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Galaxy Express 999 Stage Musical Casts Mari Hanafusa as Maetel
posted on by Rafael Antonio Pineda
The official website for the upcoming stage musical based on Leiji Matsumoto's Galaxy Express 999 manga and anime franchise announced on Monday that Mari Hanafusa will play Maetel in the musical, replacing the late Sayaka Kanda, who was originally slated for the role.
The site previously announced possible "adjustments" to the musical in light of Kanda's passing. Kanda passed away on December 18, 2021. She was 35.
The musical is slated to run from April 8 to 18 at the Nippon Seinen-kan Hall in Tokyo.
Yūna Koyama is directing the musical from a script by Ako Takahashi. Mickie Yoshino, the vocalist and composer for the band Godiego, is the stage production's musical director, and he is also providing a new arrangement of the classic anime theme song "Ginga Tetsudō 999." The stage musical will incorporate some new story content to create a "complete" story. Akinori Nakagawa is reprising his role as Tetsurō Hoshino from the manga's previous stage play adaptations in 2018 and 2019.
The story of the anime and manga follows a young orphan named Tetsurō as he travels with a mysterious woman named Maetel through the galaxy on a space train, in the hopes of obtaining a cybernetic body. The train stops at many planets along the way, often leading to adventures for the two.
The franchise had the Ginga Tetsudo 999 Galaxy Opera stage play that ran in July 2018, and the Ginga Tetsudo 999 Sayonara Maetel ~ Boku no Eien sequel play that ran in April-May 2019.
The original 18-volume manga ran from 1977-1981 and the 113-episode television anime series aired from 1978-1981. An anime film alternate retelling premiered in 1979. The franchise then spawned multiple other movies, specials, and original video anime (OVA) projects.
Sources: Galaxy Express 999 musical's website, Comic Natalie
