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Morning Musume Idols Star in Stage Play of Moto Hagio's They Were Eleven Sequel
posted on by Karen Ressler
Moto Hagio's Zoku 11-nin Iru! Higashi no Chihei Nishi no Towa manga, the sequel to her earlier science fiction series They Were Eleven (11-nin Iru!), is inspiring a new stage play starring idol group Morning Musume '16. The play will also star members of idol group Tsubaki Factory, acting club Engeki Joshibu, and former Takarazuka Revue members.
The cast without credited roles includes:
- Morning Musume '16 (all 12 members)
- Riko Yamagishi (Tsubaki Factory)
- Sari Ogata (Tsubaki Factory)
- Yumeno Kishimoto (Tsubaki Factory)
- Kiki Asakura (Tsubaki Factory)
- Nagisa Hashimoto (Hello Pro Trainee)
- Kurumi Takase (Hello Pro Trainee)
- Anna Ishii (Engeki Joshibu)
- Ayasa Onoda(Engeki Joshibu)
- Shū Shiotsuki (former Takarazuka Revue member)
- Noeru Misa (former Takarazuka Revue member)
The play will be split into "East" and "WEST." versions.
The play will run for four performances from June 11-12 in Kyoto at the Kyoto Gekijō and for 16 performances from June 16-26 in Tokyo at the Ikebukuro Sunshine Gekijō. Fumi Tsubota is writing the script, and Innocent Sphere's Hideyuki Nishimori is directing the play. General tickets will go on sale on April 30.
Hagio's They Were Eleven has inspired several previous stage plays. Gekidan Studio Live, an all-male acting troupe, performed the latest play adaptation of the original manga in January 2013, and then performed the first adaptation of the sequel manga in February-March that year.
The original manga follows a group of 10 would-be space cadets on their final entrance exam aboard a derelict starship. However, 11 students arrive at the ship instead of 10, and the simulation test starts to go awry.
Hagio published They Were Eleven in 1975, and the sequel ran from 1976-1977 in Shogakukan's Bessatsu Shōjo Comic. Viz Media published the original They Were Eleven manga in North America, and Central Park Media released the anime film version.
Source: Comic Natalie
