Theatre companies in Japan

Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 35. Chapters: Takarazuka Revue, Wataru Kozuki, Yoka Wao, Miyuki Hatoyama, Kei Aran, Natsuki Mizu, Reon Yuzuki, Jun Sena, Hikaru Asami, Ishinha, The Rose of Versailles musicals, Sakiho Juri, Jun Shibuki, Yuki Amami, Sumire Haruno, Yuga Yamato, Yu Todoroki, Mari Hanafusa, Miki Maya, Asuka Tono, Kanami Ayano, Yokohama Theatre Group, Ayane Sakurano, Tokyo Sunshine Boys, Hitomi Kuroki, Fubuki Takane, Mayo Suzukaze, Never Say Goodbye, Aqua5, Shiki Theatre Company, Bungakuza, Tokyo Takarazuka Theater, Nanaho Katsuragi, Kudan Project Production, Yukiji Asaoka, Takarazuka Grand Theater, Gekidan Wakakusa, Yuki Aono, Mahiru Konno. Excerpt: The Takarazuka Revue (¿¿¿¿¿ Takarazuka Kagekidan) is a Japanese all-female musical theater troupe based in Takarazuka, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan. Women play all roles in lavish, Broadway-style productions of Western-style musicals, and sometimes stories adapted from shojo manga and Japanese folktales. The troupe takes its name from the Hankyu Takarazuka rail line in suburban Osaka. The company is a division of the Hankyu Railway company; all members of the troupe are employed by the company. The first performance "Donburako", 1914The Takarazuka Revue was founded by Ichizo 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 the Kabuki 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 Gekijo meaning "Grand Theater". 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 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 melodramatic. Side path