| Frank Wildhorn's Kane and Abel World Premiere In Tokyo | |
| Posted by: Official_Press_Release 06:12 pm EST 01/24/25 | |
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| THE WORLD PREMIERE OF A MUSICAL KANE AND ABEL OPENS IN TOKYO Based on the Jeffrey Archer's Bestseller with Frank Wildhorn's Music, Nathan Tysen's Lyrics, and Daniel Goldstein's Direction of his Book for the stage with Choreography by Jennifer Weber and Arrangement and Orchestration by Jason Howland TOKYO, JAPAN: The world premiere of a musical Kane and Abel opened its curtain to an enthusiastic full house at Tokyu Theatre Orb on Wednesday January 22nd in Tokyo. The world premiere original musical is based on the best-selling novel by British national author Jeffrey Archer. The Toho/Cube production is the first musical adaptation brought to life by Broadway talents such as composer Frank Wildhorn, writer and director Daniel Goldstein, lyricist Nathan Tysen, arranger and orchestrator Jason Howland, and choreographer Jennifer Weber. The show stars Kohei Matsushita as William Kane, Yuya Matsushita as Abel Rosnovski, Miyu Sakihi as Florentyna, Rina Chinen as Zaphia, Ayu Aika as Kate Brooks, Kazuya Kamikawa as George Novak, Takuya Uehara as Matthew Lester, Masato Takeuchi as Richard Kane, Takuya Kon as Henry Osborne, Toru Masuoka as Alan Lloyd, and Yuichiro Yamaguchi as Davis LeRoy. Kane and Abel will be presented at Tokyu Theatre Orb, Shibuya from Wednesday January 22nd to Sunday February 16th, followed by a regional tour at Shin-Kabuki-za theatre, Osaka from Sunday February 23rd to Sunday March 2nd. Jeffrey Archer remains one of the publishing world's bestselling authors, with 300 million books sold. He wrote his first novel Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less in 1976, which was adapted for BBC Radio 4 and later televised in 1990. Kane and Abel became a number one bestseller in hardcover and paperback all over the world and has sold over 3.5 million in the UK paperback edition alone. Archer, whose novels and short stories include the Clifton Chronicles, the William Warwick novels, Kane and Abel and Cat O' Nine Tales, has topped the bestseller lists around the world, with 27 Sunday Times Number One bestsellers. He is the only author ever to have been a number one bestseller in fiction, short stories and non-fiction (The Prison Diaries). A member of the House of Lords for over a quarter of a century, the author is married to Dame Mary Archer, and they have two sons, two granddaughters and three grandsons. In 2022, Archer formed The Jeffrey Archer Company, to handle his IP for TV and Film. Kane and Abel was previously adapted for television in 1985 and starred Sam Neill and Peter Strauss. Frank Wildhorn is the multi-Grammy, Tony, and Emmy Award nominated composer/producer whose works span the worlds of popular, theatrical, and classical music. In 1999, Frank became the first American composer in 22 years to have three shows running simultaneously on Broadway with Jekyll & Hyde, The Scarlet Pimpernel and The Civil War. Also for Broadway: Bonnie & Clyde, Dracula, Victor/Victoria, Wonderland, and the revival of Jekyll & Hyde. West End: Bonnie & Clyde, Your Lie In April, Death Note the Musical in Concert, and Your Lie In April the Musical in Concert. International: Carmen, Camille Claudel, Casanova, Cyrano, Death Note, Fist of the North Star, Kane and Abel, Mata Hari, Mitsuko, Never Say Goodbye, No Longer Human, Rudolf, Tears of Heaven, The Count of Monte Cristo, The Man Who Laughs, Your Lie in April and Xcalibur. Upcoming: Einstein: A Matter of Time, Mac & Beth, Reunion, Song of Bernadette, Mac & Beth and Van Gogh In Love. He Produced Harlem Song at the famed Apollo Theatre. The Korea Times recently proclaimed Wildhorn as "Korea's most popular musical composer". In November 2022, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra World Premiered Wildhorn's full length "Donau Symphonie" at the famed Musikverein. Europe's MusicalZentrale noted, "With his "Donau Symphonie," he (Wildhorn) manages to completely reinvent himself and to overcome the separation between light and serious music." Conducted by Koen Schoots, the performance also featured suites from the Wildhorn musicals Jekyll & Hyde and Dracula. The "Donau Symphonie'' was released on CD and streaming services in December 2021. His second symphony, titled "Odessa" after the Ukrainian city where his mother was born, is scheduled to be recorded by the Vienna Symphony Orchestra in early 2025 and will be premiered live later in the year. Frank wrote the Cartier Symphonic Suite for the famed Jewelers' 2024 gala celebration in Seoul to which the Korea Dance Company performed. Also: Bonnie & Clyde Live - a live streamed version of the West End concert featuring Jeremy Jordan and Frances Mayli McCann and announcements of additional original works to be world premiered. Frank served as music director for the Goodwill Games in New York City (1998). He wrote the song "Gold", the opening number for the 2002 Winter Olympics. Among the artists who have recorded and performed Frank's works: Whitney Houston (#1 international hit "Where Do Broken Hearts Go?"), Natalie Cole, Kenny Rogers, Sammy Davis, Jr., Liza Minnelli, Julie Andrews, Hootie & the Blowfish, The Moody Blues, Johnny Mathis, Linda Eder, Freddie Jackson, Trisha Yearwood, Stacy Lattisaw, Molly Hatchet, Blues Traveler, Trace Adkins, Patti LaBelle, Jeffrey Osborne, BeBe Winans, Amy Grant, Anthony Warlow, to name a few. He received the prestigious Charles Dickens Award from USC, where there is a scholarship under his name. Frank is the proud father of Justin and Jake. www.FrankWildhorn.com IG: @frank.wildhorn Daniel Goldstein's work as a writer and director whose work has been seen on and off Broadway and around the world. His production of Godspell was the first Broadway revival of the beloved Stephen Schwartz musical. He is the winner of the prestigious Kleban Prize for Bookwriting. His musical Unknown Soldier, written with Michael Friedman, has been seen in three productions in New York and around the United States - and will be seen again in New York in an upcoming season. His musical Row, about Tori Murden McClure, the first woman and the first American to row solo across the Atlantic Ocean was seen at the Williamstown Theater Festival and can be heard on Audible - and will be coming to New York stages soon. His play about Joan Rivers, Joan, will premiere at South Coast Rep in September before launching on a National Tour. Kane & Abel, is his 6th show in Japan, having directed A New Brain and The Music Man for Toho, Gekido for Dream+, Come From Away for HoriPro and two shows for The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at USJ. He lives with his wife Melissa and his kids, Gracie & Ezra. Nathan Tysen (Lyrics). Broadway: The Great Gatsby, Paradise Square (Tony Nomination), Amélie, Tuck Everlasting. West End: AmÃlie (Olivier & Grammy Nominations). Off-Broadway: The Burnt Part Boys, Fugitive Songs, Stars of David. Regional: Dreamland (or a musical riff on Shakespeare's Midsummer set during the declassification of Area 51), Stillwater, The Mysteries of Harris Burdick, two circuses for Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey. TV/Film: A Killer Party, Sesame Street (Emmy Nomination), Elmo's World, The Electric Company. Upcoming: Love is Strange, Blown Sideways Through Life, Revival, The Untitled Joe Hill Project. Awards from the Kleban, Ebb, Rodgers, and Larson Foundations. Writer and director for Lovewell Institute, creating original musicals with young adults. MFA NYU Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program, BFA Missouri State Univ. Husband to writer Kait Kerrigan, father to Lucy and Tess. www.nathantysen.com IG: @doctorpickles Jennifer Weber (Choreographer). Broadway/Off-Broadway: & Juliet (currently playing on Broadway; on tour in Germany, UK, and US; Olivier and Tony nominations, Best Choreography), Redwood ("Dream Choreography," starring Idina Menzel, Broadway), American Idiot (CTG/Deaf West, 2024), Take the Lead (Paper Mill Playhouse, 2025), KPOP (Tony nomination, Best Choreography), Teenage Dick (The Public Theater), Cruel Intentions (LPR/US Tour). Film: Disney Zombies 2, While You Were Gone (Emmy Award, Outstanding Arts/Entertainment Short Form Content). Commissions: Baryshnikov Arts Center, Tulsa Ballet, New York City Center, CLI Studios, Arsht Center (Miami), The Music Center (Los Angeles), Gala de Danza (Mexico). Commercial direction/choreography: Marc Jacobs, CK2, American Express, Uber, Ulta, L'Oreal, Reebok, Philosophy, and three seasons as creative director of Lifetime's Bring It Live! tour. Weber is the co-creator, director, and choreographer of The Hip Hop Nutcracker, featuring Kurtis Blow, which tours annually across the U.S. and was adapted into an Emmy-winning PBS All Arts special. In 2022, she collaborated with Disney as Executive Producer and Choreographer for a film version of The Hip Hop Nutcracker for Disney+. Instagram: @jenniferwebernyc. Jason Howland, an honors graduate of Williams College (1993), is a Grammy Award winning producer, Emmy Award winning arranger and Orchestrator, and Tony nominated producer, composer and arranger. He is the composer and orchestrator/arranger of this season's new smash hit Broadway Musical The Great Gatsby, 2005 Tony nominated Little Women The Musical and 2022's Paradise Square (10 Tony nominations including Best Score). Other composing projects include Ikiru, Tokyo Love Story and A Man for Horipro Productions (composer, orchestrator, arranger, Tokyo), Swing Days (Seoul 2024) The Last Days of Summer (Kansas City Rep) the online streaming hit A Killer Party, Code Name K (Seoul,) and Captain Nemo (Seoul, Nov 2025). Howland won an Emmy Award in 2007 for creating, composing and arranging the Christmas Television special Handel's Messiah Rocks, and was nominated for a Tony Award in 1999 for co-producing the hit Broadway play The Lonesome West by Martin McDonagh, won a Grammy in 2015 for producing and arranging the Original Cast Album of Beautiful:The Carole King Musical. He is the Arranger, Orchestrator and Music Supervisor for the hit broadway musical SHUCKED (Broadway - Tony Nomination for Best Orchestrations) and was the Arranger and world wide Music Supervisor for the smash hit Beautiful:The Carole King Musical (Broadway, West End, US National Tour, Tokyo, Australia, UK National Tour), Paradise Square (Broadway 2022), Bonnie & Clyde, Wonderland (Broadway, UK Tour), Jekyll & Hyde (Broadway, US Tour), Les Miserables, The Civil War, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Taboo in addition to guest conducting the Broadway musical sensation, Spiderman. He has worked extensively with Frank Wildhorn on a number of projects on Broadway and across the globe over the last twenty years. Howland orchestrated and arranged Wildhorn's adaptation of the Japanese Anime sensation Death Note which had its world premiere in Tokyo in April of 2015, orchestrated and supervised the world premiere of Mata Hari for the Seoul based production company EMK, and orchestrated and arranged The Man Who Laughs (Seoul/Tokyo), Your Lie In April for Toho (Japan, West End), Fist of the North Star (Horipro). Toho Co., Ltd. is the leading production company of theatre and film in Japan, internationally recognized for the Godzilla series and for Akira Kurosawa's masterpieces. Its theatrical department has presented numerous original and licensed musicals and plays in Japan, including Broadway and West End imports such as Les Misérables, Miss Saigon, Moulin Rouge! The Musical, My Fair Lady, Man of La Mancha, Fiddler on the Roof, La Cage Aux Folles, RENT, Jekyll & Hyde, Next to Normal, Jersey Boys, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, Waitress and The Producers among many others. In 2017, Toho presented a new production of Shakespeare's As You Like It directed by Michael Mayer, with music by Tom Kitt and choreography by Lorin Latarro. Toho co-produced the Broadway musical Tootsie. Toho has also produced the Japanese versions of musicals from Central Europe, including Elisabeth, Mozart!, and Rebecca the Musical. Many original musicals and plays have been produced by Toho, including Spirited Away, a stage adaptation of the Oscar-winning animated feature film, which made its international premiere in the West End, London in April 2024, with an upcoming Shanghai production opening in July 2025, Marie Antoinette and Lady Bess with the creators of Elisabeth, book and lyrics by Michael Kunze and music by Sylvester Levay, the musical adaptation of Roman Holiday, a manga-based original musical of Crest of the Royal Family with music by Sylvester Levay, the manga-based original stage productions of KINGDOM and SPY x FAMILY and Knights' Tale, with music and lyrics by Paul Gordon, book and direction by John Caird. Toho's musical productions have been licensed internationally: Marie Antoinette was presented in Germany, Korea and Hungary and Lady Bess was presented in Switzerland. CUBE Inc. Founded by Hiroyuki Kitamaki in 1997, CUBE continues to deliver on its promise as "Emotion Producting Direct Sales Company" which is based on three core pillar : Management, Production and Marketing. CUBE represents many leading Japanese theatrical directors, playwrights and actors as well as producing their repertoires. Not only as the agency, CUBE has been highly acclaimed as production company by winning various entertainment awards. |
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