It was a warm spring evening on Friday. The medium-sized auditorium was crowded with people. In the auditorium, the popular music of the US in the 1960s like “Pretty Woman” played. Longtime fans were swing dancing to the music. It was a new world to the young students who smiled as they filled the seats with full of expectations.

The chairperson of the E.S.S, Mao Abe (3^rd year student in the Faculty of Law) greeted the audience. “This performance is to express our gratitude to you”, and their show began slightly after the planned time. The large screen at the rear of the center stage showed the images of American society of that time. The stage was designed to make the audience feel as if they slipped back in time to the 1960s. The Japanese caption of the English lines was provided on the screen.

Summary

The story is set in Baltimore

The story is set in Baltimore in eastern Maryland, USA. “Tracy is a short and plump girl who loves music, dancing and fashion. She is a high school student who is always positive, simple and innocent” (Excerpted from the program. Hereafter the same). “Tracy was unhappy about the discriminately attitude of the program. She marched with her family and friends to protest against racism. However, she was arrested…”

The performers delivered English lines smoothly with gestures, as if they were speaking in Japanese.

The pronunciation was instructed by Ryo Sekiya (2^nd year student in the Faculty of Policy Studies), Kazuki Asai (2^nd year student in the Faculty of Policy studies), Saya Kuniyasu (3^rd year student in the Faculty of Policy Studies), and foreign student from China, Han Kang (3^rd year student in the Faculty of Letters). Dance was arranged and choreographed by Tomona Sakurai (3^rd year student in the Faculty of Letters) for the performers to dance easier based on the original dances.

The heroine, Tracy, was performed by Kako Fujita (2^nd year student in the Faculty of Economics). In order to seem short and plump, she wore a life jacket under her jacket. It was hard to dance in it. According to Fujita she was not good at dancing, and had a really hard time mastering the dance routines. She practiced not only with the group but also by herself after practices.

In 2013, she read about the first revived E.S.S. English play in this magazine, and entered into Chuo University with a dream of performing English plays. “It was my dream to be the heroine. I also wanted to be a director”, said Fujita.

She appeared on the stage last year for the first time. This year, she applied for the main part. “The senior students helped my dance. It became fun as I was able to dance better gradually”, said Fujita. Fujita enjoys attention, but also respects modesty. She was absolutely passionate about the role. With the support from the other club members and hard work, she managed to play her role magnificently.

It was Mizuho Hirata (2^nd year student in the Faculty of Law) who played the role of the bad person, Velma. As a conservative TV director, she tried to get rid of Tracy behind the scene. Although the bad person is another important role essential in drama, it is an unwelcomed part. This is because the better the performance is, the more people would believe that the role is the actor’s actual personality. The role was assigned to Hirata, who was believed to have broad-minded. “She will not be wavered in her performance.” She has a lot of trust from the E.S.S. members. She likes dancing. However, there was almost no scene for her to dance in this musical.

“To me, drama had been something to watch, but I also wanted to try”, said Hirata. This is her first show. 30 minutes before the deadline of application (set at 24:00 on the Internet within the E.S.S.), she hit the enter key to send the application by e-mail.

“Playing a role is to become a completely different person. Once I started acting, it was so much fun. I was proud to have played the bad person in the show.”

There were many scenes during the play that required glaring at the dancing cast disapprovingly with her arms crossed. She had a grim face because her role was being a bad person. She also wanted to dance, but had to suppress her feeling.

The last scene was everyone dancing. Hirata, who was also dancing, had a great smile there. Her rhythmic acting peppered the entire play.

30 performers prepared their costumes and wigs for their roles. Boys were in tight jackets with narrow ties, which were the fashion of that time. They studied the historical backdrop of the 1960s and pulled the distant world to the current time.

During the 3 months of practice, members noticed that some of them improved a lot. The ones who fell behind worked hard to catch up with the others not to cause others trouble. The practice was being filled with unusual tension.

The backstage staff worked hard to secure the space in the University to enable the performers to practice as much as they wanted. The practice sometimes took place in the hardwood-floor practice room at C-Square. The performers could check their dance on the large mirror. In the acoustic chamber, they could sing loudly. When there was no room available, they effectively used a vacant space.

“We tried hard to create an environment for the performers to demonstrate their full potential”, said Chief Tatsuya Yamaguchi (3^rd year student in the Faculty of Commerce). They practiced hard to deliver good performance because the performers know the hard work of the backstage staff. A virtuous cycle was created by both the performers and supporters.

In fact, there was a drama when the show was about to begin. There were bigger audiences than expected. Only 160 seats, which were smaller than usual, were available by modifying the stage to a special stage. The seats became full soon after the door was opened. Only 80 pamphlets were prepared, so the staff had to run to the copy machine at the entrance of the C-Square to make more copies.

The incident became something to laugh about once the show was over. “I learned how wonderful it is to focus on one thing.” (Hirata) They are still charged up for experiencing such an accomplishment.

“It was the most exciting event in my life. Initially, I even did not know the names of all E.S.S. members, but now I love all of them.” (Fujita) “Everyone was really proactive.” (Yamaguchi) The harmony of the team was exuding from the words of the team members.

Finale. The performers made a path at the exit of the C-Square. The audience who was walking in the center of the path had very content faces. “Velma!” “Tracy!” Some were calling the names of the characters in the musical to appraise Hirata and Fujita.

The performers were responding with smiles to the smiles of the audience. With individual reasons of wanting to dance, act, or produce, the challenge for the first musical began. Everything from production to stage set was done by the E.S.S. members. After everything was over, the 56 members who shared joy and sorrow bonded even stronger.

List of Hairspray Cast and Staff

《Drama section》

Chief	Tatsuya Yamaguchi (Faculty of Commerce, 3rd year)
Sub-chief	Sayumi Takiguchi (Faculty of Commerce, 3rd year）
Director/Producer	Shohei Niimura (Faculty of Economics, 3rd year)
	Osamu Yoshida (Faculty of Law, 3rd year)
Backstage manager	Sayaka Yanai (Faculty of Commerce, 3rd year)

《Main cast》

Tracy	Kako Fujia (Faculty of Economics, 2nd year)
Link	Kazuki Asai (Faculty of Policy Studies, 2nd year)
Penny	Saya Kuniyasu (Faculty of Policy Studies, 3rd year)
Seaweed	Takehiro Tanaka (Faculty of Law, 2nd year)
Velma	Mizuho Hirata (Faculty of Law, 2nd year)
Edna	Frank (Faculty of Commerce, 2nd year)
Wilbur	Kohei Kuroda (Faculty of Letters, 2nd year)
Amber	Sayumi Takiguchi (Faculty of Commerce, 3rd year)
Maybelle	Mayu Fukuda (Faculty of Commerce, 3rd year)
Corny	Hiroki Hayakawa (Faculty of Commerce, 2nd year)
Innes	Azusa Inazaka (Faculty of Economics, 2nd year)

《Extra》

∇White people
Spritzer	Kei Kuwabara (Faculty of Law, 3rd year)
Penny’s mother	Han Kang (Faculty of Letters, 3rd year)
	Sana Okamoto (Faculty of Letters, 2nd year)
	Teppei Matsugase (Faculty of Policy Studies, 2nd year)
	Tomona Sakurai (Faculty of Letters, 3rd year)
	Momoka Konno (Faculty of Law, 2nd year)
	Satomi Okamura (Faculty of Letters, 2nd year)
	Masae Uehara (Faculty of Economics, 2nd year)
	Ayaka Hoshino (Faculty of Economics, 2nd year)
	Kazuki Yamada (Faculty of Economics, 2nd year)
	Tatsuya Yamaguchi (Faculty of Commerce, 3rd year)
	Osamu Yoshida (Faculty of Law, 3rd year)
	Shohei Niimura (Faculty of Economics, 3rd year)
	Sayaka Yanai (Faculty of Commerce, 3rd year)

∇Black people
	Sana Okamoto (Faculty of Letters, 2nd year)
	Teppei Matsugase (Faculty of Policy Studies, 2nd year)
	Tomona Sakurai (Faculty of Letters, 3rd year)
	Ryo Sekiya (Faculty of Policy Studies, 2nd year)
	Akihito Hamano (Faculty of Economics, 2nd year)
	Masaki Deguchi (Faculty of Letters, 2nd year)
	Miho Arai (Faculty of Law, 2nd year)
	Hiroka Abe (Faculty of Letters, 3rd year)
	Masaki Tanaka (Faculty of Economics, 2nd year)

《Art》

	Hiroka Abe (Faculty of Letters, 3rd year)
	Masaki Deguchi (Faculty of Letters, 2nd year)
	Han Kang (Faculty of Letters, 3rd year)
	Kazuki Yamada (Faculty of Economics, 2nd year)
	Miho Arai (Faculty of Law, 2nd year)
	Ayaka Hoshino (Faculty of Economics, 2nd year)
	Masaki Tanaka (Faculty of Economics, 2nd year)
	Azusa Inazaka (Faculty of Economics, 2nd year)
	Momoka Konno (Faculty of Law, 2nd year)
	Nao Abe (Faculty of Law 3rd year)
	Masae Uehara (Faculty of Economics, 2nd year)
	Satomi Okamura (Faculty of Letters, 2nd year)

《Sound, Lighting, Caption》

Lighting	Kensuke Imabayashi (Faculty of Commerce, 3rd year)
	Natsumi Yonekura (Faculty of Law, 2nd year)
Sound	Naruhito Kinugawa (Faculty of Economics, 3rd year)
	Momoko Takeda (Faculty of Letters, 2nd year)
Caption	Erika Iimori (Faculty of Law, 3rd year)
	Natsumi Hironaka (Faculty of Law, 2nd year)

《Staff》

Reception, speech	Nao Abe (Faculty of Law, 3rd year)
Reception	Naruhiro Tanimoto (Faculty of Law, 3rd year)
	Hiroki Okabe (Faculty of Letters, 3rd year)
Venue guide	Mikiko Kawai (Faculty of Commerce, 3rd year)
	Akiko Dojo (Faculty of Law, 3rd year)
Photo shoot	Mao Komiya (Faculty of Law, 3rd year)
	Shota Yanagawa (Faculty of Letters, 2nd year)

■Past E.S.S. Dramas

E.S.S. played “Nobody Famous” in the spring of 2013 and succeeded the revived English play for the first time in 45 years in the history of the club. They played “Charlie Barlett” in the winter of 2013, “Rook of Ageas” in the spring of 2014, and “17 again” in the winter of 2014.

■E.S.S. Drama Group

This group mainly creates English play. All group members work as staff, cast, production, and setting.