''Never Say Goodbye'' is a

musical Musical is the adjective of music Music is generally defined as the The arts, art of arranging sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Exact def ...

with a book and lyrics by Shûichirô Koike and music by

Frank Wildhorn Frank Wildhorn (born November 29, 1958) is an American composer of both musicals and popular songs. His musical '' Jekyll & Hyde'' ran for four years on Broadway. He also wrote the #1 International hit song " Where Do Broken Hearts Go" for Whi ...

. It was written specifically for

Takarazuka Revue The is a Japanese all-female musical theatre troupe based in Takarazuka, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. Women play all roles in lavish, Broadway-style productions of Western-style musicals and stories adapted from films, novels, manga, and Japa ...

, the all-female Japanese theatre company. Wildhorn was the first non-Japanese to write an original musical for the company. Set against the background of the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlism, Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebeli ...

, the plot centers on

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

Katherine McGregor and renowned photographer Georges Malraux, a

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...

who fled his homeland for

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

. The two first meet in Hollywood at a party announcing the film adaptation of Katherine's play ''Tempest in Spain'', based on the

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libre ...

Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first performed by the Opér ...

''. The two are reunited in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ...

, where they unexpectedly find themselves falling in love as they become embroiled in a battle against

fascism Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy and th ...

. Directed by Koike, the production was staged in 2006 at the

Takarazuka Grand Theater The is a theater located in Takarazuka, Hyōgo, Japan. It is the home theater of the Takarazuka Revue, an all-female theater troupe established in 1913. The Grand Theater opened in 1924 and was rebuilt in 1993; the two iterations of the structur ...

Takarazuka, Hyōgo 270px, Takarazuka City Hall 270px, Aerial view of Takarazuka city center The kanji (UTF-8 code FA1016), which is part of Takarazuka's official name (), is not available on all systems. (It can be entered in Wikipedia with HTML character & ...

from March 24 through May 8, and at the

Tokyo Takarazuka Theater is another home for Takarazuka Creative Arts in Yurakucho, Chiyoda ward, Tokyo. It served as the second round performing theater for the Revue's performing cycle. The original theater was built in 1934. It was taken over by the American GHQ af ...

Tokyo, Japan Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.4 ...

from May 26 through July 2. The cast included

Mari Hanafusa (born February 28, 1973) is a former member of the Takarazuka Revue, in which she specialized in female roles (''Musumeyaku''). She is from Tokyo and joined the revue in 1991 and retired in 2006. She is the first and the only musumeyaku of her clas ...

as Katherine and Yōka Wao as Georges. ''Never Say Goodbye'' marked the final performance of both stars before their retirement from the troupe.''Never Say Goodbye'' at FrankWildhorn.com
A full-length cast recording, a folio of sheet music, and a video and DVD of the show have been released.

Song list

;Act I *Coconut Grove *The Girl I Look For *Fake City *Je Suis Un Déraciné (I Am One Uprooted) *Never Say Goodbye *Olimpiada Popular *People's Art *The Outbreak of The Civil War *Without Bullfight *That's What I Can't Do *No Pasaran! *Centuria Olimpiada *One Card *No Pasaran! (Reprise) *The Woman of My Life *Meant for Each Other *We Are "Camarada" *One Heart ;Act II *San Giordi Fiesta *Purge of the PSUC *Conflict of Love *The Woman of My Life (Reprise) *Centuria Olimpiada (Reprise) *Je Suis Un Déraciné (Reprise) *Propaganda *Charity *Tragedy in Barcelona *Battlefield *One Heart *The Truth of Love

References

External links

''Never Say Goodbye'' at Takarazuka Revue TakaWiki! Fan site
{{Frank Wildhorn 2006 musicals Takarazuka Revue Musicals by Frank Wildhorn