Takarazuka show
Jun 3rd, 2004, 02:44 AM
#1
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Takarazuka show
I have read in the Fodor's book that a Takarazuka show is some what entertaining all female play and is wondering is it worth going to see. How does it compare to a Kibuki show if I had time to see one or the other. I probably will have time for both though. Any information will be most helpful.
Thank you,
Amit
Thank you,
Amit
Jun 3rd, 2004, 02:58 AM
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Takarazuka is supposed to be great. The dancers are very professional....it's very prestigious to be a member of the troupe. It's all female, and they perform musicals and revues. It is totally different from Kabuki.
Kabuki is a traditional form of Japanese theater.
You can do a web search for each of them and find lots of information about them.
Kabuki is a traditional form of Japanese theater.
You can do a web search for each of them and find lots of information about them.
Jun 3rd, 2004, 07:16 AM
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I'd see both.
The Takarazuka company is a bizarre spectacle, the product of a railway and department store company's desire to give a reason for people to use its railway line to the town for which the company is named. It tackles straight drama, musicals, and revues, of which the latter are the most spectacular, involving showers of sequins and rivers of lip gloss more than enough to put Las Vegas to shame. The company often tackles Western musicals, or does musical versions of Western literature, which are always worth seeing, especially if you know the original.
So successful are these shows that Takarazuka actually has four (or it is five now?) companies at work at once: one in Takarazuka, one in Tokyo, and the others on the road. Each has its own stars, its own logos and merchandise, and its own special strengths.
The only link with kabuki is that the biggest stars are the cross-dressers. I've seen the stage door of the theatre in Takarazuka itself (opposite a zoo, with a giraffe looking on) mobbed by well-dressed women clutching chocolates and flowers for their idols. The Takarazuka leading 'males' are some kind of ideal of manhood, and you can take what conclusions you like about Japanese society from this.
The Kabuki-za on the Ginza is the easiest place for foreigners to take in kabuki, and earphone guides not only provide an English translation but an explanation of the cultural background, why the audience is clapping at a certain point, what that grimace by one actor (kabuki no mie) is all about, why (and what) the people at the back are shouting, and so on. Even the Japanese prefer their kabuki in bite-sized pieces so you will usually see a programme of three acts from different plays of the 18 most famous ones, the middle of which may be a kabuki dance piece. Bando Tamasaburo has in recent years been the most celebrated of the males-playing-females, but I'm a fan of Nakamura Kankuro who plays both male and female roles.
In short, see both (but be aware that Takarazuka tickets can be hard to come by, and you'll probably have more luck with a matinee).
Are you aware that you can also see Shakespeare in Japanese at a concrete replica of his Globe Theatre? Or that two other companies do Western musicals, particularly the Toho Company which started the vogue some time ago? There's also a lot of bizarre performance art and contemporary dance which is often a little too self-interested, but technically good. Tokyo should really be thought of as a theatre destination, like London and New York.
Peter N-H
http://members.shaw.ca/pnhpublic/China.html
The Takarazuka company is a bizarre spectacle, the product of a railway and department store company's desire to give a reason for people to use its railway line to the town for which the company is named. It tackles straight drama, musicals, and revues, of which the latter are the most spectacular, involving showers of sequins and rivers of lip gloss more than enough to put Las Vegas to shame. The company often tackles Western musicals, or does musical versions of Western literature, which are always worth seeing, especially if you know the original.
So successful are these shows that Takarazuka actually has four (or it is five now?) companies at work at once: one in Takarazuka, one in Tokyo, and the others on the road. Each has its own stars, its own logos and merchandise, and its own special strengths.
The only link with kabuki is that the biggest stars are the cross-dressers. I've seen the stage door of the theatre in Takarazuka itself (opposite a zoo, with a giraffe looking on) mobbed by well-dressed women clutching chocolates and flowers for their idols. The Takarazuka leading 'males' are some kind of ideal of manhood, and you can take what conclusions you like about Japanese society from this.
The Kabuki-za on the Ginza is the easiest place for foreigners to take in kabuki, and earphone guides not only provide an English translation but an explanation of the cultural background, why the audience is clapping at a certain point, what that grimace by one actor (kabuki no mie) is all about, why (and what) the people at the back are shouting, and so on. Even the Japanese prefer their kabuki in bite-sized pieces so you will usually see a programme of three acts from different plays of the 18 most famous ones, the middle of which may be a kabuki dance piece. Bando Tamasaburo has in recent years been the most celebrated of the males-playing-females, but I'm a fan of Nakamura Kankuro who plays both male and female roles.
In short, see both (but be aware that Takarazuka tickets can be hard to come by, and you'll probably have more luck with a matinee).
Are you aware that you can also see Shakespeare in Japanese at a concrete replica of his Globe Theatre? Or that two other companies do Western musicals, particularly the Toho Company which started the vogue some time ago? There's also a lot of bizarre performance art and contemporary dance which is often a little too self-interested, but technically good. Tokyo should really be thought of as a theatre destination, like London and New York.
Peter N-H
http://members.shaw.ca/pnhpublic/China.html
Jun 3rd, 2004, 09:24 AM
#4
We have a video of a Takarazuka. Sort of a girls dressing up to look like guys dressing up like girls, but quite elaborate shows.
Not traditional Japanese as we think of it, but very Japanese all the same. I think it would be a lot more fun than Kabuki.
Not traditional Japanese as we think of it, but very Japanese all the same. I think it would be a lot more fun than Kabuki.
Jun 3rd, 2004, 08:19 PM
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Thanks for all your advice. I will try to get a ticket to a Takarazuka show. Now about Kabuki-za, I want to see one act, should I see the first, last or does it really matter which act to see?
Thank you,
Amit
Thank you,
Amit
Jun 4th, 2004, 06:08 PM
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I tried to see the Takarazuka show when I was in Tokyo a few years ago. I stood in (a very long) line for a couple of hours only to find that I would not be able to get tickets for the day. People seemed to camp out quite a few hours to get tickets.
I would recommend that you contact your hotel concierge to see if they can get you a ticket. Or maybe someone on the forum can suggest a way for you to buy advance tickets.
I was sorely dissapointed to have missed the show. Maybe next trip...
I have heard great reviews ...Hope you get to enjoy it.
I would recommend that you contact your hotel concierge to see if they can get you a ticket. Or maybe someone on the forum can suggest a way for you to buy advance tickets.
I was sorely dissapointed to have missed the show. Maybe next trip...
I have heard great reviews ...Hope you get to enjoy it.
Jun 5th, 2004, 08:16 AM
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Thank you for your advice. I had already contacted my card concierge service and they are going to contact the hotel for the tickets and let me know about tickets. I will follow up if I get a chance to see the show.
Thank you again,
Amit
Thank you again,
Amit
