takarazuka revue – the scarlet pimpernel

I saw the Takarazuka Revue perform the musical “The Scarlet Pimpernel” last weekend, and loved it!

(photo from here)

The Takarazuka Revue is an all-woman theatre troupe, and are really famous in Japan. in this troupe, there are women who train to play male roles, and women who play only female roles. (read more about them here and here).

I first saw a Takarazuka show last year, not long after I arrived. i dont recall the title of the performance, but it was an original production and unfortunately none of us were too impressed by the lack of storyline and the weak acting. after all i’d heard about Takarazuka, i wanted to give them a second chance and decided to wait till they do an adaption of an actual Broadway musical – i’m happy they decided to perform the Scarlet Pimpernel before i leave!

the wait definitely paid off. The Scarlet Pimpernel is set in France/England near the end of the 18th century, which means extremely beautiful and elaborate costumes! just check out the dress of that lady below, and imagine a stage full of dresses like that in certain scenes..

 

i really enjoyed the performance, as the singing was excellent, the set was mind-blowing, the costumes were gorgeous and the music and storyline was pretty good.

it was a happy contrast to the other musical that i had seen recently - i saw the Shiki Theatre Group perform the disney version of the Beauty and the Beast musical (this group does many Broadway musicals in Japanese) about a month ago, and underwhelmed by the so-so singing and lousy songs. the songs are apparently from the original cartoon, but i dont remember; i felt that they didnt have a proper tune, werent melodic enough, were very forgettable and never really engaged me. i saw the Shiki Group perform the Lion King in Tokyo last year, and the singing was amazing, hence was somewhat disappointed by the average rendition this time too.

I was therefore really happy that the singing in the Scarlet Pimpernel was good. the two “male leads” were excellent, which makes me willing to pass the previous Takarazuka experience off as an unfortunate blip. haha. the revue comprises 5 different troupes that focus on their respective performances, and the Moon Troupe which presented the Scarlet Pimpernel is apparently known for their strong singing. yay!

oh, and the set – there were so many set changes, with buildings and rooms rising out from the stage. the stage also has a revolving centre piece, which is pretty cool. In the finale, where the entire troupe comes out and does a dance, they even revealed this gigantic staircase – think a Chicago (the musical)-like staircase, with all the steps lined with many tiny bulbs – which the main stars walked down, to much applause.

so nice. i wish i could have taken pictures..