Kim Da-hyeon (김다현)

The Korean production of French musical "Don Juan" opens Feb. 6 at Seongnam Arts Center, the first time the show will be presented in a language other than French.

But the musical is gaining attention here for another reason. This will be the musical debut of Joo Ji-hoon, 28, a heartthrob whose credits include hit TV drama "The Palace" (2006) and film "Antique" (2008).

Joo will be sharing the role of Don Juan with Kang Tae-eul, a rising theater actor who has been active in Japan, and well-kno...More

By Chung Ah-young
Staff Reporter

French musicals have a strong fan base here for their unique qualities ― separate dancing and singing performances with less dialogue and more songs distinguish them from Broadway and West End musicals.

Local musical buffs will be able to quench their thirst for the musicals that have swept the local musical scene a couple of years ago.

Three iconic French musicals ― "Notre Dame de Paris", "Romeo et Juliette" and "Don Juan" ― are returning to fans this year.

"Romeo et Juliette", which premiered in Korea in 2007, will be on stage from July 29 to Feb. 27 at Sejong Center for the Performing Arts.

This year's show will present flamboyant performance in which the chorus usually dances as a group while actors sing the musical scores, such as hit numbers "Aimer" and "Les Rois du Monde".

Costumes marked by the symbolic colors of red and blue represent the conflicts of the two families ―...More

The Korean musical market is literally witnessing a "Big Bang" this summer.

Korean musical-goers will have a rare opportunity this summer to enjoy both critically-acclaimed and commercially successful Broadway musicals such as "Man of La Mancha", "Cats", "Chicago", "Gambler", "Hedwig", and "Thrill Me". We enlisted musical critics to offer their evaluations of the musicals based on five criteria –entertainment, music, cast, stage, and story.

Cats

"Cats" feeds the audience's eyes with splendid dances and extraordinary stage settings. Since May, the Broadway world tour team has been performing here in Seoul and the Korean team will launch its first licensed performance in September. It received low marks for the story, but high marks for entertainment. Musical critic Won Jong-won said, "The attraction of Cats is the performers' facial expressions and detailed body movements which make audiences feel as though they are looking at real cats. Follow every movement of the performers, rather than trying to follow the subtitles, and you will see the tru...More

Mega-hit rock musical "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" will run for a fourth season starting late June, production company Shownote announced.

But there will be a twist this season: Six different actors will take on the title role, each for three to six weeks at a time. All the Hedwigs will be completely different from the others, with outfits, make-up, and even lights personalized to fit and reinforce each Hedwig, the production company said.

Shownote added that five of the Hedwigs will be from past performances. Auditions will be held for the last actor.

Starting off "Hedwig-Freestyle" are two former Hedwigs: Kim Da-hyeon, l...More

John Cameron Mitchell wrote the text, directed the film, and played the main character in "Hedwig", a musical theater production and film. He visited Korea to participate in a "Hedwig" concert to be held at Jamsil Stadium on May 27 and 29.

Oh Man-seok, who gained the nickname "Oh-dwig" when the musical premiered in Korea two years ago, has been waiting for the opportunity to meet Mitchell since the dates for Mitchell's visit were decided. Oh talked with Mitchell in English without an interpreter for one and half hours.

Mitchell's response to "Oh-dwig", ...More