Eden in Sin City: Adapting for the Musical Theater Body in Takarazuka Revue’s Ocean’s 11

Abstract

The Japanese all-female musical theater company, Takarazuka Revue, uses stylized performance patterns (kata) to depict gender and character onstage. This artificial method, descended from Japan’s all-male Kabuki theater, differs from the assumed realism of contemporary Broadway method acting. Through a study of Takarazuka Revue’s adaptation of the Hollywood film Ocean’s 11, this article argues that Takarazuka Revue’s performance method complements the inherent artificiality of musical theater song and dance and encourages the creation of new works that expand the traditions of the early to mid-twentieth-century Broadway musical. This points toward a broader understanding of global musical theater performance practices.