US composer asks BTS’ V to play a role in 'Jekyll & Hyde'

DAEGU -- The iconic Daegu International Musical Festival kicked off Friday, returning in full blast for the first time in three years. The opening event took place at Kolon Bandstand Stage, joined by generation-spanning musical actors as well as aspiring students, including Nam Kyeong-ju, Choi Jung-won, Michael Lee, Park Gun-hyung and Kim So-hyang.  This year’s iteration brought back foreign musicals, also for the first time in three years. The Slovakian version of “Turand

A musical that highlights the charm of taekwondo, Korea’s traditional martial arts, has recently been unveiled at Theater Yong at the National Museum of Korea. With a mixed group of musical actors and actual taekwondo athletes, “Taekwon, Fly Up!” offers a dynamic 70 minutes for all ages. The musical revolves around the story of a high school taekwondo team that used to be famous for its high ranking. But after several years of underperforming, their school decides to give th

The Blue Man Group, a nonverbal stage show that blends art, technology, music and comedy, finally returns to South Korea after a pandemic-induced delay, marking their first time back since 2008. The show “that is not meant to be taken too seriously” will provide a pleasure and fun to Korean audiences as the three bald and blue characters with a special vision explore the world without words. The Blue Man Group features three bald and blue characters, a result of an hourlong make

It's summer of 2022 and South Korea is finally emerging from two years of social distancing restrictions and the performing arts are coming back to life.  At a musical theater at Blue Square, the seventh revival of “Aida” is now running. Meanwhile, nine household names whose combined acting careers amount to more than 422 years are gearing up for a monthlong performance of “Hamlet,” a large theater play set to kick off July 13 at the National Theater of Korea.

  Mata Hari, a notorious spy during World War I, has long been portrayed as an irresistible femme fatale, double-crossing both Germany and the Allies at the height of World War I. 　 The idea of an exotic dancer with powerful men wrapped around her finger and audiences at her feet involved in espionage has inspired novels, movies and even a game. 　 In 2016, just one year short of the 100th anniversary of her death, EMK, a South Korean musical production company, unveiled a musical adap

  Associate director and choreographer of the musical “Aida” Tracey Corea and actor Jeon Na-young may be separated by a few decades in age, but their love for the Disney production bridges that gap. One takes the stage as Aida, the leading protagonist, while the other shines behind the scenes as the musical’s producer. Corea was part of the original team responsible for the birth of the musical when it first appeared on Broadway in 2000. Starting out as a choreographer in

Actor Song Kang-ho became the first Korean male actor to win an acting prize at the Cannes Film Festival, grabbing the award for best actor for his role as a “baby broker” in Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda’s “Broker” on Saturday. This marked the 55-year-old’s seventh invitation to the prestigious film festival, but it is the first title the veteran actor has won at Cannes. Song starred in several Cannes award-winning films, including Park Chan-wook&rsqu

South Korean auteur Park Chan-wook said during a press conference in Cannes, France, on Saturday (French time) that the future of cinema is tightly connected with that of movie theaters, which bring incomparable cinematic experience. "Our experience to entirely focus on a film and enjoy it along with many people at a movie theater is out of comparison," he said in a press conference after the closing ceremony of the 75th Cannes Film Festival. He won Best Director for his latest feature

The 12th edition of Ballet Festival Korea will be held with 26 performances in June, the organizing committee said Tuesday, with Seoul Arts Center as the co-organizer. Under the theme of “Open Up the New Ordinary Days,” the festival will showcase old and new ballet productions by both established and emerging dancers from June 9-29. Some of the highlights include the opening performance, “Ahn Jung-geun, a Dance in the Heaven,” a 2015 production by M Ballet Company,

Ever since “Death Note,” a Japanese manga series was first introduced to the world in 2003, it has been adapted for various mediums, including animation, film and TV drama. The story of a teenage genius, Light, with superpowers that allow him to kill with a notebook, was released as a musical in Japan in 2015 and soon thereafter a Korean version featuring K-pop superstar Kim Junsu, a former member of boy band TVXQ, became a huge hit in Korea. For the show’s third local re

The South Korean performing arts scene has experienced a sharp rise in revenue thanks to the lifting of nearly all social distancing rules, like gathering limits, about two weeks ago, industry data showed Wednesday. The combined revenue of 2,051 theatrical plays, musicals, classical concerts and other performances reached 17.3 billion won ($13.7 million) from April 18 to Sunday, according to the data by the Korea Performing Arts Box Office Information System. The numbers more than trebled from 3

The “City of Light,” known as “Gwangju” in Korean, is back for the third time since it first took the stage in 2020. This time, the musical aims to reach a global audience to deliver a story of resistance and the democratic movement when it gives a preview on Broadway later this year, the musical’s production team said last week. “‘City of Light’ was created as part of an initiative to popularize the iconic protest song ‘March for the Be

Blue Man Group, a nonverbal stage show that blends art, technology, music and comedy, is coming back to meet Korean audiences after a pandemic-induced delay, its Korean distribution company Mast Entertainment said Monday. The Blue Man Group features three bald and blue characters, who “explore the world and discover music, comedy and surprises at every turn.” Since its debut in 1991 in New York, the show has been performed in front of more than 35 million people around the world.

In the dark reality of the pandemic, a long-running classic has brought a sense of hopeful nostalgia to the stage. “The Lion King” is back in Seoul after nearly 3 years, and has once again shown why it captures so many hearts. As the curtains go up, the audience is immediately enraptured by the march of animals as Futhi Mhlong, who has been playing mandrill Rafiki for the past 14 years, sings “Circle of Life.” Even though the iconic entry of the animals through the a