Overview
The series was staged by a division of the Japanese entertainment company Bandai and generally ran three times a year to match with the holidays of Japanese schools. Recently, in the winter the only venue for the musical productions was the Sunshine Theatre in the Ikebukuro area of Tokyo; however in the summer it also toured to the larger cities in Japan.
The latest incarnation of the series, "The New Legend of Kaguya Island" (新・かぐや島伝説 <改訂版> Shin Kaguya Shima Densetsu (Kaiteiban)) was staged in January 2005. The series is now on a "short hiatus", according to the official fan club, BMO. The current actresses for Moon, Mercury, and Jupiter officially "graduated" (left) with the final performance.
The musicals have a few elements in common: a theme song, usually used in battle when the Sailor Senshi defeat the antagonist; sight gags (characters in drag, puns, etc.); and songs generally tailored for the same characters or groupings of characters: romance songs between Usagi and Mamoru, Outer Senshi attack songs, Guardian Senshi civilian songs, and villain songs.
Kaiteiban, or "Revised Versions", are another major aspect of Sailor Moon musicals. Generally new musicals are staged in the summer and then are revised for the winter. Major plot elements stay the same but tend to be more fleshed out in revised versions. Parts of the show are generally rearranged; villains who were only partially defeated in the original version of the show are fully defeated or healed, and actresses who are "graduating" (leaving the show) are often given more solo parts or speaking lines.
In the musicals, the producers generally follow and expand upon plot concepts presented in the anime and manga. For example, a collective romance between the four Guardian Senshi and the Shitennō from former lives was taken from a manga image picturing the two groups paired off in romantic couples. The series creator, Naoko Takeuchi, explained that this image was used as an inspiration for the first musical of the series – "A Sailor Moon Anecdote – Story of the Dark Kingdom's Revival". In addition to borrowing from the anime and manga versions of Sailor Moon, the musical series also has two mostly original plot lines: "The Legend of Kaguya Island" (Kaguya Shima Densetsu) and the "Last Dracul" series.
The sets and backdrops range from simple (only some set pieces, no backdrop or backdrop with uncomplicated paintings) to mid elaborate (a greater number of small set pieces, and some bigger ones, for example, a painted wall over the whole width of the stage with a few attached stairs and a big door), more detailed set pieces, with heavy use of different stage levels, trapdoors and hidden doors. The Sailor Senshi's attacks are represented by colored lights hitting their targets, and sometimes minor explosions and other small pyrotechnics (for example "flame paper", special paper stripes which the actors ignite in their hands and then throw to create the illusion of a "fireball") are used. The Senshi mostly transform off-stage (or just appear already transformed), while their transformation phrases can be heard. Only Usagi transforms on stage. This is done with the help of a body double and the "black out" of part of the stage or set pieces moving in front of her while the actors switch places. The only real "transformation sequence" that ever occurs is a pre-filmed video sequence projected onto a scrim showing the actors "morph" (with some pink ribbons) into their transformed versions.
Songs from the series have been compiled in some 20 music albums, and many of the musicals have been released on DVD.
Read more about this topic: Sailor Moon Musicals