The post this time deals not with a drama review like usual, but instead with Japan's one and only all-female acting and singing revue: Takarazuka. While studying abroad, by chance I ended up going to see one of the plays, "Elisabeth," with my roommate and her friend. My roommate's friend was a big Takarazuka fan, and while I only went with them to the convenience store for company while they bought their tickets, I ended up purchasing one as well. I'd heard various things about Takarazuka before, but never really researched it. Odd as the concept of women dressing up and strutting around the stage pretending to be men might be to a lot of Westerners, it really was a treat and I really, really enjoyed it.
The first thing you notice when you get off the Hankyuu train line in the city of Takarazuka are the buildings. Just off the station there is a long road lined with European-style buildings, and if you're there around one of the showtimes, the street, called "Hana no Michi" (Road of Flowers), is full of women headed for the theater complex. The theater itself is large, white, and pretty hard to miss. The inside gleams, and everyone either wanders around looking at the treats for sale in the shops, takes pictures in front of the elaborate costumes on display in the windows of the costume shops, or goes to find their seat. And when I said that Hana no Michi was full of women, I wasn't kidding-- I believe I saw a grand total of five men in the theater that day, all of them with wives or girlfriends.
The fact that it was in a foreign language aside (though I was thanking my lucky stars for the little English summary of the play that was there), the acting and singing were surprisingly very, very good. It was a little odd at first to see a woman singing and speaking in a very low tone, hair slicked back and mustache plastered onto her face, but once I adjusted to it and got into the play, I loved every second of it.
Now, I had been warned about what happens at the end of plays ahead of time, but it was still rather... surprising. For two hours, guests are entertained with a romantic, dramatic play with sweeping music and gorgeously complicated costumes, then all of a sudden, you're transported to Las Vegas. I kid you not, the sparkly stairs come out, the girls line up in big feathery outfits and all start doing the can can. I'm not entirely sure how this particular part of things got started, but it's good for a laugh-- so long as you do it silently.
Takarazuka was started in 1913. Back then, the city of Takarazuka was still small, its main attraction the hot springs. As an attempt to get more customers to come to the springs, the president of Hankyuu Railways pulled together a bunch of young, unmarried girls and had them begin performing in 1914. It officially became Takarazuka Kagekidan in 1940, and the girls split into groups: Hoshi Kumi (Star), Yuki Kumi (Snow), Tsuki Kumi (Moon), and Hana Kumi (Flower), with Sora Kumi (Cosmos) being added in 1998. Every year, each group puts on a play both at Takarazuka and at the Takarazuka theater in Tokyo.
To become a Takarazuka star, girls have to apply to Takarazuka Ongaku Gakkou, or the Takarazuka Music School. It's a very strict school, and out of the many people who apply, only 40 to 50 people are accepted each time. For two years the students learn singing, various forms of dance, and performing. There are around 400 people in the school, aged 15 to 18, and the first year students must learn to properly respect their sempai (upperclassmen). One of the duties of the lowly first years is to clean the school by hand. Once students have gotten past this first year, they are split into male roles and female roles, and the studying continues for quite some time before they are given their shot at lead roles.
There are varying kinds of performances. Famous Western musicals and novels (Elisabeth, West Side Story, Gone With the Wind, A Tale of Two Cities, etc.) are often played out upon the Takarazuka stage, as well as some plays based on Japanese comics (Rose of Versailles, for example). There are also Japanese historical plays.
Seriously, if you are going to be in Osaka any time soon, look into getting tickets. They are pretty cheap: I believe I paid around $50 for mine, and we were in the middle range of seats. Even if you can't understand what they're saying, the singing is wonderful, the costumes are great to look at, and the Las Vegas dance at the end is just plain amusing. I believe there is even an English phone number you can call to purchase tickets... but don't ask me where it is. Still, if you're interested more or have questions, let me know!
Takarazuka Revue English Site
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