King Kong to Be Staged at Hard Rock Entertainment Resort in Japan

The massively exciting new musical King Kong, currently thrilling crowds at the Broadway Theatre, will soon set up shop in Hokkaido, Japan, reports Forbes. The monster production will be staged at a new venue created for a Hard Rock entertainment resort.

"When we talked about shows to open the new development, we were looking for something currently on Broadway or planning to be on Broadway that would appeal to a Japanese and an Asian audience," Robert Nederlander, Jr., president of Nederlander Worldwide, told Forbes. "Of course, King Kong is a well-known brand with its own successful track record in film," he said, noting, "that combination makes it ideally suited for a mixed-use development center in Japan."

Following a lengthy journey of developmental readings, workshops and a prior staging in Australia, King Kong arrived on Broadway on October 05, 2018 in a production directed and choreographed by Drew McOnie. The musical features a cast of more than 30 actors alongside a 20-foot-high, 2,000-pound gorilla brought to life by a team of technicians.

King Kong features a book by Jack Thorne, a Tony winner for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, and an original score by Eddie Perfect, who will debut his second Broadway musical, Beetlejuice, on Broadway this spring.

A timeline and casting for the Japan staging of King Kong will be announced at a later date.