Talent agency Oscar Promotion, which announced that it will be creating an owarai division this month, is looking to expand even further. The company has established a "bishoujo mini-troupe" that will first appear in a stage production this April. The play is titled "1999.9 Nen no Natsu Yasumi."

Oscar Promotion is the agency that runs the All-Japan National Young Beauty Contest, which has launched the careers of many female talents, such as Aya Ueto. The members of the mini-troupe are all previous winners of the contest: Atsuko Sudo (1997 Grand Prix), Manami Hashimoto (1997 Acting Category), Mizuho Sakata (2002 Grand Prix), and Yuka Honda (2003 Music Category).

The play, adapted from Shusuke Kaneko's film "1999 Nen no Natsu Yasumi," is produced by theater troupe Alotta Fagina (commonly abbreviated as ALOTF). This will be the 8th run of the play. Performances are scheduled from April 6 to April 10 at the Kichijoji Theatre in Tokyo.