In the land of Takarazuka (because the town and train stop are under this name), all women actress play both male and female roles--opposite to Kabuki, where the players are all men.
I went to see the musical version of Zorro. My final comments of the show, excluding the fact that I could barely understand anything that was going on vocally, was NOTHING like the actually story! There were 3 characters playing Zorro at once, 1 of them was a women...they called her "lady Zorro"! Who ever heard of that? Regardless, the world of Takarazuka is quite complex and I was lucky enough to learn about it in Dr. Hester's gender and sexuality in Japan.
I went to see the musical version of Zorro. My final comments of the show, excluding the fact that I could barely understand anything that was going on vocally, was NOTHING like the actually story! There were 3 characters playing Zorro at once, 1 of them was a women...they called her "lady Zorro"! Who ever heard of that? Regardless, the world of Takarazuka is quite complex and I was lucky enough to learn about it in Dr. Hester's gender and sexuality in Japan.
Becoming an actress in Takarazuka is highly competitive, and of course like any other mode of entertainment, once you get too old, you're out, and it's time for the next wave to come in. Only the women who play male roles are able to become top stars, yet most of all the players receive gifts from thousands (and I almost mean that literally) of fans. Women who play male roles are especially said to make good housewives, because they understand their male counterpart.
After the show was over, we stayed at the front gates to see if we could catch a glimpse of any of the top stars leaving the building. This part of the day really shocked me... as each actress made her appearence, all of the superfans knelt on the group and everyone came single... respectful clapping filled the air, but it all seemed very sublte actions compared to how these middle-aged women adored the female stars.
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