Japan's got the *good* crack...

[telophase]

...and I mean that in the best possible way, actually. I'm sure that a lot of you are familiar with the Takarazuka theatre troupe, which I ran across a few years ago. For those of you who aren't, it's an all-female theatre troupe that's been around for decades - coming up on almost a century now. They have a school-type thing where young women go to be trained in theatre arts, and each member specializes in either male or female roles. You can learn a little bit more about them at the link above, which is to their English site, or at the Wikipedia site.

You cna see where this comes in handy for dramatizing anime. marith found a clip from the Takarazuka production of Revolutionary Girl Utena on YouTube. That's the opening number. If you look to the right, you'll see a few other clips linked - the Act 2 one stars the Student Council, where only Miki manages to be completely convincing in drag. :D

She also links to a clip from Guys and Dolls.

Searching on Takarazuka links to several more clips from various productions, including Phantom (not the Andrew Lloyd Webber version; the other touring version), a revue called Dream Kingdom, and more Guys and Dolls.

ETA: And a clip from their production of Rose of Versailles.

Comments

[solarbird]

...isn't the Utena character singing something from the television production of His and Her Circumstances in that first act clip? Or am I just really confused?

[telophase.livejournal.com]

I've never seen H&HC, so I have no idea. XD

[solarbird]

Ah, I see. I suggest not doing so. Well, unless you like seeing a production company's internal train-wreck displayed more obviously and viciously than I've ever seen before or since, anyway. It starts out great, then there are apparently Issues In The Studio (and this was confirmed for me by people who know about the history) and it ALL EXPLODES ON SCREEN. But not in a good way.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Wow. Sounds like there's a great story in that, though. XD

[http://users.livejournal.com/_ri/]

I was surprised to find out recently that they even have Black Jack plays (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkV5ZCxQIsk). I knew of their Roses of Versailles performance, but I didn't expect them to do medical drama. Guess it is part of Takarazuka being the home town of Osamu Tezuka (and BJ being the dream guy of so many women). Here's an informative page (http://tezukainenglish.com/?q=node/98) on that if anyone is interested.

[sky-country.livejournal.com]

I love Takarazuka; it has an appeal similar to Andrew Lloyd Webber. ^_^

[elfiepike.livejournal.com]

OMG. i am never going to stop watching these, ever. is the utena one really takarazuka? it seems most of their productions feature people who can... actually sing... um. yes.