The First-Ever Stage Production of Hayao Miyazaki’s Academy Award®-Winning Masterpiece Directed and Adapted by Tony Award®-Winner John Caird (Les Misérables)
What You Need to Know:
- GKIDS, the acclaimed producer and distributor of animation for adult and family audiences, announced that it has acquired the North American audiovisual distribution rights for SPIRITED AWAY: Live On Stage, filmed during the hit production’s 2022 run at the historic Imperial Theatre in Tokyo, Japan. The stage play is based on Hayao Miyazaki’s Academy Award®-winning animated feature and is adapted and directed for the stage by Tony Award®-winner John Caird, Honorary Associate Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, who gained international acclaim for adapting and directing the world premiere of the landmark production Les Misérables.
- GKIDS will release two separate filmed performances of the production, starring Kanna Hashimoto and Mone Kamishiraishi, double-cast as the lead heroine Chihiro. Character actor Mari Natsuki, who voiced the sorceress Yubaba and her twin sister Zeniba in the original motion picture, returns to her original role, accompanied by voice actor Romi Park. They are accompanied by a star-studded cast of Japan’s finest actors.
- SPIRITED AWAY: Live On Stage was created in association with Studio Ghibli, and presented by Toho Co., Ltd. The deal was negotiated between GKIDS and Toho.
- GKIDS will release the stage production theatrically in spring 2023.
- “We are thrilled to offer this unique opportunity for Studio Ghibli fans in America to experience the stage production that wowed Japanese press and audiences last year,” said GKIDS’ President David Jesteadt. “This imaginative stage adaptation by the legendary John Caird, featuring two wonderful performances by lead actors Kanna Hashimoto and Mone Kamishiraishi, helps bring to life one of the greatest films of all time in a dazzling new way.”
Original production of Spirited Away presented at Imperial Theatre in 2022
Based on Spirited Away directed by Hayao Miyazaki
Adapted and Directed by John Caird
Co-adapted by Maoko Imai
Original Score by Joe Hisaishi
Musical Supervision, Orchestrations and Arrangements by Brad Haak
Associate Music Supervision, Orchestrations and Ableton Programming by Conor Keelan
Set Designer: Jon Bausor
Puppetry Design and Direction: Toby Olié
Choreographer/Staging: Shigehiro Ide
Lighting Designer: Jiro Katsushiba
Sound Designer: Koichi Yamamoto
Costume Designer: Sachiko Nakahara
Hair and Make Up: Designer Hiroaki Miyauchi
Projection Designer: Satoshi Kuriyama
Music Director/Conductor: Erika Fukasawa
Stage Manager: Takashi Hojo
Assistant to the Director: Maoko Imai
Assistant Directors: Makoto Nagai/Ryusei Onuki
Producer: Haruka Ogi
In association with Studio Ghibli
Presented by Toho Co., Ltd.
Cast
Chihiro: Kanna Hashimoto/Mone Kamishiraishi
Haku: Kotaro Daigo /Hiroki Miura
No Face: Koharu Sugawara/Tomohiko Tsujimoto
Lin/Chihiro’s Mother: Miyu Sakihi/Fu Hinami
Kamaji: Tomorowo Taguchi/Satoshi Hashimoto
Yubaba/Zeniba: Mari Natsuki/Romi Park
Aniyaku/Chihiro’s Father: Kenya Osumi
Chichiyaku: Sunao Yoshimura
Aogaeru: Obata no Oniisan
Introduction and Synopsis
Hayao Miyazaki’s Academy Award®-winning animated feature film comes to life in this first-ever stage adaptation, full of dazzling sets, captivating musical numbers, and wondrous puppets of beloved characters. Adapted and directed by Tony Award®-winner John Caird (Les Misérables), two unique casts and performances were filmed during the show’s acclaimed 2022 run at Tokyo’s historic Imperial Theatre, featuring Kanna Hashimoto and Mone Kamishiraishi as Chihiro.
While traveling to their new home, Chihiro and her family stumble into a world of fantastic spirits ruled over by the sorceress Yubaba. When her parents are turned into pigs and she is put to work in a magical bathhouse, Chihiro must use her wits to survive in this strange new place, find a way to free her parents, and return to the normal world.
Source: Official Press Release