The musical "Jekyll & Hyde" starring Jo Seung-woo has received a standing ovation in Japan, following its success in Korea.
"Jekyll & Hyde" produced by OD Musical Company, was unveiled at Yuport Theater, a 1,400-seat hall in Tokyo, on Mar. 13 at 6:40 p.m. The audience did not applaud at first, but quietly watched the performance when the curtain was raised following an opening announcement in Korean.
When the lead actor gave an energetic performance while playing good and evil characters, the audience began clapping, first quietly then loudly. When the actors bowed politely onstage at the end of the show two hours and 30 minutes later, the audience finally gave a thundering standing ovation for five minutes.
The audience was still cheering even after all the lights were turned on in the theater and the theme song "This Is the Moment" was sung.
The audience applauded Kim Sun-young, who played Lucy, and Lee Hye-kyeong, who played Emma, as well as lead actor Jo Seung-woo.
Some Japanese fans said that they were not yet familiar with Korean musicals, while complaining that the Japanese subtitles were too small and the sentences too long to follow easily. Most of them, however, praised the musical, saying, "We were impressed by the singing ability of the actors".
With Jo and Ryoo Jung-han double cast as the lead character, a total of 17 performances of "Jekyll & Hyde" will be given in Japan until Mar. 24.
Another musical, "Winter Sonata", will be performed at Koma Theater in Shinjuku of Tokyo in early October. A total of 50 performances of the musical will be given for Japanese fans until late this year. It will be performed until 2010 as part of the annual Sapporo Snow Festival.
The production agency of the musical, Yoon's Color, estimated the seat occupancy rate at its performances held in Sapporo from Feb. 6 to 9 at about 80 percent. With the production agency planning to stage the musical in Nagoya and Fukuoka as well, the hallyu boom that has so far focused on TV dramas, films and pop songs will likely spread to musicals.
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