The Harmonium in My Memory (Movie - 1999)

Actor Lee Byeong-heon Debuts in Hollywood

Source | 2009/07/31 | 0 comments | Permalink |

Actor Lee Byeong-heon, who is almost 40, is a seasoned actor in the Korean film industry. He debuted in 1992 in the TV drama "Tomorrow Love". In the 1999 movie "The Harmonium In My Memory" Lee played a teacher who captivated the heart of a young woman from a rural area. And in the 2000 hit "Joint Security Area", he perfectly portrayed a South Korean soldier who pleads for help when he steps on a mine.

The turning point in Lee's life came in 2005 with director Kim Ji-woon's movie "A Bittersweet Life". Lee easily portrayed difficult action scenes and impressed viewers with his acting talent.

In the 2006 movie "Once In A Summer" Lee appeared opposite Soo-ae, and last year he stunned everyone by playing a gangster in "The Good, The Bad, The Weird". 

Lee has tried diverse roles so far, joiningg the ranks of A-list actors. And he is not picky when it comes to genre, whether it is a thriller, an action movie or a melodrama. This time, Lee is poised to ma...| More

Next Hallyu in Musicals?

Source | 2009/03/27 | 0 comments | Permalink |

Japanese Tourists Flock to Musical Theaters

By Chung Ah-young
Staff Reporter

The Japanese yen's surge against the Korean won is driving a welcome resurgence in Japanese spending here, helping the Korean tourism industry.

The strong yen not only contributes to local tourism but also the musical industry, as tourists choose local musical performances as part of their tours to Korea.

Foreign audiences, especially Japanese visitors, have already attended non-verbal performances here. But it's a new phenomenon for Japanese viewers to see musicals in the native tongue.

It seems to be part of the hallyu effect, in which various Korean heartthrobs who have appeared in television dramas airing in Japan are taking to the stage.

Yamada Akiko, 42, has seen "My Scary Girl", starring Sin Seong-rok, three times. "I'm a big fan of Sin Seong-rok. I've seen his musicals many times", she told The Korea Times.

Yamada said the first time she saw Sin was in his TV drama "Hyena" in Japa...| More

Theater in 2008: 'Movical' Booms, 'Best Play Series' Hits

Source | 2008/12/16 | 0 comments | Permalink |

By Chung Ah-young
Staff Reporter

The economic recession that has affected almost every part of the world hasn't touched the local theater industry.

This year, musicals and plays have stayed afloat through their distinctive strategies.

The musical industry highly relied on producing movie-based musicals, called "movical" while the plays gained bigger popularity than ever through the success of "Yeongeuk Yeoljeon 2" (A Series of the Best Plays). The two genres also used a star-studded marketing strategy.

Musicals

The buzzword in this year's musical trend was "movical", referring to the combination of movies and musicals.

The boom in re-creating the cinematic arts on the musical stage draws from the success of hit films such as "Radio Star'", "The Harmonium in My Memory" and "200 Pounds Beauty".

It marks a big contrast from last year when homegrown blockbuster musicals such as "Dancing Shadows" and "Dae Jang Geum", were produced prolifically but without commercial su...| More

Distinctive Reinterpretation Shines in Musical '200-Pound'

Source | 2008/12/02 | 0 comments | Permalink |

By Chung Ah-young
Staff Reporter

The buzz word in this year's musical trend was"movical", referring to the combination of movies and musicals.

The boom in re-creating the cinematic arts on the musical stage cashes in on the success of hit films such as "Radio Star" and "The Harmonium in My Memory". Yet such musicals could be boring if they simply follow the same storyline of the film.

However, a new musical, "200 Pounds Beauty", based on the 2006 film of the same title, simply took the worries away by distinctively reinterpreting the original work.

The musical, starring singer-turned-actress 'Bada', better known as Choi Seong-hee, and actress Yoon Gong-joo, who both portray Kang Han-byeol, and actor Song Chang-ee, who takes the role of Han Sang-jun, opened Thursday at Chung Art Hall in Seoul.

The musical effectively condensed the story of the film version into an intensive comical show, with diverse musical elements and reinterpreted characters.

Using many musical nu...| More

'The Organ In My Heart' wins musical awards

Source | 2008/10/21 | 0 comments | Permalink |

"The Organ In My Heart" won the 14th Korea Musical Awards.

The homemade movie-turned-musical ("The Harmonium in My Memory"), created by the local Showtic Communications, swept the annual awards, hosted by Sports Chosun, winning five other awards, including the Best Male New Actor (Cho Jung-suk) and Best Director (Cho Gwang-hwa) categories.

"Hairspray" was selected as the Best Foreign Musical, while Kim Bup-rae from "Notre Dame De Paris" and Kim So-hyun from "My Fair Lady" each were named the Best Actor and Actress, respectively.

Choi Sung-hee, singer and actress who used to be a member of the girl-group S.E.S, was chosen as the Best New Actress with her role as Esmeralda in "Notre Dame De Paris".

Yun Ho-jin, head of Acom International who created the hit homemade show "The Great Empress" won the Best Producer category. ...| More