
  • Snow Troupe: 1993–1998
  • Cosmos Troupe: 1998–2006

Facts

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Considered the "Mary Pickford of Takarazuka", she gained audiences' attention during her first years in Star Troupe, and three years after her debut, in 1994, became top musumeyaku of Snow troupe. Having performed with five different stars as partners, Maki Ichiro (of the Snow troupe), Fubuki Takane (Snow), Yū Todoroki (Snow), Asato Shizuki (Cosmos) and Yōka Wao (Cosmos)--the latter her partner the longest—over the course of twelve years, Hanafusa enjoyed the longest run as star musumeyaku in the Takarazuka's history.

Also, upon her participation in the 1994 new actor production of Gone with the Wind as Scarlett O'Hara, Hanafusa became the only musumeyaku to have her own billing (top billing usually goes to otokoyaku; so this was an exceptional case).

Along with Hitomi Tsukikage (of Star and Snow troupes) and Rei Dan (Moon and Star), she was one of the few musumeyaku to star in two troupes.

In 1998, she founded Cosmos Troupe with Asato Shizuki, Yōka Wao, Wataru Kozuki and Hikaru Asami with an overseas performance in Hong Kong. She retired in 2006.

In January 2007, she came out of retirement and performed on stage along with Yōka Wao in Wao's concert. Up until 2011, Hanafusa worked as an official representative for Yōka Wao in Wao's company, Wao Enterprise, which they founded together in February 2007. During this period, Hanafusa has regularly appeared in most of Wao's concerts or as co-star in stage plays where Wao has starred. It is unusual for partnering stars who have left Takarazuka to continue to work together so closely. As of October 2011 however, Hanafusa has resigned from Wao Enterprise after participating in Dracula with Wao. Although she had participated as a guest star in a couple of performances with other Japanese artists, there was no official announcements as to what Hanafusa's future career direction will be until June 2012.

In June 2012 it was released that Hanafusa had signed with From First Production, a talent promotion agency. Her talent profile is found here.

Notable performances and roles

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Takarazuka era[2][3][4]

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Debut

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Year Performance Troupe Theater Role Note
1991 Rose of Versailles ~Oscar~ Moon Grand Theater

Troupe rotation

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Year Performance Troupe Theater Role Note
1991 The Great Gatsby / Lovers' Concerto Snow Grand Theater
1991 The Emblem of Venezia / Junction 24 Flower Tokyo Theater

Star Troupe era

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Year Performance Troupe Theater Role New Actor Show Role Note
1992 Sunset of the Forbidden City Star Tokyo Theater
1992 Legend of the Midnight Sun / One Night Mirage Star Grand Theater Mimir
1992 Hello, George! Star Bow Hall Elizabeth
1993 Houjushou / Parfum de Paris Star Grand Theater Dancing Lady S / Lover / Parisienne (HY: Shiraki Ayaka)
1993 Hello, George! Star Nippon Seinenkan Elizabeth
1993 Mayerling / Paparagi Star Grand Theater Millie Stübel Marie Vetsera (HY: Shiraki Ayaka) First New Actor Show Lead Musumeyaku

Snow Troupe era

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Year Performance Troupe Theater Role New Actor Show Role Note
1993-4 Seal of the Bourbons / La Cote d'Azur Snow Grand Theater Mariel
1994 A Battlefield for the Two of Us Snow Bow Hall / Nippon Seinenkan Lyla First Small Theater Lead Musumeyaku
1994 Gone with the wind Snow Grand Theater Carreen O'Hara Scarlett O'Hara (HY: Ichiro Maki) First New Actor Show Lead

Snow Troupe Top Musumeyaku era

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Year Performance Troupe Theater Role Note
1994 A Battlefield for the Two of Us Snow Aichi Annuity Hall Lyla Pre-Top Musumeyaku Debut
1994-5 An Actor’s Revenge / Sagittarius Snow Grand Theater Namiji Top Musumeyaku Debut
1995 JFK / 1001 Baroque Nights Snow Grand Theater Jacqueline Kennedy
1995 Aria Dream Song Snow Drama City Mary
1995 Love Blooms Out on the Murasakino / Ma Belle Etoile Snow Grand Theater Nukata no Ookimi
1996 Elisabeth Snow Grand Theater Elisabeth
1996 Love Blooms Out on the Murasakino / Ma Belle Etoile Snow National Tour Nukata no Ookimi
1996 Natasha of the Rainbow / La Jeunesse! Snow Grand Theater Natasha
1996 On a Clear Day You Can See Forever Snow Bow Hall Daisy Gamble
1997 Romanesque Mask / Golden Days! Snow Grand Theater Marquise de Merteuil
1997 On a Clear Day You Can See Forever Snow Nippon Seinenkan / Aichi Daisy Gamble
1997 Ghost at Midnight / Les Cherubim Snow Grand Theater Marie Final show as Snow Troupe Top Musumeyaku

Cosmos Troupe era

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Year Performance Troupe Theater Role Note
1998 Mugen Houjushou / This is TAKARAZUKA! Cosmos Hong Kong tour Cosmos Troupe Pre-Top Musumeyaku Debut
1998 Excalibur / Citrus Breeze Cosmos Grand Theater Rosaline Cosmos Troupe Top Musumeyaku Debut
1998 Bow Voyage! Cosmos Bow Hall
1998-9 Elisabeth Cosmos Grand Theater Elisabeth
1999 Excalibur / Citrus Breeze Cosmos National Tour Rosaline
1999 Passion: Jose and Carmen / The Revue '99 Cosmos Grand Theater Carmen
2000 Black Rose of the Desert / Glorious Cosmos Grand Theater Marianna
2000 Mayerling / Glorious Cosmos National Tour Marie Vetsera
2000 Nostalgia Across the Sea / Millennium Challenger! Cosmos Grand Theater Princess Yu, Catherine the Great
2001 Nostalgia Across the Sea / Millennium Challenger! Cosmos National Tour Princess Yu, Catherine the Great
2001 Rose of Versailles: Fersen and Marie Antoinette Cosmos Grand Theater Marie Antoinette
2001-2 Castel Mirage / Dancing Spirit! Cosmos Grand Theater Eva-Marie
2002 Castel Mirage / Dancing Spirit! Cosmos National Tour Eva-Marie
2002 Legend of the Phoenix -Calaf & Turandot- / The Showstopper Cosmos Grand Theater Turandot
2002-3 Miracle of the Holy Star Cosmos Drama City / Akasaka ACT Lydia
2003 Pierre the Mercenary / The Star Dust Party Cosmos Grand Theater Joan of Arc
2003 Legend of the Phoenix -Calaf & Turandot- / The Showstopper Cosmos Drama City / Akasaka ACT Turandot
2003-4 Lightning in the Daytime / Temptation! Cosmos Grand Theater Vivianne de Pauvert
2004 BOXMAN Cosmos Nippon Seinenkan / Drama City Dolly Page
2004 PHANTOM Cosmos Grand Theater Christine Daaé
2004 Gone with the wind Cosmos National Tour Scarlett O'Hara
2005 Hotel Stella Maris / The Legend of the Revue Cosmos Grand Theater Stacy Lancaster
2005 Hotel Stella Maris / The Legend of the Revue Cosmos National Tour Stacy Lancaster
2005 A Kiss to the Flames / Neo Voyage Cosmos Grand Theater Leonora
2005 W-WING- Cosmos Drama City
2006 Never Say Goodbye Cosmos Grand Theater Katherine McGregor/Peggy McGregor Last musical with Takarazuka

Performance after Takarazuka[5]

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Concert

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  • 2012, 1016: Elisabeth Special Gala Concert
  • 2016: 25th Anniversary Hanafusa Mari First Concert 〜Especially For You〜
  • 2020: Premium Symphonic Concert ~ Hanafusa Mari
  • 2020: Premium Symphonic Concert ~ Hanafusa Mari ~ Xmas version

Television drama

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Elisabeth trivia

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Hanafusa was the first star to perform as Elisabeth of Bavaria in the musical Elisabeth and the only one to do so twice: first in a 1996 Snow production and then in a 1998 Cosmos production. Thus she was an Elisabeth who was haunted by two deaths (Maki Ichiro and Asato Shizuki), married to two Franz Josephs (Fubuki Takane and Yōka Wao), assassinated by two Luigi Luchenis (Yū Todoroki and Wataru Kozuki). She crowned four Prince Rudolfs (Tatsuki Kōju, Yōka Wao, Hikaru Asami and Sakiho Juri) because Kōju and Asami changed troupes before the Tokyo performance and were substituted by Wao and Juri.

Most of the actresses playing Franz Josephs, Rudolfs and Luigis became stars later on, except Juri, who was moved to Senka.

References

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  1. ^ Sands, Ryan (ed.). Electric Ant #2: Exquisite Corpses. Electric Ant Zine. pp. 15–. Retrieved 25 May 2011.
  2. ^ Yume o egaite hanayaka ni: Takarazuka Kageki 80-nenshi: 80-shūnen Takarazuka Kageki (Teiho dai 2-han ed.). Hyōgo-ken Takarazuka-shi: Takarazuka Kagekidan. 1994. ISBN 4-924333-11-5.
  3. ^ すみれ花歳月を重ねて―宝塚歌劇90年史―. Hyōgo-ken Takarazuka-shi: 宝塚歌劇団. 2004. ISBN 4-484-04601-6.
  4. ^ Hundred years' history of Takarazuka revue: 虹の橋渡りつづけて. 東京: 阪急コミュニケーションズ. 2014. ISBN 978-4-484-14600-3.
  5. ^ "Mari Hanafusa". Blooming Group (in Japanese).
  6. ^ "おんな城主直虎". Haiyaku Jiten. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
  7. ^ https://topics.tbs.co.jp/article/detail/?id=20570
  8. ^ "来年大河『べらぼう』新キャスト11人を一挙発表 横浜流星を囲む豪華な顔ぶれ【キャラクター紹介あり】". Oricon. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
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Preceded by Top Star (Musumeyaku) for Snow Troupe
1994-1998
Succeeded by
Preceded by
None (Troupe newly established)
Top Star (Musumeyaku) for Cosmos Troupe
1998-2006
Succeeded by