By Kwon Mee-yoo
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| Actor Lee Sang-yi |
Musical actors Lee Sang-yi and Park Ji-eun covered the iconic tap dance sequence and produced "A Lovely Night at Seoul" at Naksan Park in central Seoul. The video, posted on YouTube on March 3, garnered over 100,000 views within a month.
Lee, 27, was starring in the Korean production of "In the Heights" when "La La Land" hit Seoul theaters.
"I was excited over the jazz music, especially the rich tone of the contrabass. It was the heaviest yet the most lilting. I hope to learn to play the instrument, if I get the chance. I also loved the bright colors of the movie, which reminded me of old-fashioned musical films, and the seamless long take that went so well with the flow of the music," Lee said in an email interview with The Korea Times.
"Above all things, the movie had the love from the beginning to a consented parting and dream of people. So I planned a cover of the film to become the protagonist of the movie I love so much."
In the video, Lee and Park dance to the music just like Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone in "La La Land," despite the freezing weather. "We tried to recreate the long take of the sequence. Please enjoy our passion though our faces are flushing with cold," Lee said.
Lee practiced the tap dance with Park, who also appeared in "In the Heights," for about five weeks and looked for a Seoul equivalent to Griffith Park overlooking Los Angeles.
"La La Land is a musical film and Daehangno is Seoul's theater district. And Naksan Park is just behind Daehangno. So I wanted to illuminate the venue as a tribute to Korea's vibrant theater scene," Lee explained.
In the original film, the "Lovely Night" dance scene was shot at sunset, portraying the glow of the setting sun. "We also rehearsed for the nightfall moment, but on the day of shooting, the weather was bad and it was impossible to capture the atmosphere of dusk. So we altered the plan and added more lighting for night filming."
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| Lee Sang-yi, right, and Park Ji-eun in a scene from "A Lovely Night at Seoul," a tribute video to "La La Land" / Courtesy of Nice Person Company |
Lee also had to prepare costumes and props by himself. He ordered a pair of tap shoes and a yellow dress similar to the one in the movie from overseas, but they didn't arrive in time. In the end, Lee had to ask for his stylist to make another yellow dress.
"The tap shoes haven't arrived yet. Wonder where they are now," Lee said.
After the video was posted on YouTube, it attracted many viewers within and outside the country. "It was interesting to see comments from people from other countries, because I really didn't expect such international responses," he said.
Lee is currently rehearsing for the play "Mad Kiss," directed by Cho Kwang-hwa, starting April 11 at the Daehakno TOM Theater.
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