This information isn't official, rather its from my own personal experience, and I thought to post it in case someone found it interesting or helpful.
When I was in Japan I saw two shows of Takarazuka over the span of two years. (one a year)

Takarazuka is an all-female theatre troupe that holds shows in...well Takarazuka. It was originally put in place to inspire people to make use, at the then new Takarazuka train station and enjoy the town.

Takarazuka has a very interesting take on sexuality. It is notorious for supporting a very VERY conservative view of sexuality in Japan, however at the same time all the masculine roles are played by women. How does it rectify these two extremes? Well:
Throught he process of preparing its actresses for plays it requires strict, strict discipline of its members. They boast that the actresses will make good wives after retiring due to the strict discipline.
On the other end the use of only women is used as both as a specticle and as a way to attact a specific kind of fan. Of course the idea that having only women play all the roles is interesting, however its the way that the shows attact fans that is really amazing.
The shows tend to put forward a very idealistic view of the ideal man. A very feminine man that is attentitive to a woman's means, is romantic, and passionate at all times.
Female fans have been known to pretty much fall in love with the (fe)male actors, and lead (fe)male actors (in this case it will be the person to play Phoenix) to be put on a pedestal above all other actors in the show in order to reach this popularity standard and attact fans to it.

A Takarazuka show typically involves two parts. The musical. Which tells a story (usually a love story) involving the characters breaking into song and dance.
The second part is a Revue, which involves song and dance number after song and dance number. One after another, after another, with no narrative connecting any of them as a whole. A good dozen or so songs if I recall. (the second show I saw was a special show that had an American director and was held so important that they let it go longer then shows usually go and thus there was no revue :( Which is sad because the revue is much easier to appreciate for non-native Japanese speakers.)

As far as the release of Takarazuka shows goes: They have a store at the theatre where you can buy DVDs of the shows as well as other souveneirs. However there is very little sales of such things outside of the main theatre. (mostly limited to shops directly surrounding the theatre in Takarazuka) Furthermore products available at the Takarazuka gift shop are VERY expensive. DVDs usually running around 100 dollars for a single show.

I would say the best bet in this case would be ebay, and even in that case it'll be very hard to secure a copy as they aren't made in great numbers. Someone would have to be specifically trying to get DVDs out on the public market, which is quite possible. As lately it seems Takarazuka is performing more pop culture related plays, which may lead to a higher demand for their shows. (before this they did Rose of Versailles, a popular Shoujo anime and manga)
I can't really say though as I haven't been following the theatre troupe lately.

Well there you have it in short. I could write about this forever, but I kinda rushed through it as I have get going in a moment. (I get really excited about this sorta stuff so I had to post something.)
I specialized in sexuality studies when I was in Japan so if anyone has ANY questions about Takarazuka I would be more then happy to answer them. My explanation here was pretty imcomplete, so I would really apreciate seeing some clarification questions, for there is a lot more to be said on the subject.

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Last edited by Naruhodou on Tue Sep 30, 2008 12:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Let me try and recap for a second... You said that the Takarazuka players frequently portray romances, and also have a very conservative view on sexuality. Do the characters who are in love ever interact physically, i.e. kissing or holding hands? I was kind of curious after reading your take on them.

By the way, thank you for shedding more light on the subject. I found your post fascinating.

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Yes they are very physical during the play. There is a lot of hand-holding, embracing, and implied kissing. (implied in that the male lead typically bends the female lead down in a dramatic disney-esque kiss, bending his face down near her's)

This is of course to enuciate the passion of the scene for the many female fans, as perpetuating the image of the perfect, romantic man.

The sexuality portrayed is conservative in that it exclusively portrays heterosexual relationships, and the style is that of romance portrayed in early American film. Everything is for the sake of love typically in a Takarazuka play. A man will give up his life, his job, and even his country in the pursuit of love.

Its safe to say that women eat this stuff up. Takarazuka is so popular that it has many exclusive clubs which procure the best seats for every single show. (as a foreigner I can guarentee unless you have connections you won't be getting any front row seats) Furthermore it has an exclusive pay channel on Japanese television. (which is always playing at the Takarazuka train station on a GIANT TV screen.) Finally after every show you will see a legion of fans waiting to see their favorite actors heading home with almost ravid vervor that almost makes you wonder to what extent to female fans realize that these actors are actually women!
(most female fans argue that they do realize that they're women, and that they're not ACTUALLY in love with them....but sometimes I wonder)

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Thanks for answering my question! I have to admit that I'd be very interested to see one of their performances now. I wonder how they'll manage to bend Gyakuten Saiban into a romantic production, though... Well, it sounds as though they are very good actresses if they have such a fan following. I'm quite a sucker for romantic fiction.

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If you go to YouTube, you can find a number of clips of Takarazuka shows - mostly a single song, and all the ones I found were from Rose of Versailles...mostly the same song from different productions, even...but there are a few there.

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Wow really? Strangely enough I never thought to look there. My girlfriend and I regretted not being in Japan when they were playing that show...this'll be a good way to make up for it!

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