Shock (musical)

"SHOCK" (ショック) is a series of musical works starring Domoto Koichi (from the duo KinKi Kids), who is also in charge of the planning, music, story, and production under Johnny Kitagawa’s direction. SHOCK was originally based on the musical "PLAYZONE '91 SHOCK" (1991, starring Shonentai), and premiered at the Imperial Theater in November 2000 under the title "MILLENNIUM SHOCK". It has been performed at the same theater every year since, with different modifications in the title, cast, plot and programs each year. In 2005, it was revamped entirely as “Endless SHOCK”, which has been its title until now. SHOCK's annual performances are greatly anticipated, and it is dubbed “the stage of which tickets are the hardest to get in Japan” by the media.

SHOCK reached its 400th performance in 2006, and its 499th performance in 2007, attracting more than 80,000 audiences up until that point. SHOCK is the solo-starring stage play to achieve this feat in the shortest time at the Imperial Theater.

April 2008, “Endless SHOCK” received the Grand Prize Award at the 33rd "Kikuta Kazuo Drama Award" for high achievements in stage performance.^[1] This was the first time a musical starring an idol from Johnny & Associates won such an honor.

March 2009, Domoto Koichi set a new record for the highest number of solo-starring musical performances at the Imperial Theater.^[2]

March 21, 2013, 12 years 5 months after its premiere, SHOCK reached its 1,000th performance, became the solo-starring musical play to achieve this in the shortest time in Japan.^[3]

In April 2020, Domoto Koichi alone was awarded the Grand Prize of the 45th Kazuo Kikuta Drama Awards for his achievement for leading SHOCK series for twenty years, becoming the youngest single winner of this award.^[4]

Until 2021, SHOCK has been performed for more than 1,800 times, becoming the 2nd most-performed musical with the same leading actor in Japan, after Mori Mitsuko's “Hourouki” (performed 2,017 times).^[5]