Never Say Goodbye

Written and Directed by Shuichiro Koike

Frank wrote the music for a new production by Takarazuka Revue, the famous all-female Japanese theatre company. The show, titled Never Say Goodbye (The Footsteps of Lovers), was premiered by the Takarazuka Cosmos (Sora) Troupe. The script is by Shuichiro Koike, who also directed. Frank is the first non-Japanese to be commissioned to write a show for the group. Performances took place from 24 March through 8 May 2006 at the Takarazuka Grand Theater in Takarazuka, Japan, and from 26 May through 2 July 2006 at the Tokyo Takarazuka Theater in Tokyo, Japan.

The Cosmos Troupe is made up of 81 performers, or Takarasiennes, including two leads. For this production, Yoka Wao was the troupe's top otokoyaku (playing male roles) and Mari Hanafusa was the troupe's top musumeyaku (playing female roles). Both performers had been with the troupe since its founding in 1998. Never Say Goodbye marked the final performance of both stars before their retirement from the troupe.

Never Say Goodbye tells the story of photographer Georges Malraux (Wao) and writer Katherine McGregor (Hanafusa) who become entangled in the Spanish Civil War and fall in love as they fight against fascism to restore peace. Based on artists like writer Ernest Hemingway, photographer Robert Capa and playwright Lillian Hellman, the production asks the question "Can love build peace?"

More information on Takarazuka and the show can be found on the Official Takarazuka Revue Website (in Japanese, with an English section), or the Takarazuka Wikipedia (in English).

Here is a song and scene list from the Takarazuka Revue world premiere production of Never Say Goodbye:

ACT 1
Scene 1: Olive Tree Hill (Catalonia, Spain)
Wind of Catalonia	Background Music
Scene 2: Coconut Grove (Hollywood, California, 1936)
Coconut Grove	Coconut Girls, Coconut Boys
The Girl I Look For	Georges Malraux
Scene 3: Bar on Sunset Boulevard
Fake City	John, Nick, Bob, Dave, Katherine McGregor, Peter Calloway, Chorus
Scene 4: The Bungalow on Malibu Beach
The Girl I Look For	Background Music (played on gramophone)
Je Suis Un Déraciné (I Am One Uprooted)	Georges Malraux
Je Suis Un Déraciné	Background Music
Never Say Goodbye	Georges Malraux and Katherine McGregor
Scene 5: Olimpiada Popular (Global Pictures Studio in Barcelona, Spain)
Olimpiada Popular	Paolo Caleras, Mark Stein, Ellen Parker, Vicent Romero, Georges Malraux
Scene 6: Opening Ceremony Rehearsal (Stadium in Barcelona)
Rehearsal For The Opening	Company (dance sequence)
Olimpiada Popular	Background Music
People's Art	Francisco Aguilar, Georges Malraux
Never Say Goodbye	Background Music
Je Suis Un Déraciné	Background Music
The Outbreak of The Civil War	Mayor of Barcelona, Katherine McGregor, Georges Malraux, Francisco Aguilar, Komarov, Ellen Parker, Mark Stein, Peter Calloway, Chorus
Scene 7: Arena Changing Rooms
Without Bullfight	Bullfighters
That's What I Can't Do	Vicent Romero
Scene 8: Street Fighting
¡No Pasarán! (They Shall Not Pass!)	Chorus
Scene 9: The Night of Victory (Underground sanctuary of the Sagrada Familia Church)
Centuria Olimpiada	Max Van Dyke, Bill Grant, Björn, Hans, Nasser, Tariq
One Card (Wind of Catalonia Reprise)	Anita the fortune teller
¡No Pasarán! Reprise	Ellen Parker, Mark Stein, Georges Malraux
Scene 10: Outside the Sagrada Familia
The Woman Of My Life	Ellen Parker, Georges Malraux
Scene 11: In a cloister of the Sagrada Familia
Meant For Each Other	Georges Malraux, Katherine McGregor
Scene 12: Militia Practice (Courtyard of the Sagrada Familia)
We Are "Camarada"	Max Van Dyke, Vicent Romero, Katherine McGregor, Georges Malraux, PSUCs, POUMs, men, women, youths
People's Art	Background Music
We Are "Camarada"	Background Music
One Heart	Georges Malraux
ACT 2
Scene 1: Olive Tree Hill
Wind of Catalonia	Background Music
Scene 2: Festival of Saint George (Courtyard of the Sagrada Familia)
San Giordi Fiesta	Chorus
Meant For Each Other	Background Music
San Giordi Fiesta Reprise	Chorus
Purge of the PSUC (Outbreak of the Civil War Reprise)	PSUCs, Francisco Aguilar, Vicent Romero, Georges Malraux, Max Van Dyke, Alfonso Rivera, people
Scene 3: On the Street (Barcelona)
Conflict of Love (Without Bullfight Reprise)	Georges Malraux, Katherine McGregor
The Woman Of My Life Reprise	Georges Malraux
Scene 4: Vicent's Secret Base
Centuria Olimpiada Reprise	Max Van Dyke, Bill Grant, Björn, Hans, Nasser, Tariq, Vicent Romero
Je Suis Un Déraciné Reprise	Georges Malraux
We Are "Camarada" (Bolero)	Background Music
Never Say Goodbye Reprise	Background Music
Scene 5: Broadcasting Studio at the PSUC Base (Underground sanctuary of the Sagrada Familia)
Propaganda (People's Art Reprise)	Francisco Aguilar, Komarov, Katherine McGregor
The Truth Of Love	Katherine McGregor
Scene 6: The PSUC Charity Event (Courtyard of the Sagrada Familia)
Charity (San Giordi Fiesta Reprise)	Isabella, Chorus
Tragedy in Barcelona	Background Music
Scene 7: Street Fighting II
Tragedy in Barcelona (¡No Pasarán! Reprise)	PSUCs, POUMs, La Passionara, townspeople
Scene 8: Vicent's House
One Heart	Background Music
That's What I Can't Do	Background Music
Centuria Olimpiada	Background Music
People's Art	Background Music
Scene 9: Olive Tree Hill
Je Suis Un Déraciné	Background Music
Never Say Goodbye	Georges Malraux
Scene 10: Battlefield
Battlefield (Reprise of Je Suis Un Déraciné, One Card)	Background Music
Scene 11: Eternity
One Heart	Background Music
One Heart	Georges Malraux
Finale:
Never Say Goodbye (Theme Song)	Yuga Yamato
We are "Camarada"	Line Dance
The Girl I Look For (Finale version)	Yoka Wao
Opening Ceremony (Finale version)	Bullfighters
The Truth of Love	Mari Hanafusa
Meant for Each Other	Background Music
Parade:
One Heart Reprise
We Are "Camarada" Reprise
Opening Ceremony Reprise
People's Art Reprise
That's What I Can't Do Reprise
Meant For Each Other Reprise
Never Say Goodbye Reprise