Singer and actress Sonin (24) has landed the lead role in the latest theater production of the musical “Miss Saigon”. Auditions began almost a year ago, with the original Broadway producer Cameron Mackintosh taking part in the selection process. Video of Sonin performing some of the songs from the show was sent to the U.S. and she was finally given the part of Kim in June. The production will start its run at the Imperial Theater in Tokyo next July. Miss Saigon, a love story set at the end of the Vietnam War, was last performed in Japan four years ago. The part of Kim has previously been played by such stars as Matsu Takako (30), Chinen Rina (26) and the late Honda Minako. Sonin started her career as one half of the duo EE Jump in 2000 under the guidance of Morning Musume creator Tsunku (38). After a strong start the duo split when partner Yuuki (21, younger brother of Goto Maki, a member of “MoMusu” at the time) was dropped for underage drinking and hanging out at hostess clubs. Sonin has determinedly built up a musical and dramatic career since then. She is to play the female lead in a stage production of “Petenshi to Sagishi” (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels) next January.
• Young actress Nagabuchi Ayane (19) showed off her showjumping skills yesterday while filming her first movie role. She stars in “Sanbongi Nougyoukou Bajutsubu”, the true story of a high school girl and the blind horse she encounters in her school’s equestrian club. The eldest child of rock singer-songwriter Nagabuchi Tsuyoshi (50) and former actress Shihomi Etsuko (51), Ayane studied ballet from the age of four and had her first lead role at the age of 11. She attended the Kanto International High School, where she was a member of the equestrian club, and entered the Faculty of International Studies at Meiji Gakuin University in April. Filming is set to continue on “Sanbongi…” until next February, and the movie is scheduled to open in the autumn of 2008.
• Actor player Tanaka Ken (56) has become a father again. His wife, former actress Chikage (38), gave birth to a baby girl at a Tokyo hospital yesterday. The couple married in December of last year. Tanaka has a 19-year-old daughter from his previous 14-year marriage to actress Kotegawa Yuuko (48), which ended in 1999. Chikage is a distant relative of actress Kaga Mariko (63). Tanaka is also known as a performer of the quena, the traditional flute of the Andes.