By Chung Ah-young
Staff Reporter
The Korean musical "
My Scary Girl" won two awards ― the Outstanding New Musical and Outstanding Individual Performances ― at the New York Musical Theater Festival (NYMF).
The NYMF announced the 2009 NYMF Awards for Excellence on Oct. 29, in which a total of 28 works were competing.
Bang Jin-ui received the Outstanding Individual Performances for her portrayal of the female protagonist in "
My Scary Girl", becoming the first Korean musical actor to win the prize at a foreign musical festival.
"I think our musical might be fresh for Americans. The black comedy elements appealed to the American audience. So I could perform very happily. I want to share this honor with my colleagues and staff who worked with me for more than one year", Bang said.
The stage adaptation of the 2006 Korean comedy/horror/romance film of the same name, portrays an awkward but romantic relationship that develops between Hwang Dae-woo, a naive English instructor who has never really dated a girl, and Lee Mi-na, a sweet girl who claims to be an art major but turns out to be a serial killer.
"
My Scary Girl" was staged at the Acorn Theater on Broadway in New York last month with English subtitles, garnering rave responses from critics and producers.
The production is an official selection from the international production exchange between the Daegu International Musical Festival (DIMF) and the New York Musical Theater Festival (NYMF).
The show, presented by Musical Heaven, a local company, was originally shown at the 2008 Musical Theater Lab for new works in development at the Barrington Stage Company (BSC).
It was the first Korean work selected by the BSC, the renowned American performing arts support group, to be presented at its theater lab.
The musical was staged as a development show at the 2008 DIMF, where it was a winner and received support. The musical officially premiered in Seoul in March this year.
It was developed through revisions in trial runs at workshops and the festival before its premiere.
Prominent composer Will Aronson provides the music with lyrics from Kang Kyoung-ae, who co-wrote a book with Mark St. Germain.
The NYMF is an annual event, which presents about 30 new musicals in the city's theater district. More than half of the productions are selected by leading theater artists and producers during the festival.
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A scene from "
My Scary Girl", which won two awards . the Outstanding New Musical and Outstanding Individual Performances . at the New York Musical Theater Festival (NYMF) / Courtesy of Musical Heaven
