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Ōke no Monshō Shōjo Manga Gets Stage Musical With Mamoru Miyano, SNH48/SKE48 Idol Sae Miyazawa
posted on by Rafael Antonio Pineda
A website has opened to announce that a stage musical adaptation of Chieko Hosokawa's Ōke no Monshō (Crest of the Royal Family) shōjo manga is in the works. Hungarian composer Sylvester Levay (Elizabeth, Marie Antoinette) will compose the music, while Takarazuka Revue veteran Kōichi Ogita will direct the musical.
The website has also revealed the musical's cast, which includes Kenji Urai as Memphis, and SNH48/SKE48 member Sae Miyazawa alongside Seiko Niizuma in a double cast as the heroine Carol. The currently announced cast is as follows:
(From upper left to lower right)
- Kenji Urai as Memphis, the young pharaoh of Egypt
- Seiko Niizuma and Sae Miyazawa (double cast) as Carol, an American archaeology student in Ancient Egypt
- Mamoru Miyano and Genki Hirakata (double cast) as Ismir, crown prince of the Hittites
- Kanata Irei as Ryan, Carol's brother
- Megumi Hamada as Isis, High Priestess of Egypt and Memphis' half-sister
- Yūichirō Yamaguchi as Imhotep, the Prime Minister of Egypt
Both Urai and Niizuma have previously performed in musicals composed by Levay. Urai previously played the Crown Prince Rudolph in Elizabeth in a 2006 production, and Niizuma played Margrid Arnaud in Marie Antoinette, also in a 2006 production.
The musical will premiere in the Imperial Theatre in Chiyoda, Tokyo in August 2016. The show will begin taking ticket pre-orders sometime in spring 2016.
The original manga's story centers around Carol, an archaeology student on a study trip in Egypt. When an excavation team unearths the tomb of an Egyptian pharaoh, she is cursed to go back in time 3000 years to Ancient Egypt, where she meets the cruel and charismatic pharaoh, Memphis, and falls in love with him. Due to Carol's knowledge of history, she is able to help Egypt prosper, and becomes praised as the Daughter of the Nile. But many are jealous of her position, or want to keep her for themselves, and she becomes embroiled in the plots and conspiracies of the ancient world.
Hosokawa launched the manga in Akita Shoten's Princess shōjo magazine in 1976, and has been serializing the manga in the magazine ever since. Akita Shoten published the manga's 59th compiled book volume on July 2014, and will publish the 60th volume on Thursday. Toei Animation released an "illustrated story video" VHS of the manga in 1988, which includes music by Joe Hisaishi, voice acting, and limited animation.
Source: Nikkan Sports
