Watching the original Elisabeth musical after the Takarazuka adaptations is ....interesting cause in the latter version, der Tod's intro is so goth and they appear from the mist and shadows while holding a sword
While in the original, der Tod is on a gay summer evening walk with his jacket thrown over his shoulder
The official Takarazuka channel on Youtube has lots of well-shot performance clips to check out, and there are even more if you know where to search
Cantonese opera:
For a taste of how deliciously dramatic Cantonese opera can get, check out this short clip of a scene from The Butterfly Lovers, in which the two main characters (played by Joyce Koi/ 蓋鳴暉 and Ng Mei Ying/ 吳美英) struggle to come to terms with the female lead being forced into an arranged marriage
See here for my post on Yam Kim Fai (任劍輝) and Pak Suet Sin (白雪仙), the aforementioned "iconic pair" who dominated the Cantonese opera world
Many Cantonese opera films can be watched in full, in pretty decent quality, on Youtube, and English translations for much of the core repertory for Cantonese opera can be found with a quick Googling. For example, Yam-Pak's Legend of the Purple Hairpin (紫釵記) can be watched here, together with the English translation of the script here.
You can also take a look at my other posts on Cantonese opera here!
Yue opera:
Click here for a clip of Chen Lijun performing a modernised arrangement of a song from the hit Yue opera adaptation New Dragon Gate Inn (新龍門客棧). Basically can be described as "Yue opera and wuxia meet idol aesthetics"
For something more substantial, watch this pro-shot excerpt of the ending of Dream of the Red Chambers, which fuses traditional singing with modern staging. Alternatively, there are plenty of bootlegs of full shows on Youtube, so take your pick!
Trousers roles in Western opera:
I highly recommend the queer opera blog Queer Lorgnette, which reviews opera productions with humour, wit, and a distinctly queer and feminist eye
Please also check out the "mezzosexual" tag :)
Korean musicals:
See here for my video on Korean musicals, which includes clips from several shows with genderblind casting
Cosmos Troupe TOP Makaze Suzuho graduates, she smiles and says “I’ve been fully concentrated in Takarazuka, I will start to take things slowly from tomorrow”.
(Source taken from NIkkan Sports, where you can find the original article here)
Takarazuka Revue Cosmos Troupe TOP Makaze Suzuho embraced the closing day performance (Senshuuraku) of “Casino Royale~My Name is Bond~” in the Tokyo Takarazuka Theatre on the 11th, graduating from the Takarazuka Revue after being here for 17 years.
For her last time walking down the grand staircase, she chose to wear the black tails that carries an otokoyaku significance. She spoke in her speech, “The 8th Cosmos Troupe Top Star Makaze Suzuho finishes her mission today. Thank you so much for these 17 years!” In the same performance, her partner Jun Hana and others also graduated.
She attends the press conference after finishing the performance, she said, “Since I have been fully concentrated in living the fullest in Takarazuka, I will start to take things slowly tomorrow, and think one at a time and what I would be doing.”
She spoke of the reason she chose the black tails, “I was frustrated to think about that in the Takarazuka Grand Theare, but I thought since I’ve worn the hakama at that time, so I thought about wearing the black tails and walk down the staircase in Tokyo. This time it felt different from last time when I was wearing the hakama.”
As for Takarazuka Revue, she recalled that “it was a presence like a treasure, where I devoted my everything”. “No matter which performance it was, I have many memories of the scenery, the circumstances and the expressions from the audience. Any moment in time were all unforgettable memories.
Makaze entered the revue in 2006 and bestowed with a brilliant height of 175cm, she caught the audience’s attention during her lowerclassman days in Star Troupe. She transferred to Cosmos Troupe in May 2015, and became the TOP in November 2017. Speaking of “ultimate otokoyaku”, she has continued to pursue for this profoundly in her career.
After the Sayonara show and the graduation speech, she attends the press conference.
Yuzuka Rei and Hoshikaze Madoka have announced their retirement. Their last performance will be Arc-en-Ciel on May 26 of next year.
Hoshigumi's 1789 is canceled again, as of now through August 17, due to poor health amongst the cast. The 1:30 performance today was halted after the first act 😰 Really hoping everyone is okay.
“TAKARAZUKA Animal House” is a programme where Takarasiennes go to the cafe and introduce their beloved pets. # 13 features Flower Troupe Towaki Sea and Yuki Daiya, along with Daiya’s pet hamster Blan-chan! They have a talk, as they pick five cards of different topics! This episode, Hitoko (Towaki) picked a card on “Their impressions of each other” and they talked about different stories about them. Daiya later picked a card of “Her favourite movie of Blan-chan”.
Note: This is a rough translation, it may have mistakes and may not be complete, please read it just for reference.
“TAKARAZUKA Animal House” is a programme where Takarasiennes go to the cafe and introduce their beloved pets. # 13 features Flower Troupe Towaki Sea and Yuki Daiya, along with Daiya’s pet hamster Blan-chan! They have a talk, as they pick five cards of different topics! This episode, Hitoko (Towaki) picked a card on “Their impressions of each other” and they talked about different stories about them. Daiya later picked a card of “Her favourite movie of Blan-chan”.
Note: This is a rough translation, it may have mistakes and may not be complete, please read it just for reference.