The is a Japanese all-female musical theatre troupe based in Takarazuka, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan that was formed in 1913. Women play all the roles in Broadway-style productions of musicals and stories adapted from films, novels, manga, and Japanese folktales. The Takarazuka Revue Company is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Hankyu Railway company.
History
The Takarazuka Revue was founded by Ichizō Kobayashi, an industrialist-turned-politician and president of Hankyu Railways, in Takarazuka, Japan 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 kabuki theater to be old and elitist,Kobayashi Ichizo. "Takarazuka Manpitsu (1955)". Tokyo, Daiyamondsha. 1961. Kobayashi Ichizo 2: 445–46. 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 get its own theater in Takarazuka, the , meaning Grand Theater.Kawatake, Toshio. "A History of Japanese Theater II: Bunraku and Kabuki". Kokusai Bunka Shinkokai. Tokyo. 1971. pp. 15–52. In 1934, the company opened the Tokyo Takarazuka Theater, which then underwent a renewal in 2001. In 1978, the Bow Hall Theater was opened within the same complex as the Grand Theater. Seating 500, the Bow Hall features smaller shows that run for just over a week, and which often lack the grandiosity of Grand Theater shows. Currently, Takarazuka performs for 2 million people each year.
The company has five troupes: , , , and , as well as , an emeritus troupe 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. The Snow Troupe was founded in 1924, followed by the Star Troupe in 1931 (it was disbanded in 1939 and was later reestablished in 1948). Cosmos, founded in 1998, is the newest troupe.
The Revue faced many challenges during World War II. They were only allowed to perform in the Japanese language, forced to perform militaristic shows, and their theater was requisitioned by the military late in the war. They could not reopen until 1946, after the war ended.
Although traditionally an all-female troupe, in 1946 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 closing in 1954. A 2007 Japanese musical, Takarazuka Boys, was based on this chapter of the company's history.
Each Grand Theater show will typically perform for one month in the Takarazuka Grand Theater before a three-week break, followed by a one-month run in the Tokyo Theater. Tickets are famously difficult to acquire, though are not considered to be incredibly expensive – the cheapest ticket available for a Grand Theater performance is 3500 yen, and the most expensive is 12,500 yen. All tickets for Bow Hall performances are 6500 yen, regardless of seat assignment.
The costumes, set designs, and lighting are lavish and the performances melodramatic. 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, known as the , 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.
Actors
The Takarazuka Revue is an all-female troupe and the performers are called "Takarasiennes". This name derives from the revue's fondness of the French revues and the word "Parisienne". The women who play male parts are referred to as and those who play female parts are called .
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.
All first-year women train together before being divided by the faculty and the current troupe members into and at the end of the year. Those playing cut their hair short, take on a more masculine role in the classroom, and speak in the masculine form.
The , however, is not bound to her assigned male role in the theater. Tsurugi Miyuki, top 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 image. She said she reverts to her nonperforming "feminine" self after performance.Lorie Brau. ""The Women's Theatre of Takarazuka." TDR 34.4 :79–95. Other feel uncomfortable switching to female roles. Matsu Akira, who retired in 1982, stated: "Even though I am a female, the thing called 'female' just won't emerge at all." Most actresses refer to as an "image", which they learn to create on stage.
While the casts are all-female, the staff (writers, directors, choreographers, designers, etc.) and orchestra musicians are predominantly male. It is not uncommon, however, in Takarazuka for a mostly male orchestra to be led by a female conductor.
Troupes The actors are divided into five which each have their own style and material.
Flower Troupe () The Flower Troupe is considered the "treasure chest" of . Many of the most popular former and current top stars of the company originated in the Flower Troupe; these include Miki Maya (who held the first Budokan solo concert in Takarazuka's history), Sumire Haruno and Tomu Ranju of Flower, Jun Shibuki, Jun Sena and Kiriya Hiromu of Moon, and Hikaru Asami of Snow. Their performances tend to have larger budgets, with lavish stage and costume designs, and are often derived from operatic material.
Moon Troupe () While tending to be a home for young performers (with Yūki Amami in her sixth year reaching the status of top star in the 1990s), the members of the 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. During the era of Makoto Tsubasa as top star, they had at least two musicals adopted from classic western novels.
Snow Troupe () The 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 in Japan. The troupe has been moving towards the opera and drama style of the Moon and Flower troupes.
Star Troupe () The Star Troupe tends to be the home of Takarazuka's stars. They, along with the Flower Troupe, have very strong players. In recent years, many of the company's prominent have also originated from the Star Troupe, such as Hana Hizuki, Shizuku Hazakura, and Yuki Aono.
Cosmos Troupe () Cosmos, the newest troupe, is less traditional and more experimental. The Cosmos style is influenced by performers like Asato Shizuki, the founding top star; Yōka Wao and Mari Hanafusa, the "Golden Combi" who headed the troupe for six of its first eight years. Cosmos was the first troupe to perform Phantom and to have a Broadway composer (Frank Wildhorn) write their musical score. Most of the in this troupe are above tall (the most notable is Hiro Yuumi, the tallest in the company since she joined in 1997 until her retirement in 2013). While it had a troupe-born actress become top back in 2006 with Asuka Toono, it was not until 2014 that an actress originating from this troupe became an top star: Seina Sagiri, the former top star of the Snow Troupe (2014–2017).
Superior Members (Senka) While not necessarily being a troupe, members of the Takarazuka Revue who do not take part in any of the troupes mentioned above are called "Superior Members (Senka)". These members usually have one of a few roles in the troupe: playing a fukeyaku (role of old person), playing a supporting role, playing the role of elderly guys, etc. There can also be cases of playing the main role as an , in a play alongside other troupes such as former top stars Yachiyo Kusagano and Yu Todoroki as well as plays where all partaking members are superior members, such as , in 1984.
Performances
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: Anne Golon's Angélique series Alexander Pushkin's The Captain's Daughter (as Dark Brown Eyes) and Eugene Onegin Alexandre Dumas's The Count of Monte Cristo Anthony Hope's The Prisoner of Zenda Antoine François Prévost's Manon Lescaut Charles Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations Edith Wharton's The Age of Innocence Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights Erich Maria Remarque's Arch of Triumph Ernest Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, The Last Tycoon and The Diamond as Big as the Ritz Fyodor Dostoyevsky's The Brothers Karamazov Henry Fielding's Tom Jones Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice James Hilton's Random Harvest John Steinbeck's East of Eden Johnston McCulley's Zorro Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina and War and Peace Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray Pierre Choderlos de Laclos's (as Romanesque Mask) Prosper Mérimée's Carmen (as Passion: Jose and Carmen) Stendhal's The Red and the Black and The Charterhouse of Parma (as Passionate Barcelona) Vicente Blasco Ibáñez's Blood and Sand
Films: An Officer and a Gentleman Bonnie and Clyde Casablanca (as At the End of a Long Spring) Farewell My Concubine/The Phantom Lover (as Singing in the Moonlight) JFK RRR Sabrina Somewhere in Time Ocean's 11 Once Upon a Time in America
Operas: Aida (under the name Song of the Kingdom) (as Love Sonata) (as A Kiss To The Flames) The Tales of Hoffmann (as Elegy) Turandot (as Legend of the Phoenix: Calaf & Turandot) Véronique Andrea Chénier (as The Poem of Love and Revolution ~Andrea Chénier~)
Madame Butterfly (as Concise , 1931)The Takarazuka Concise Madame Butterfly, tr. by K. and L. Selden, introduced by Arthur Groos in Japan Focus 14, 14, 7 (July 2016).
Musicals:
The Apple Tree Anastasia (musical) Can-Can Carousel Chicago Catch Me If You Can Cinderella Copacabana Elisabeth Ernest in Love (an adaptation of The Importance of Being Earnest) Flower Drum Song Grand Hotel Guys and Dolls How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying I Am from Austria Kean Kiss Me Kate
Me and My Girl Mozart, l'opéra rock Oklahoma! On a Clear Day You Can See Forever One Touch of Venus Phantom
Singin' in the Rain The Scarlet Pimpernel The Sound of Music Top Hat West Side Story
Plays: Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, Twelfth Night, Julius Caesar (under the name Rome at Dawn), Much Ado About Nothing, The Winter's Tale and Hamlet John Fletcher and Shakespeare's The Two Noble Kinsmen Goethe's Faust
Adaptations of Japanese works