Takarazuka Revue
Encyclopedia

The Takarazuka Revue is a Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese all-female musical theater troupe based in Takarazuka
Takarazuka, Hyogo
is a city located in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan.- Geography :Takarazuka is nestled between the Rokko Range to the west and Nagao Range to the north with the Muko River running through the center of the city....

, Hyōgo Prefecture
Hyogo Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region on Honshū island. The capital is Kobe.The prefecture's name was previously alternately spelled as Hiogo.- History :...

, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

. Women play all roles in lavish, Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

-style productions of Western-style musicals, and sometimes stories adapted from shōjo
Shojo
The term refers to manga marketed to a female audience roughly between the ages of 10-18. The name romanizes the Japanese 少女 , literally: "little female". Shōjo manga covers many subjects in a variety of narrative and graphic styles, from historical drama to science fiction — often with a strong...

 manga and Japanese folktales. The troupe takes its name from the Hankyu Takarazuka rail line in suburban Osaka
Osaka
is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...

. The company is a division of the Hankyu Railway
Hankyu Railway
is a Japanese private railway that provides commuter and interurban service to the northern Kansai region and is one of major businesses operated by Hankyu Hanshin Holdings, Inc. The railway's main terminal is at Umeda Station in Osaka...

 company; all members of the troupe are employed by the company.

History

The Takarazuka Revue was founded by Ichizo Kobayashi
Ichizo Kobayashi
, occasionally referred to by his pseudonym Itsuō , was a Japanese industrialist. He is best known as the founder of Hankyu Railway and Takarazuka Revue. He was a supporter of right-wing doctrine and represented Japanese capital in government.-Career:...

, an industrialist-turned-politician and president of Hankyu Railways, in Takarazuka
Takarazuka, Hyogo
is a city located in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan.- Geography :Takarazuka is nestled between the Rokko Range to the west and Nagao Range to the north with the Muko River running through the center of the city....

, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 in 1913. The city was the terminus of a Hankyu line from Osaka and already a popular tourist destination because of its hot springs. Kobayashi believed that it was the ideal spot to open an attraction of some kind that would boost train ticket sales and draw more business to Takarazuka. Since Western song and dance shows were becoming more popular and Kobayashi considered the Kabuki
Kabuki
is classical Japanese dance-drama. Kabuki theatre is known for the stylization of its drama and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers.The individual kanji characters, from left to right, mean sing , dance , and skill...

 theater to be old and elitist, he decided that an all-female theater group might be well received by the general public.

The Revue had its first performance in 1914. Ten years later, the company had become popular enough to obtain its own theater in Takarazuka, called the Dai Gekijō meaning “Grand Theater
Takarazuka Grand Theater
is a home for Takarazuka Creative Arts.The original theater was built in 1924 and was destroyed in 1992. The current theater was built in 1993. It has 1,543 seats on the first level and 1,007 on the second.- External links :*...

”. Today, the company owns and operates another theater, the Takarazuka Theater, in Tokyo. Currently Takarazuka performs for 2.5 million people each year and the majority of its fans are women.

Part of the novelty of Takarazuka is that all the parts are played by women, based on the original model of Kabuki
Kabuki
is classical Japanese dance-drama. Kabuki theatre is known for the stylization of its drama and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers.The individual kanji characters, from left to right, mean sing , dance , and skill...

 before 1629 when women were banned from the theater in Japan. The women who play male parts are referred to as otokoyaku (literally "male role") and those who play female parts are called musumeyaku (literally "daughter's role"). The costumes, set designs and lighting are lavish, the performances melodrama
Melodrama
The term melodrama refers to a dramatic work that exaggerates plot and characters in order to appeal to the emotions. It may also refer to the genre which includes such works, or to language, behavior, or events which resemble them...

tic. Side pathways extend the already wide proscenium, accommodating elaborate processions and choreography.

Regardless of the era of the musical presented, period accuracy is relaxed for costumes during extravagant finales which include scores of glittering performers parading down an enormous stage-wide staircase and a Rockette-style kick line. Lead performers portraying both male and female roles appear in the finale wearing huge circular feathered back-pieces reminiscent of Las Vegas or Paris costuming.

Before becoming a member of the troupe, a young woman must train for two years in the Takarazuka Music School, one of the most competitive of its kind in the world. Each year, thousands from all over Japan audition. The 40 to 50 who are accepted are trained in music, dance, and acting, and are given seven-year contracts. The school is famous for its strict discipline and its custom of having first-year students clean the premises each morning.

The first year, all women train together before being divided by the faculty and the current troupe members into otokoyaku and musumeyaku at the end of the year. Those playing otokoyaku cut their hair short, take on a more masculine role in the classroom, and speak in the masculine form.

The company has five main troupes: Hana, Tsuki, Yuki, Hoshi, and Sora (Flower, Moon, Snow, Star, and the Cosmos respectively), and Senka (Superior Members), a collection for senior actresses no longer part of a regular troupe who still wish to maintain their association with the revue and perform from time to time. Flower and Moon are the original troupes, founded in 1921. Snow Troupe began in 1924. Star Troupe was founded in 1931, disbanded in 1939, and reestablished in 1948. Cosmos, founded in 1998, is the newest troupe.

Actors of Takarazuka

While on the surface it would appear that the Takarazuka Revue was intended to grant Japanese women freedom from social oppression, ironically, it began as quite the opposite. According to Takarazuka scholar Lorie Brau, “The production office and corporate structure that control Takarazuka are overwhelmingly patriarchal.” Although Takarazuka embodies Shiraishi’s idea that the actresses become “good wives and wise mothers” upon leaving the company, it also simultaneously represents progressive feminist points of view. Some believe that its appeal to the female audience is on account of the perceived link to freedom from traditional Japanese society’s imposed ideas of gender and sexuality. So while Takarazuka “reinforces the status quo and sublimates women's desires through its dreamy narratives, there remains some possibility that certain spectators find it empowering simply to watch women play men.”

Some Takarasienne shows, such as The Rose of Versailles
The Rose of Versailles musicals
The Rose of Versailles has been dramatized for Takarazuka Revue by Shinji Ueda. The show's role in Takarazuka history is particularly notable as it established the "Top Star" system that remains in place to this day...

 and Elisabeth
Elisabeth (musical)
Elisabeth is a Viennese, German-language musical commissioned by the Vereinigte Bühnen Wien , with book/lyrics by Michael Kunze and music by Sylvester Levay. It portrays the life and death of the Empress consort of Austria, Elisabeth of Bavaria, wife of Emperor Franz Joseph I...

, feature androgynous characters. Ryosei and chusei are two Japanese terms used to refer to androgyny, chusei meaning “neutral” or “in between,” neither man nor woman, and ryosei referring to the combination of the sexes or genders. The otokoyaku represents the woman’s idealized man without the roughness or need to dominate, the “perfect” man who can not be found in the real world. It is these male-roles that offer an escape from the strict, gender-bound real roles lauded in Japanese society. In a sense, the otokoyaku provides the female audience with a “dream” of what they desire in reality.

In addition to their claim to “sell dreams”, the actresses of the Takarazuka Revue take on another role, empowering themselves as women in a male-dominated culture. Kobayashi's desire to make his actresses into good wives and mothers has often been hindered by their own will to pursue careers in the entertainment business. It is becoming increasingly more common for women to stay in the company well into their thirties, beyond the conventional limits of marriageable age. The actresses’ role within the Takarazuka Revue thus overlaps into the culture surrounding it, adding to their appeal to the female-dominant audience. “In fact, it is the carrying over of this 'boyishness' into everyday life and the freedom that this implies that captures the attention of some fans.”
The otokoyaku, however, is not bound to her assigned male role in the theater. Tsurugi Miyuki, top otokoyaku star of the Moon Troupe, said that she conceived male impersonation as just a "role" that she wore like the makeup and costume that helped create her otokoyaku image. She said she reverts to her nonperforming “feminine” self after performance.

Although traditionally an all-female troupe, in 1946 the Takarazuka employed male performers who were trained separately from the female members of the troupes. Ultimately, however, the female members opposed these new male counterparts, and the department was dissolved, the last male department terminating in 1954. A recent Japanese musical, Takarazuka Boys, was based on this chapter of the company's history.

While the casts are all-female, the staff (writers, directors, choreographers, designers, etc.) and orchestra musicians may be male or female. It is not uncommon in Takarazuka for a predominantly male orchestra to be led by a female conductor.

The troupes

The five troupes of the Takarazuka Revue have certain differences of style and material which make each unique.

Flower Troupe (Hana)

The Flower Troupe is considered the "treasure chest" of otokoyaku. Many of the most popular former and current top stars of the company originated in Flower Troupe; these include Sumire Haruno
Sumire Haruno
is a former member of Takarazuka Revue, specializing in otokoyaku. She joined the revue in 1991, became the top star in 2002 and resigned from the company in 2007...

 of Flower, Jun Shibuki
Jun Shibuki
Tanazawa Rika , know by her stage name , is a musical actress and performer of Japanese stage acting. She is a former member of Takarazuka Revue, where she played Otokoyaku...

, Jun Sena
Jun Sena
, is a Japanese actress and former top star of the Takarazuka Revue's Moon Troupe, a Japanese theatre organization in which women portray all parts. She was born April 1, 1974 and grew up in Suginami, Tokyo. During her time in the Revue, she was an otokoyaku, an actress who specializes in male roles...

 and Kiriya Hiromu of Moon, and Hikaru Asami
Hikaru Asami
Hikaru Asami is a Japanese performing artist and a former member of the Takarazuka Revue, where she specialized in playing male characters . She joined the revue in 1991 and resigned in 2006...

 of Snow. Their performances tend to have larger budgets, with lavish stage and costume designs, and are often derived from operatic material.

Moon Troupe (Tsuki)

While tending to be a home for young performers (with Yūki Amami
Yuki Amami
is a Japanese actress.-Career:Amami joined the Takarazuka Revue in 1987 and retired in 1995. Amami was the youngest actress in the company's history to be cast in a top male role...

 in her sixth year reaching the status of top star in the 1990s), the members of Moon Troupe are also strong singers. The term "Musical Research Department" is occasionally used in articles about the troupe, underscoring the troupe's focus on music. Their material tends toward drama, Western musicals, and modern settings, such as Guys and Dolls and Me and My Girl
Me and My Girl
Me and My Girl is a musical with book and lyrics by Douglas Furber and L. Arthur Rose and music by Noel Gay. It takes place in the late 1930s in Hampshire, Mayfair, and Lambeth....

. During the era of Makoto Tsubasa as top star, they had at least two musicals adopted from classic western novels.

Snow Troupe (Yuki)

Snow Troupe is considered the upholder of traditional dance and opera for the whole company, being the vanguard of traditional Japanese drama in a company that tends towards Western material. They were the first troupe to perform Elisabeth
Elisabeth (musical)
Elisabeth is a Viennese, German-language musical commissioned by the Vereinigte Bühnen Wien , with book/lyrics by Michael Kunze and music by Sylvester Levay. It portrays the life and death of the Empress consort of Austria, Elisabeth of Bavaria, wife of Emperor Franz Joseph I...

 in Japan. The troupe has been moving towards the opera and drama style of Moon and Flower.

Star Troupe (Hoshi)

Star Troupe tends to be the home of Takarazuka's star
Star
A star is a massive, luminous sphere of plasma held together by gravity. At the end of its lifetime, a star can also contain a proportion of degenerate matter. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun, which is the source of most of the energy on Earth...

s. They, along with Flower Troupe, have very strong otokoyaku players. In recent years, many of the company's prominent musumeyaku have also originated from Star Troupe, such as Hana Hizuki, Shizuku Hazakura, and Yuki Aono.

Cosmos Troupe (Sora)

Cosmos, the newest troupe, is less traditional and more experimental. When it was first formed, it culled talent from the other troupes. The Cosmos style is influenced by performers like Asato Shizuki, the founding otokoyaku top star; Yōka Wao
Yoka Wao
' is a Japanese performing artist and a former member of the Takarazuka Revue, where she specialized in playing male characters . She joined the revue in 1988 and resigned in 2006....

 and Mari Hanafusa
Mari Hanafusa
is a former member of the Takarazuka Revue, in which she specialized in female roles . She is from Tokyo and joined the revue in 1991 and retired in 2006...

, the "Golden Combi" who headed the troupe for six of its first eight years. Cosmos were the first troupe to perform Phantom
Phantom (musical)
Phantom is a musical with music and lyrics by Maury Yeston and a book by Arthur Kopit. Based on Gaston Leroux's 1910 novel The Phantom of the Opera, the musical was first presented in Houston, Texas in 1991....

 and to have a Broadway composer (Frank Wildhorn
Frank Wildhorn
Frank Wildhorn is an American composer known for both his musicals and popular songs. He is most known for his musical Jekyll & Hyde, which ran four years on Broadway, and for writing the #1 International Hit song "Where Do Broken Hearts Go?" for Whitney Houston.-Early years:Wildhorn was born in...

) write their musical score. Most of the otokoyaku in this troop are above 170 cm (the most notable is Hiro Yuumi, the tallest in the company since she joined in 1997).

Adaptations of Western works

While the majority of Takarazuka works are written "in house" by members of the creative staff, they are often adapted from Western classic musicals, operas, plays, novels or films:
Novels:
  • Alexander Pushkin's The Captain's Daughter
    The Captain's Daughter
    The Captain's Daughter is a historical novel by the Russian writer Alexander Pushkin. It was first published in 1836 in the fourth issue of the literary journal Sovremennik. The novel is a romanticized account of Pugachev's Rebellion in 1773-1774....

     (as Dark Brown Eyes) and Eugene Onegin
    Eugene Onegin
    Eugene Onegin is a novel in verse written by Alexander Pushkin.It is a classic of Russian literature, and its eponymous protagonist has served as the model for a number of Russian literary heroes . It was published in serial form between 1825 and 1832...

  • Anthony Hope
    Anthony Hope
    Sir Anthony Hope Hawkins, better known as Anthony Hope , was an English novelist and playwright. Although he was a prolific writer, especially of adventure novels, he is remembered best for only two books: The Prisoner of Zenda and its sequel Rupert of Hentzau...

    's The Prisoner of Zenda
    The Prisoner of Zenda
    The Prisoner of Zenda is an adventure novel by Anthony Hope, published in 1894. The king of the fictional country of Ruritania is drugged on the eve of his coronation and thus unable to attend his own coronation. Political forces are such that in order for the king to retain his crown his...

  • Antoine François Prévost
    Antoine François Prévost
    Antoine François Prévost , usually known simply as the Abbé Prévost, was a French author and novelist.- Life and works :...

    's Manon Lescaut
    Manon Lescaut
    Manon Lescaut is a short novel by French author Abbé Prévost. Published in 1731, it is the seventh and final volume of Mémoires et aventures d'un homme de qualité . It was controversial in its time and was banned in France upon publication...

  • Charles Dickens
    Charles Dickens
    Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...

    's A Tale of Two Cities
    A Tale of Two Cities
    A Tale of Two Cities is a novel by Charles Dickens, set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution. With well over 200 million copies sold, it ranks among the most famous works in the history of fictional literature....

     and Great Expectations
    Great Expectations
    Great Expectations is a novel by Charles Dickens. It was first published in serial form in the publication All the Year Round from 1 December 1860 to August 1861. It has been adapted for stage and screen over 250 times....

  • Edith Wharton
    Edith Wharton
    Edith Wharton , was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist, short story writer, and designer.- Early life and marriage:...

    's The Age of Innocence
    The Age of Innocence
    The Age of Innocence is a novel by Edith Wharton published in 1920, which won the 1921 Pulitzer Prize. The story is set in upper-class New York City in the 1870s. In 1920, The Age of Innocence was serialized in four parts in the Pictorial Review magazine, and later released by D...

  • Emily Brontë
    Emily Brontë
    Emily Jane Brontë 30 July 1818 – 19 December 1848) was an English novelist and poet, best remembered for her only novel, Wuthering Heights, now considered a classic of English literature. Emily was the third eldest of the four surviving Brontë siblings, between the youngest Anne and her brother...

    's Wuthering Heights
    Wuthering Heights
    Wuthering Heights is a novel by Emily Brontë published in 1847. It was her only novel and written between December 1845 and July 1846. It remained unpublished until July 1847 and was not printed until December after the success of her sister Charlotte Brontë's novel Jane Eyre...

  • Erich Maria Remarque
    Erich Maria Remarque
    Erich Maria Remarque was a German author, best known for his novel All Quiet on the Western Front.-Life and work:...

    's Arch of Triumph
    Arch of Triumph (novel)
    Arch of Triumph is a 1945 novel by Erich Maria Remarque. In it, he writes about stateless refugees' life in Paris before World War II. It was the second book of his, after All Quiet on the Western Front, to appear on bestseller lists worldwide....

  • Ernest Hemingway
    Ernest Hemingway
    Ernest Miller Hemingway was an American author and journalist. His economic and understated style had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction, while his life of adventure and his public image influenced later generations. Hemingway produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the...

    's For Whom the Bell Tolls
    For Whom the Bell Tolls
    For Whom the Bell Tolls is a novel by Ernest Hemingway published in 1940. It tells the story of Robert Jordan, a young American in the International Brigades attached to a republican guerrilla unit during the Spanish Civil War. As an expert in the use of explosives, he is assigned to blow up a...

  • F. Scott Fitzgerald
    F. Scott Fitzgerald
    Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was an American author of novels and short stories, whose works are the paradigm writings of the Jazz Age, a term he coined himself. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century. Fitzgerald is considered a member of the "Lost...

    's The Great Gatsby
    The Great Gatsby
    The Great Gatsby is a novel by the American author F. Scott Fitzgerald. First published in1925, it is set on Long Island's North Shore and in New York City from spring to autumn of 1922....

  • Fyodor Dostoyevsky's The Brothers Karamazov
    The Brothers Karamazov
    The Brothers Karamazov is the final novel by the Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevsky. Dostoyevsky spent nearly two years writing The Brothers Karamazov, which was published as a serial in The Russian Messenger and completed in November 1880...

  • Henry Fielding
    Henry Fielding
    Henry Fielding was an English novelist and dramatist known for his rich earthy humour and satirical prowess, and as the author of the novel Tom Jones....

    's Tom Jones
    The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling
    The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, often known simply as Tom Jones, is a comic novel by the English playwright and novelist Henry Fielding. First published on 28 February 1749, Tom Jones is among the earliest English prose works describable as a novel...

  • James Hilton
    James Hilton
    James Hilton was an English novelist who wrote several best-sellers, including Lost Horizon and Goodbye, Mr. Chips.-Biography:...

    's Random Harvest
  • John Steinbeck
    John Steinbeck
    John Ernst Steinbeck, Jr. was an American writer. He is widely known for the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden and the novella Of Mice and Men...

    's East of Eden
  • Johnston McCulley
    Johnston McCulley
    Johnston McCulley was the author of hundreds of stories, fifty novels, numerous screenplays for film and television, and the creator of the character Zorro...

    's Zorro
    Zorro
    Zorro is a fictional character created in 1919 by New York-based pulp writer Johnston McCulley. The character has been featured in numerous books, films, television series, and other media....

  • Leo Tolstoy
    Leo Tolstoy
    Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy was a Russian writer who primarily wrote novels and short stories. Later in life, he also wrote plays and essays. His two most famous works, the novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina, are acknowledged as two of the greatest novels of all time and a pinnacle of realist...

    's Anna Karenina
    Anna Karenina
    Anna Karenina is a novel by the Russian writer Leo Tolstoy, published in serial installments from 1873 to 1877 in the periodical The Russian Messenger...

     and War and Peace
    War and Peace
    War and Peace is a novel by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy, first published in 1869. The work is epic in scale and is regarded as one of the most important works of world literature...

  • Margaret Mitchell
    Margaret Mitchell
    Margaret Munnerlyn Mitchell was an American author and journalist. Mitchell won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1937 for her epic American Civil War era novel, Gone with the Wind, which was the only novel by Mitchell published during her lifetime.-Family:Margaret Mitchell was born in Atlanta,...

    's Gone with the Wind
    Gone with the Wind
    The slaves depicted in Gone with the Wind are primarily loyal house servants, such as Mammy, Pork and Uncle Peter, and these slaves stay on with their masters even after the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 sets them free...

  • Oscar Wilde
    Oscar Wilde
    Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s...

    's The Picture of Dorian Gray
    The Picture of Dorian Gray
    The Picture of Dorian Gray is the only published novel by Oscar Wilde, appearing as the lead story in Lippincott's Monthly Magazine on 20 June 1890, printed as the July 1890 issue of this magazine...

  • Pierre Choderlos de Laclos
    Pierre Choderlos de Laclos
    Pierre Ambroise François Choderlos de Laclos was a French novelist, official and army general, best known for writing the epistolary novel Les Liaisons dangereuses ....

    's Les Liaisons dangereuses
    Les Liaisons dangereuses
    Les Liaisons dangereuses is a French epistolary novel by Choderlos de Laclos, first published in four volumes by Durand Neveu from March 23, 1782....

     (as Romanesque Mask)
  • Prosper Mérimée
    Prosper Mérimée
    Prosper Mérimée was a French dramatist, historian, archaeologist, and short story writer. He is perhaps best known for his novella Carmen, which became the basis of Bizet's opera Carmen.-Life:...

    's Carmen
    Carmen (novella)
    "Carmen" is a novella by Prosper Mérimée, written and first published in 1845. It has been adapted into a number of dramatic works, including the famous opera by Georges Bizet.-Sources:...

     (as Passion: Jose and Carmen)
  • Stendhal
    Stendhal
    Marie-Henri Beyle , better known by his pen name Stendhal, was a 19th-century French writer. Known for his acute analysis of his characters' psychology, he is considered one of the earliest and foremost practitioners of realism in his two novels Le Rouge et le Noir and La Chartreuse de Parme...

    's The Red and the Black
    The Red and the Black
    Le Rouge et le Noir , 1830, by Stendhal, is a historical psychological novel in two volumes, chronicling a provincial young man’s attempts to socially rise beyond his plebeian upbringing with a combination of talent and hard work, deception and hypocrisy — yet who ultimately allows his passions to...

     and The Charterhouse of Parma
    The Charterhouse of Parma
    The Charterhouse of Parma is a novel published in 1839 by Stendhal.-Plot summary:The Charterhouse of Parma tells the story of the young Italian nobleman Fabrice del Dongo and his adventures from his birth in 1798 to his death...

     (as Passionate Barcelona)
  • Vicente Blasco Ibáñez
    Vicente Blasco Ibáñez
    Vicente Blasco Ibáñez was a Spanish realist novelist writing in Spanish, a screenwriter and occasional film director....

    's Blood and Sand


Films:
  • An Officer and a Gentleman
    An Officer and a Gentleman
    A Officer and a Gentleman is a 1982 American drama film that tells the story of a U.S. Navy aviation officer candidate who comes into conflict with the Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant who trains him. It was written by Douglas Day Stewart and directed by Taylor Hackford...

  • Bonnie and Clyde
    Bonnie and Clyde (film)
    The film was originally offered to François Truffaut, the best-known director of the New Wave movement, who made contributions to the script. He passed on the project to make Fahrenheit 451. The producers approached Jean-Luc Godard next...

  • Casablanca
    Casablanca (film)
    Casablanca is a 1942 American romantic drama film directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman and Paul Henreid, and featuring Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre and Dooley Wilson. Set during World War II, it focuses on a man torn between, in...

  • Dis moi oui... (as At the End of a Long Spring)
  • Farewell My Concubine/The Phantom Lover
    The Phantom Lover
    The Phantom Lover is a 1995 Hong Kong film starring Leslie Cheung and Jacqueline Wu. It was directed by Ronnie Yu and is a remake of the 1937 film Song at Midnight. The film itself is a loose adaptation of the classic Romeo and Juliet romance where love between two passionate lovers were...

     (as Singing in the Moonlight)
  • JFK
    JFK (film)
    JFK is a 1991 American film directed by Oliver Stone. It examines the events leading to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and alleged subsequent cover-up, through the eyes of former New Orleans district attorney Jim Garrison .Garrison filed charges against New Orleans businessman Clay...

  • Sabrina
    Sabrina (1954 film)
    Sabrina is a 1954 comedy-romance film directed by Billy Wilder, adapted for the screen by Wilder, Samuel A. Taylor, and Ernest Lehman from Taylor's play Sabrina Fair...

  • Somewhere in Time
    Somewhere in Time (film)
    Somewhere in Time is a 1980 romantic science fiction film directed by Jeannot Szwarc. It is a film adaptation of the 1975 novel Bid Time Return by Richard Matheson, who also wrote the screenplay...



Operas:
  • Aida
    Aida
    Aida sometimes spelled Aïda, is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni, based on a scenario written by French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette...

     (Under the name Song of the Kingdom)
  • Der Rosenkavalier
    Der Rosenkavalier
    Der Rosenkavalier is a comic opera in three acts by Richard Strauss to an original German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. It is loosely adapted from the novel Les amours du chevalier de Faublas by Louvet de Couvrai and Molière’s comedy Monsieur de Pourceaugnac...

     (as Love Sonata)
  • Il trovatore
    Il trovatore
    Il trovatore is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Salvadore Cammarano, based on the play El Trovador by Antonio García Gutiérrez. Cammarano died in mid-1852 before completing the libretto...

     (as A Kiss To The Flames)
  • The Tales of Hoffmann
  • Tristan und Isolde
    Tristan und Isolde
    Tristan und Isolde is an opera, or music drama, in three acts by Richard Wagner to a German libretto by the composer, based largely on the romance by Gottfried von Straßburg. It was composed between 1857 and 1859 and premiered in Munich on 10 June 1865 with Hans von Bülow conducting...

     (as Elegy)
  • Turandot
    Turandot
    Turandot is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, set to a libretto in Italian by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni.Though Puccini's first interest in the subject was based on his reading of Friedrich Schiller's adaptation of the play, his work is most nearly based on the earlier text Turandot...

     (as Legend of the Phoenix: Calaf & Turandot)
  • Véronique
    Véronique (operetta)
    Véronique is an opéra comique or operetta in three acts composed by André Messager. The French libretto was by Georges Duval and Albert Vanloo...


Musicals:
  • The Apple Tree
    The Apple Tree
    The Apple Tree is a series of three musical playlets with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and a book by Bock and Harnick with contributions from Jerome Coopersmith...

  • Can-Can
    Can-Can (musical)
    Can-Can is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter, and a book by Abe Burrows. The story concerns the showgirls of the Montmartre dance halls during the 1890s....

  • Copacabana
    Copacabana (musical)
    Copacabana is a TV-musical, stage musical, and nightclub show written by Barry Manilow, based on the song of the same name. The show toured the United States and, as of 2006, became available to license to performing companies and schools for the first time....

  • Elisabeth
    Elisabeth (musical)
    Elisabeth is a Viennese, German-language musical commissioned by the Vereinigte Bühnen Wien , with book/lyrics by Michael Kunze and music by Sylvester Levay. It portrays the life and death of the Empress consort of Austria, Elisabeth of Bavaria, wife of Emperor Franz Joseph I...

  • Ernest in Love
    Ernest in Love
    Ernest in Love is a musical with a book and lyrics by Anne Croswell and music by Lee Pockriss. It is based on The Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde's classic comedy of manners.-Background:...

     (an adaptation of The Importance of Being Earnest
    The Importance of Being Earnest
    The Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People is a play by Oscar Wilde. First performed on 14 February 1895 at St. James's Theatre in London, it is a farcical comedy in which the protagonists maintain fictitious personae in order to escape burdensome social obligations...

    )
  • Flower Drum Song
    Flower Drum Song
    Flower Drum Song was the eighth stage musical by the team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. It was based on the 1957 novel, The Flower Drum Song, by Chinese-American author C. Y. Lee. The piece opened in 1958 on Broadway and was afterwards presented in the West End and on tour...

  • Grand Hotel
    Grand Hotel (musical)
    Grand Hotel is a musical with a book by Luther Davis and music and lyrics by Robert Wright and George Forrest, with additional lyrics and music by Maury Yeston....

  • Guys and Dolls
  • How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
    How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
    How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying is a musical with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Abe Burrows, Jack Weinstock, and Willie Gilbert, based on Shepherd Mead's 1952 book of the same name....

  • Kean
    Kean (musical)
    Kean is a musical with a book by Peter Stone and music and lyrics by Robert Wright and George Forrest.Using material by Jean-Paul Sartre and Alexandre Dumas, père as its source, it centers on the adventures of Edmund Kean, considered the greatest Shakespearean actor of the 18th century, focusing...

  • Kiss Me Kate
    Kiss Me, Kate
    Kiss Me, Kate is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. It is structured as a play within a play, where the interior play is a musical version of William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew. The original production starred Alfred Drake, Patricia Morison, Lisa Kirk and Harold Lang.Kiss...

  • Me and My Girl
    Me and My Girl
    Me and My Girl is a musical with book and lyrics by Douglas Furber and L. Arthur Rose and music by Noel Gay. It takes place in the late 1930s in Hampshire, Mayfair, and Lambeth....

  • Oklahoma!
    Oklahoma!
    Oklahoma! is the first musical written by composer Richard Rodgers and librettist Oscar Hammerstein II. The musical is based on Lynn Riggs' 1931 play, Green Grow the Lilacs. Set in Oklahoma Territory outside the town of Claremore in 1906, it tells the story of cowboy Curly McLain and his romance...

  • On a Clear Day You Can See Forever
    On a Clear Day You Can See Forever
    On a Clear Day You Can See Forever is a musical with music by Burton Lane and a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner based loosely on Berkeley Square, written in 1929 by John L. Balderston. It concerns a woman who has ESP and has been reincarnated...

  • One Touch of Venus
    One Touch of Venus
    One Touch of Venus is a musical with music written by Kurt Weill, lyrics by Ogden Nash, and book by S. J. Perelman and Nash, based on the novella The Tinted Venus by Thomas Anstey Guthrie, and very loosely spoofing the Pygmalion myth. The show satirizes contemporary American suburban values,...

  • Phantom
    Phantom (musical)
    Phantom is a musical with music and lyrics by Maury Yeston and a book by Arthur Kopit. Based on Gaston Leroux's 1910 novel The Phantom of the Opera, the musical was first presented in Houston, Texas in 1991....

  • Roméo et Juliette, de la Haine à l'Amour
    Roméo et Juliette, de la Haine à l'Amour
    Roméo et Juliette: de la Haine à l'Amour is a French musical based on William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet, with music and lyrics by Gérard Presgurvic. It premiered in Paris on January 19, 2001. The production was directed and choreographed by Redha, with costumes by Dominique Borg and...

  • Singin' in the Rain
    Singin' in the Rain (musical)
    Singin' in the Rain is a musical with a book by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, lyrics by Arthur Freed, and music by Nacio Herb Brown.Adapted from the 1952 movie of the same name, the plot closely adheres to the original...

  • The Scarlet Pimpernel
    The Scarlet Pimpernel (musical)
    The Scarlet Pimpernel is a musical with music by Frank Wildhorn and lyrics and book by Nan Knighton, based on the novel of the same name by Baroness Orczy. The show is set in England and France during the Reign of Terror of the French Revolution...

  • The Sound of Music
    The Sound of Music
    The Sound of Music is a musical by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the memoir of Maria von Trapp, The Story of the Trapp Family Singers...

  • West Side Story


Plays:
  • Shakespeare
    William Shakespeare
    William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...

    's Romeo and Juliet
    Romeo and Juliet
    Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular archetypal stories of young, teenage lovers.Romeo and Juliet belongs to a...

    , Twelfth Night, Julius Caesar
    Julius Caesar (play)
    The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, also known simply as Julius Caesar, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1599. It portrays the 44 BC conspiracy against...

     (Under the name Rome at Dawn), Much Ado About Nothing
    Much Ado About Nothing
    Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy written by William Shakespeare about two pairs of lovers, Benedick and Beatrice, and Claudio and Hero....

    , The Winter's Tale
    The Winter's Tale
    The Winter's Tale is a play by William Shakespeare, originally published in the First Folio of 1623. Although it was grouped among the comedies, some modern editors have relabelled the play as one of Shakespeare's late romances. Some critics, among them W. W...

     and Hamlet
    Hamlet
    The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...

  • John Fletcher
    John Fletcher (playwright)
    John Fletcher was a Jacobean playwright. Following William Shakespeare as house playwright for the King's Men, he was among the most prolific and influential dramatists of his day; both during his lifetime and in the early Restoration, his fame rivalled Shakespeare's...

     and Shakespeare
    William Shakespeare
    William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...

    's The Two Noble Kinsmen
    The Two Noble Kinsmen
    The Two Noble Kinsmen is a Jacobean tragicomedy, first published in 1634 and attributed to John Fletcher and William Shakespeare. Its plot derives from "The Knight's Tale" in Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales....

  • Goethe's Faust
    Goethe's Faust
    Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust is a tragic play in two parts: and . Although written as a closet drama, it is the play with the largest audience numbers on German-language stages...



Adaptations of Japanese works

Stories based in Japan and modeled on historical accounts or traditional tales, are often referred to as or, less frequently, . Among the most common of these adapted to the Takarazuka stage is .

Popular manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...

 series have often shaped Takarazuka, such as in the case of Riyoko Ikeda
Riyoko Ikeda
is a Japanese manga artist and singer. She is included in the Year 24 Group. She was one of the most popular Japanese comic artists in the 1970s, being best known for The Rose of Versailles.- Biography :...

's The Rose of Versailles
The Rose of Versailles
, also known as Lady Oscar or La Rose de Versailles, is one of the best-known titles in shōjo manga and a media franchise created by Riyoko Ikeda. It has been adapted into several Takarazuka Revue musicals, as well an anime television series, produced by Tokyo Movie Shinsha and broadcast by the...

. Other manga adaptations include The Window of Orpheus
Orpheus no Mado
is a manga by Riyoko Ikeda. It was published by Shueisha in Margaret from 1975 to 1981, and collected in 18 bound volumes. It takes place in Germany and Russia with the backdrop story of the Russian Revolution.- Story :...

, also by Ikeda, Osamu Tezuka
Osamu Tezuka
was a Japanese cartoonist, manga artist, animator, producer, activist and medical doctor, although he never practiced medicine. Born in Osaka Prefecture, he is best known as the creator of Astro Boy, Kimba the White Lion and Black Jack...

's Black Jack
Black Jack (manga)
is a manga written and illustrated by Osamu Tezuka in the 1970s, dealing with the medical adventures of the title character, doctor Black Jack....

 and Phoenix
Phoenix (manga)
is a manga series by Osamu Tezuka. Tezuka considered Phoenix his "life's work"; it consists of 12 books, each of which tells a separate, self-contained story and takes place in a different era. The plots go back and forth from the remote future to prehistoric times. The cycle remains unfinished...

, and Yasuko Aoike
Yasuko Aoike
is a Japanese manga artist, born on July 24, 1948 in Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi. Most of her works are shōjo manga, predominantly focused on romance, adventure, and light comedy, and many of them contain elements of shōnen-ai. She is included in Year 24 group....

's El Halcón.

Recent examples of works adapted from Japanese novels or short stories include Moon Troupe's , based upon the short story by Ryōtarō Shiba
Ryotaro Shiba
, born in Osaka, Japan, was a Japanese author best known for his novels about historical events in Japan and on the Northeast Asian sub-continent, as well as his historical and cultural essays pertaining to Japan and its relationship to the rest of the world....

, and Flower Troupe's , based upon the Kogoro Akechi
Kogoro Akechi
Kogoro Akechi is a fictional character and the creation of Japanese mystery writer Edogawa Rampo.He first appeared in the story "The D Slope Murder case" in 1925 and continued to appear in stories for a quarter of a century...

 story by Edogawa Rampo
Edogawa Rampo
, better known by the pseudonym , was a Japanese author and critic who played a major role in the development of Japanese mystery fiction. Many of his novels involve the detective hero Kogorō Akechi, who in later books was the leader of a group of boy detectives known as the .Rampo was an admirer...

.

In 2009, Takarazuka Revue performed two shows based on an adaptation of Capcom
Capcom
is a Japanese developer and publisher of video games, known for creating multi-million-selling franchises such as Devil May Cry, Chaos Legion, Street Fighter, Mega Man and Resident Evil. Capcom developed and published Bionic Commando, Lost Planet and Dark Void too, but they are less known. Its...

's videogame series Phoenix Wright.

Adaptations of other Asian works

Among works adapted from other Asian sources is the Beijing opera Farewell My Concubine
Farewell My Concubine (play)
Farewell My Concubine is a Chinese Peking Opera. A more literal translation of the Chinese title is The Hegemon King says Farewell to his Queen....

, detailing the romance between General Xiang Yu
Xiang Yu
Xiang Yu was a prominent military leader and political figure during the late Qin Dynasty. His given name was Ji while his style name was Yu ....

 and his lover Madam Yu.

Original Stories and Historical Adaptations

Musicals have also been performed throughout the years based upon people and events in American, European, and Asian history. Among the more recognizable of these biographical adaptations are Last Party: S. Fitzgerald's last day, about F. Scott Fitzgerald
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was an American author of novels and short stories, whose works are the paradigm writings of the Jazz Age, a term he coined himself. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century. Fitzgerald is considered a member of the "Lost...

, Valentino, about Rudolph Valentino
Rudolph Valentino
Rudolph Valentino was an Italian actor, and early pop icon. A sex symbol of the 1920s, Valentino was known as the "Latin Lover". He starred in several well-known silent films including The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, The Sheik, Blood and Sand, The Eagle and Son of the Sheik...

, and Dean, about James Dean
James Dean
James Byron Dean was an American film actor. He is a cultural icon, best embodied in the title of his most celebrated film, Rebel Without a Cause , in which he starred as troubled Los Angeles teenager Jim Stark...

.

Finally, original stories round out Takarazuka fare, including musicals such as Boxman by Cosmos Troupe and Silver Wolf performed by Moon and Snow Troupes.

Collaborations

Takarazuka has occasionally worked with notable writers, composers, and choreographers to create original content for the revue. In 1993, Tommy Tune
Tommy Tune
Thomas James "Tommy" Tune is an American actor, dancer, singer, theatre director, producer, and choreographer. Over the course of his career, he has won nine Tony Awards and the National Medal of Arts.-Early years:...

 wrote, directed and choreographed the revue Broadway Boys to accompany Moon Troupe's rendition of Grand Hotel
Grand Hotel (musical)
Grand Hotel is a musical with a book by Luther Davis and music and lyrics by Robert Wright and George Forrest, with additional lyrics and music by Maury Yeston....

. In 2006, Takarazuka worked with Frank Wildhorn
Frank Wildhorn
Frank Wildhorn is an American composer known for both his musicals and popular songs. He is most known for his musical Jekyll & Hyde, which ran four years on Broadway, and for writing the #1 International Hit song "Where Do Broken Hearts Go?" for Whitney Houston.-Early years:Wildhorn was born in...

, musical writer and composer of Jekyll & Hyde
Jekyll & Hyde (musical)
Jekyll & Hyde is a musical based on the novella Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson. The original stage conception was by Steve Cuden and Frank Wildhorn. The music is by Wildhorn and the lyrics and book are by Leslie Bricusse.The musical ran on Broadway for 1,543...

 and The Scarlet Pimpernel
The Scarlet Pimpernel (musical)
The Scarlet Pimpernel is a musical with music by Frank Wildhorn and lyrics and book by Nan Knighton, based on the novel of the same name by Baroness Orczy. The show is set in England and France during the Reign of Terror of the French Revolution...

, to create Never Say Goodbye
Never Say Goodbye (musical)
Never Say Goodbye is a musical with a book and lyrics by Shûichirô Koike and music by Frank Wildhorn. It was written specifically for Takarazuka Revue, the all-female Japanese theatre company...

 for Cosmos Troupe.

Star personnel

The current top stars of each group are:
Group otokoyaku musumeyaku
Senka Yū Todoroki
Yu Todoroki
Yu Todoroki is a current member of Takarazuka Revue, where she plays an otokoyaku. She joined the Revue in 1985, became the top star of Snow Troupe in 1997, transferred to Superior Members in 2002 and became the youngest member to serve on the company's board of directors in 2003...

Flower Tomu Ranju Hana Ranno
Moon Kiriya Hiromu Yuki Aono
Snow Kei Otozuki Mimi Maihane
Star Reon Yuzuki
Reon Yuzuki
is a Japanese actress in Star Troupe of the Takarazuka Revue, in which she specializes in playing male parts . She joined the revue in 1999 and became the top star in 2009. She is called Chie from her real name.-General information:...

Nene Yumesaki
Cosmos Yūhi Ozora Sumika Nono

The youngest member to ever serve on the board of directors

Other performers in the company

Group Flower Moon Snow Star Cosmos
Otokoyaku Kazuho Sou, Harei Aine, Hikaru Hanagata, Manato Asaka Izumi Aoki, Kaito Seijou, Masaki Ryū, Rio Asumi Aki Misuzu, Oto Ayana, Tooma Ozuki, Seina Sagiri, Kurama Saou Shio Suzumi, Seika Yumeno, Yuzuru Kurenai, Suzuho Makaze Hiro Yuumi, Kairi Hokushō, Irisu Toki, Kaname Ouki, Ruumi Nagina
Musumeyaku Ichika Sakura, Juria Hanano Yurino Touka, Rion Ayahoshi Ayu Manaka, Ami Yumeka Seara Hisaki, Remi Shirahana Chitose Junya, Rei Sumireno


The younger sister of Nao Ayaki, the former top star (otokoyaku) of Moon Troupe

The tallest actress in the entire company

Seniority

The terms upperclassmen
Senpai
and are an essential element of Japanese seniority-based status relationships, similar to the way that family and other relationships are decided based on age, with even twins being divided into elder and younger sibling...

 (上級生) and lowerclassmen (下級生) (the Japanese terms are gender-neutral) are used to distinguish senior and junior members of Takarazuka. Lowerclassmen are the actresses who have been performers in Takarazuka for less than seven years. They are employees of the company, and usually work as background dancers and in shinjin kōen (performances exclusively for underclassmen). After the seventh year they become upperclassmen, and negotiate contracts with the company instead of being employed by it.

Former Takarasiennes

Takarazuka roster members who went on to work in stage
Stage (theatre)
In theatre or performance arts, the stage is a designated space for the performance productions. The stage serves as a space for actors or performers and a focal point for the members of the audience...

, movie
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...

s and television include:
otokoyaku musumeyaku
  • Ran Ohtori
  • Rei Asami
  • Maki Ichiro
  • Keaki Mori
  • Yūki Amami
    Yuki Amami
    is a Japanese actress.-Career:Amami joined the Takarazuka Revue in 1987 and retired in 1995. Amami was the youngest actress in the company's history to be cast in a top male role...

  • Mao Daichi
  • Fubuki Takane
  • Miki Maya
    Miki Maya
    is a Japanese actress, and also a former top star of the Takarazuka Revue. Her real name is . During her childhood, she lived in several different cities because of her father's job. It was Toyonaka, Osaka, where she had spent most of her teen years before she joined the Takarazuka Revue in 1981...

  • Midori Hatsukaze
  • Sakiho Juri
    Sakiho Juri
    is a Japanese performing artist and a former member of the Takarazuka Revue, where she specialized in playing male characters . She joined the revue in 1990 and resigned in 2005...

  • Mayo Suzukaze
    Mayo Suzukaze
    is a Japanese film and television actress from Ishinomaki. Suzukaze has also done some voice work as a voice actress, namely as the voice of Himura Kenshin in Rurouni Kenshin. She was previously a Takarazuka Revue stage actress and the Top Star of Moon Troupe...

  • Jun Shibuki
    Jun Shibuki
    Tanazawa Rika , know by her stage name , is a musical actress and performer of Japanese stage acting. She is a former member of Takarazuka Revue, where she played Otokoyaku...

  • Asato Shizuki
  • Nao Ayaki
  • Yōka Wao
    Yoka Wao
    ' is a Japanese performing artist and a former member of the Takarazuka Revue, where she specialized in playing male characters . She joined the revue in 1988 and resigned in 2006....

  • Wataru Kozuki
    Wataru Kozuki
    is a Japanese performing artist and a former member of the Takarazuka Revue, where she specialized in playing male characters . She joined the revue in 1989 and resigned in 2006. She is from Iruma, Saitama ....

  • Hikaru Asami
    Hikaru Asami
    Hikaru Asami is a Japanese performing artist and a former member of the Takarazuka Revue, where she specialized in playing male characters . She joined the revue in 1991 and resigned in 2006...

  • Sumire Haruno
    Sumire Haruno
    is a former member of Takarazuka Revue, specializing in otokoyaku. She joined the revue in 1991, became the top star in 2002 and resigned from the company in 2007...

  • Kei Aran
    Kei Aran
    , , is a Japanese actress and former top star otokoyaku of the Japanese Takarazuka Revue's Star Troupe. She joined the revue in 1991 and became the top star in 2007, five years after her fellow classmates Sumire Haruno and Hikaru Asami became top stars...

  • Kei Takeshiro
  • Makoto Tsubasa
  • Maya Misato
  • Mao Ayabuki
  • Natsuki Mizu
    Natsuki Mizu
    Natsuki Mizu is the former top star for Snow Troupe of Takarazuka Revue from 12/24/06 to 09/12/10. She joined the company in 1993 and became the top star in December 2006 upon the resignation of Hikaru Asami...

  • Risa Junna
  • Hitomi Kuroki
    Hitomi Kuroki
    Hitomi Kuroki is a Japanese actress. Her real name is Shoko Ichiji née Egami ....

  • Mahiru Konno
    Mahiru Konno
    is a Japanese actress.-External links:* *http://www.tv.com/mahiru-konno/person/437468/appearances.html...

  • Rei Dan
    Rei Dan
    is a Japanese actress. She began her career as a member of the Takarazuka Revue. She was nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the 32nd Japan Academy Prize for Kabei: Our Mother.-Filmography:* Kabei: Our Mother * Snow Prince...

  • Miyo Fuzuki
  • Mari Hanafusa
    Mari Hanafusa
    is a former member of the Takarazuka Revue, in which she specialized in female roles . She is from Tokyo and joined the revue in 1991 and retired in 2006...

  • Rira Maikaze
  • Rui Shijō
  • Kanami Ayano
    Kanami Ayano
    Kanami Ayano is a former top star for Moon Troupe of Takarazuka Revue. She joined the revue company in 1997 and became the top star along with Jun Sena, a former troupe mate from Flower Troupe...

  • Yuri Shirahane
  • Yukiko Todoroki
    Yukiko Todoroki
    Yukiko Todoroki was a Japanese actress. Her real name was Tsuruko Nishiyama. She also participated in the Takarazuka Revue. At Takarazuka, she was known not by her real name, but by the stage name Toruko . Her birthplace was Shinbori, Azabu-ku in Tokyo. Her two ex-husbands were film directors...

  • Aya Izumo

  • Takarazuka's audience

    Women make up the primary audience of Takarazuka; in fact, some estimates say the audience is 90 percent female. There exist two primary theories as to what draws these women to Takarazuka. One is that the women are drawn to its inherent lesbian overtones. One author states, “It was not masculine sexuality which attracted the Japanese girl audience but it was feminine eroticism”. The competing theory is that the girls are not drawn to the implicit sexuality of Takarazuka, but instead are fascinated by the otokoyaku (the women who play male roles) “getting away with a male performance of power and freedom”.

    Favoring the first theory, American Jennifer Robertson observes that lesbian themes occur in every Takarazuka performance, simply by virtue of the fact that women play every role. The audience clearly picks up on it and responds. Within the first ten years of Takarazuka's founding, the audience was vocally responding to the apparent lesbianism. Female fans wrote love letters to the otokoyaku. In 1921 these letters were published and several years later newspapers and the public rallied a cry against Takarazuka, claiming it was quickly becoming a “symbol of abnormal love”. In order to combat this, the producers kept its actresses in strict living conditions; they were no longer allowed to associate with their fans. Robertson mentions a phenomenon of “S” or “Class S
    Class S (genre)
    , or "S kankei", abbreviated either as S or , is an early twentieth century Japanese wasei-eigo term specifically used to refer to strong emotional bonds between schoolgirls, and a genre of which tells stories about the same, particularly a mutual crush between an upperclassman and an underclassman...

    ” love, a particular style of love wherein women who have been influenced by Takarazuka return to their daily lives feeling free to develop crushes on their female classmates or coworkers. This type of romance is typically fleeting and is seen in Japanese society as more of a phase in growing up rather than "true" homosexuality. Robertson sums up her theory thus: "Many [women] are attracted to the Takarazuka otokoyaku because she represents an exemplary female who can negotiate successfully both genders and their attendant roles and domains.”

    The competing theory, supported by Canadian Erica Abbitt, is that the female audience of Takarazuka is drawn not exclusively by lesbian overtones, but rather by the subversion of stereotypical gender roles. Japan is a society notorious for its rigid conception of gender roles. While the original goal of the show may have been to create the ideal good wife and wise mother
    Women in Japan
    Gender has been an important principle of stratification throughout Japanese history, but the cultural elaboration of gender differences has varied over time and among different social classes. In the twelfth century , for example, women in Japan could inherit property in their own names and manage...

    , off stage, on-stage gender roles are, by necessity, subverted. The otokoyaku must act the way men are supposed to act. Abbitt insists that a large portion of the appeal of Takarazuka comes from something she calls “slippage”, referring to the enjoyment derived from a character portraying something they are not, in this case a woman portraying a man. While not denying the presence of lesbian overtones within Takarazuka, Abbitt proposes the cause for the largely female audience has more to do with this subversion of societal norms than sexual ones.

    Fan clubs

    Some fans demonstrate their loyalty to a particular performer by joining her fan club
    Fan club
    A fan club is a group that is dedicated to a well-known person, group, idea or sometimes even an inanimate object . Most fan clubs are run by fans who devote considerable time and resources to supporting them. There are also "official" fan clubs that are run by someone associated with the person...

    . Club members can be identified by their wearing scarves of a particular color or even jackets colorfully embroidered with the star's name. Following performances at the Takarazuka Grand Theatre or Tokyo Takarazuka Theatre, as many as several hundred fans congregate in their various club groups and stand in orderly ranks on either side of the street in front of the theatre. The clubs are arranged by actress seniority within the troupe. Theatre officials set up barricades and oversee the assembly.

    Whenever an actress exits the theatre, the frontmost group will sit and all the others follow suit (much like the "wave
    Audience wave
    The wave or the Mexican wave is an example of metachronal rhythm achieved in a packed stadium when successive groups of spectators briefly stand and raise their arms...

    " seen in athletic arenas) with subsequent intervals of standing and sitting. The fans wait patiently, with little conversation, for their favorites to exit the theatre, their decorum contrasting markedly to the noisy, competitive and often pushy autograph-seekers who wait outside stage doors in the West. An almost eerie ritualistic calm prevails. As the stars come out of the building one by one, some alone but most accompanied by staff members of their club, orderly quiet continues to prevail. The glamorous performers, now mostly in slacks or jeans with high heels and wearing oversize visored "newsboy" caps to hide their hair (and some with sunglasses even at night), move along to their own particular fan clubs. Rather than requesting autographs, the fans proffer cards, which are gathered efficiently by each star, who may say a few words but then waves and moves on. Once the last stars have emerged and departed, the clubs disband quietly.

    Influence

    Takarazuka has had a profound influence on the history of anime
    Anime
    is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....

     and manga
    Manga
    Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...

    , especially shōjo manga. Osamu Tezuka
    Osamu Tezuka
    was a Japanese cartoonist, manga artist, animator, producer, activist and medical doctor, although he never practiced medicine. Born in Osaka Prefecture, he is best known as the creator of Astro Boy, Kimba the White Lion and Black Jack...

    , a highly influential manga creator, grew up in the town of Takarazuka. His mother knew many of the Takarazuka actresses, and as a child he knew them and watched many of their performances. Based on their stories of noble princes played by female actresses, Tezuka created Princess Knight
    Princess Knight
    is a Japanese manga that ran through four serializations from 1954 to 1968, as well as a 1967 Japanese children's animated series. It was dubbed into English and brought over to Western audiences in 1970, where it was called Choppy and the Princess. In 1973, this series was dubbed in Portuguese and...

     the first manga aimed at a female audience, which tells the story of Princess Sapphire, a girl born with both a male and female heart who struggles between the desire to fight as a noble prince and to be a tender, gentle princess. The great success of Princess Knight and other Tezuka stories began the tradition of manga written for a female audience, especially the very influential Rose of Versailles and Revolutionary Girl Utena
    Revolutionary Girl Utena
    is a manga by Chiho Saito and anime directed by Kunihiko Ikuhara. The manga serial began in the June 1996 issue of Ciao and the anime was first broadcast in 1997. The anime and manga were created simultaneously, but, despite some similarities, they progressed in different directions. A movie, was...

     series, both of which borrow directly from Princess Knight by including specific Tezuka images, character designs and names. Rose of Versailles is one of Takarazuka's best-known musicals. Women in masculine roles continue to be a central theme in shōjo manga and anime as well as some shōnen, and Tezuka himself explored the theme in many of his later works, including Dororo
    Dororo
    is a Japanese manga series from the critically acclaimed manga creator Osamu Tezuka in the late 1960s. The anime television series based on the manga consists of 26 half-hour episodes. It was made into a live-action film in 2007....

    , Phoenix and Black Jack.

    While the influence of Osamu Tezuka
    Osamu Tezuka
    was a Japanese cartoonist, manga artist, animator, producer, activist and medical doctor, although he never practiced medicine. Born in Osaka Prefecture, he is best known as the creator of Astro Boy, Kimba the White Lion and Black Jack...

     and Takarazuka on anime and manga is general, there are still many series which show more specific influences. The Takarazuka Revue inspired the plot of the original Sakura Wars
    Sakura Wars
    is a Japanese media franchise created by Ouji Hiroi, and is developed and owned by Sega and licensed by Red Entertainment and Sega. The franchise centers on a series of dramatic fantasy and science-fantasy tactical role-playing adventure video games, which consist of tactical wargame and dating sim...

     video game, along with additional inspiration from Takarazuka's one-time competitor the Shochiku Kagekidan (Shochiku Revue). In regards to Sakura Taisen, not only did the Kagekidan inspire the plot for Sakura Taisen, it also strongly influenced the organization of the characters, namely the Hanagumi.

    The Zuka Club in Ouran High School Host Club
    Ouran High School Host Club
    is a manga series by Bisco Hatori, serialized in Hakusensha's LaLa magazine since August 5, 2003. The series follows Haruhi Fujioka, a scholarship student at Ouran High School, and the other members of the popular host club. The romantic comedy focuses on the relationships within and without the...

     is based on the Takarazuka Revue. The characters Haruka Tenoh and Michiru Kaioh
    Michiru Kaioh
    is one of the central characters in the Sailor Moon metaseries. Her civilian name is , an artistic schoolgirl who can transform into one of the series' specialized heroines, the Sailor Senshi....

     of Sailor Moon
    Sailor Moon
    Sailor Moon, known as , is a media franchise created by manga artist Naoko Takeuchi. Fred Patten credits Takeuchi with popularizing the concept of a team of magical girls, and Paul Gravett credits the series with "revitalizing" the magical-girl genre itself...

     were loosely based on the actors of the Takarazuka Revue.

    Takarazuka and homosexuality in Japanese society

    For a society that has been at least contextually accepting of homosexuality for most of its history, Japan is surprisingly biased against lesbian activity, apparent in Takarazuka's early history. After the scandal of women writing love letters to the otokoyaku and the revelation of an actual lesbian relationship between a otokoyaku and a musumeyaku, Takarazuka greatly limited itself in order to do away with the lesbian image. Women wore militaristic uniforms, heightening the attraction even more among some. In August 1940, the actresses were even forbidden to answer fan mail and socialize with their admirers.

    In the years since then, the regulations have relaxed but not by much. There was another scandal when, for the first time, one of the otokoyaku cut her hair short (previously all of the actresses had their hair long and the otokoyaku simply hid their hair under hats).

    See also

    • Films from Takarazuka Revue produced by Takarazuka Eiga
      Takarazuka Eiga
      , shorter name is , is a film production company. The headquarters is in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan.Takarazuka Eizo produces films from Takarazuka Revue musical theater, which is inside the building Tokyo Takarazuka Theater now.Takarazuka Eizo Co. Ltd...

      .
    • Breeches role
      Breeches role
      A breeches role is a role in which an actress appears in male clothing .In opera it also refers to any male character that is sung and acted by a female singer...

    • Cross-dressing
      Cross-dressing
      Cross-dressing is the wearing of clothing and other accoutrement commonly associated with a gender within a particular society that is seen as different than the one usually presented by the dresser...


    General references



    Further reading

    • Leonie R. Stickland Gender Gymnastics: Performing and Consuming Japan's Takarazuka Revue, Melbourne, Australia: Trans Pacific Press, 2008 Review of Gender Gymnastics
    • James Roberson and Nobue Suzuki, Men and Masculinity in Contemporary Japan: Beyond the Salaryman Doxa, London and New York: RoutledgeCurzon, 2003
    • Alisa Roost. "Elisabeth." Theatre Journal. Vol 60.2.
    • Japanese tradition meets Western musicals — Article on the Takarazuka Revue from the Travel section of The Christian Science Monitor
      The Christian Science Monitor
      The Christian Science Monitor is an international newspaper published daily online, Monday to Friday, and weekly in print. It was started in 1908 by Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of the Church of Christ, Scientist. As of 2009, the print circulation was 67,703.The CSM is a newspaper that covers...

       (April 20, 2005).
    • Takarazuka - Modern Japan—A travel article on Takarazuka
    • TezukaInEnglish.com Takarazuka Page — about the influence of Takarazuka on the founder of Japanese manga Osamu Tezuka
      Osamu Tezuka
      was a Japanese cartoonist, manga artist, animator, producer, activist and medical doctor, although he never practiced medicine. Born in Osaka Prefecture, he is best known as the creator of Astro Boy, Kimba the White Lion and Black Jack...

    • Revue Sphere—A very nice fan site
    • Welcome to Romance Theatre, by K. Avila, Jade Magazine, March 2004.
    • Takarazuka Revue photos, by K. Avila, 2004, 2006. Photos of TR theater sites. Production flyers for 2003-2004 season.

    External links

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