Takarazuka Revue presents “Goethe! – The Musical” in Japan

A premiere with a signal effect: For the first time in its more than 100-year history, the traditional Takarazuka Revue Company will stage a musical developed in Germany in Japan starting in November 2025.

The performance will be “Goethe! – The Musical,” a production by Stage Entertainment in collaboration with director Gil Mehmert, composer Martin Lingnau, and lyricist Frank Ramond.

From Essen to Tokyo 

The piece celebrated its first public performance in 2017 as a try-out at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen and premiered at the Bad Hersfeld Festival on July 2, 2021.

Japanese director Keiko Ueda also saw it there and was impressed by the dynamic nature of the musical, which led to its transfer to Japan.

Simone Linhof, Artistic Producer at Stage Entertainment, emphasizes: “It is great that Goethe soon also a Japanese audience The interest in European cultural history in Japan is admirable, and I thank our creative team for their great work in bringing it to Tokyo."

Adaptation for Takarazuka

Since all roles in the Takarazuka Revue are traditionally played by women, Martin Lingnau and Sebastian de Domenico (arrangements, orchestration) had to adapt numerous keys and redesign musical passages.

At the same time, Lingnau oversaw the complex translation, while director Gil Mehmert provided dramaturgical advice.

“Goethe! – The Musical”

The musical is based on the film by Philipp Stölzl (2010) with Alexander Fehling, Miriam Stein and Moritz Bleibtreu.

It shows Johann Wolfgang von Goethe not as a classical poet, but as a young poet of his Sturm und Drang period – an artist passionately striving for expression and recognition.

The production’s narrative style is reminiscent of international success stories such as “Shakespeare in Love” or “Amadeus”.

At the premiere in Bad Hersfeld, Philipp Büttner (Goethe) and Abla Alaoui (Charlotte Buff) played, who can currently be seen in Disney's musical "Tarzan" at the Hamburg Stage Theater Neue Flora.

About the Takarazuka Revue

The Takarazuka Revue Company (Japanese: 宝塚歌劇団, Takarazuka Kagekidan) was founded by Kobayashi Ichizō in 1913. Its characteristic is that all roles—male and female—are played exclusively by women.

The repertoire ranges from Western musicals From classic fairy tales to manga adaptations, the revue is now one of Japan's best-known and most popular theater groups.

Sierks Media / © Photo: Antonio Fadel, Unsplash (1), Stage Entertainment (1)