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Maaya Sakamoto to Star in Daddy-Long-Legs Stage Musical

Voice actress and singer Maaya Sakamoto will star in a stage musical adaptation of Jean Webster's Daddy-Long-Legs novel next September. The story follows Jerusha, a young woman who rises from her orphanage roots with the help of a mysterious benefactor and the burgeoning women's suffrage movement. The musical will run from September 2 to September 19 at Tokyo's Hibiya Theater Crea.

Sakamoto will play Jerusha, while musical veteran Yoshio Inoue will play Jervis, the uncle of one of Jerusha's roommates. Tony-winning director and playwright John Caird adapted Webster's novel after doing the same for Les Miserables, Jane Eyre, and Nicholas Nickleby. His collaborator Paul Gordon (Jane Eyre, Emma) scored the music and wrote the lyrics.

The original novel already inspired a television anime series in Nippon Animation's acclaimed World Masterpiece Theater run and a television anime special from Tatsunoko. There was also a previous stage musical version that ran in Japan.

Source: Comic Natalie

Update: Sakamoto starred as Éponine in the Japanese production of Les Misérables. Not incidentally, Megan McGinnis, the actress who originated the role of Jerusha in the United States, played Éponine in the Broadway revival of Les Misérables.