Theater festival filled with musical extravaganza

"War Sum Up" will be staged as part of the Uijeongbu Music Theatre Festival 2017 on May 15. / Courtesy of UMTF

This year’s Uijeongbu festival themed ‘Fantasy: The World We Dream of’

By Kwon Mee-yoo

Uijeongbu, a city north of Seoul, is well-known for its "budae jjigae," or army base sausage stew, but the city also has rich cultural resources, including its annual festival dedicated to musical theater.

The Uijeongbu Music Theatre Festival (UMTF), established in 2002, is one of the best theater festivals in Korea. The 16th edition of the UMTF features a handful of theatrical delights combining music and artistry internationally and domestically, May 12 to 21.

The 10-day festival is held at the Grand Theater and Small Theater of the Uijeongbu Arts Center in downtown Uijeongbu. There also are free performances held in front of the theater.

"Carnival of the Animals"

Technology meets stage

Themed "Fantasy: the World We Dream of," UMTF 2017 has seven shows in its main lineup _ four from Korea and three international.

The headliner is new opera "War Sum Up" co-created in Denmark and Latvia. Directed by Kirsten Dehlholm, the show premiered at the Latvian National Opera in Riga in 2011. After the acclaimed premiere, the show was invited to the Next Wave Festival in New York in 2013.

The show was praised for combining the aesthetics of the East and the West with state-of-the-art stage technology and eccentric costumes by designer Henrik Vibskov.

"War Sum Up" explores the nature of war through three main characters the Soldier, the Warrior and the Spy, as well as a woman in a yellow dress known as the Gamemaster. It is also influenced by Japanese culture such as Japanese comics and Noh theatre. The libretto is inspired by Noh texts and sung in Japanese.

The 12-member Latvian Radio Choir sings music embracing different genres such as classical music, EDM and chamber pop.

"War Sum Up" is staged for only one day on May 15 at 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. at the Grand Theater of the Uijeongbu Arts Center.

"Carnival of the Animals" is an art circus from Australia, reimagining French composer Camille Saint-Saens' 1886 suite "The Carnival of the Animals."

Created by Aussie contemporary circus troupe Circa, the show blends circus and multimedia. Directed by Yaron Lifschitz, the show whimsically tells the tale of land and sea animals, backed by media artist Michaela French's video projection. Circa's acrobats bring various animals to life such as zebras, kangaroos, elephants and even dinosaur bones.

The circus is staged on May 20 and 21 at the Grand Theater.

"The Dreams of Composer Claude Debussy"

"The Dreams of Composer Claude Debussy," also known as "Monsieur Croche" from Spain's La companyia del princep Totilau, features live piano music of the French Impressionist composer.

The show, directed by Marc Hervas, premiered in Barcelona in 2016. It combines live action and puppetry describing Debussy and his wife Emma Bardac's journey to a fantasy island, where they encounter exotic birds, giant insects and other magical beings and the composer finds inspiration for new music.

Debussy's music featured in the show include "Serenade for the Doll" and "Golliwog’s Cakewalk" from Children's Corner, the "Two Arabesques for Piano," "L'isle Joyeuse," Suite Bergamasque, for piano "Clair de Lune" and more.

The show runs May 13 and 14 at the Small Theater. There is a children's workshop related to this show.

British troupe Acrojou’s street performance “The Wheel House” will be performed in front of the arts center on May 13 and at Uijeongbu Station Square on May 14.

The acrobatic promenade show features a circular set which rolls with the audience walking alongside and tells an enchanting love story set in a dystopian future.

"The Wheel House"

Korean shows

“The Legend of Star,” staged on May 12 and 13 at the Grand Theater, is the highlight of the Korean program.

Reinterpreting the Korean folktale of “Gyeonwu and Jiknyeo,” the show opens the UMTF this year. The love story of Gyeonwu and Jiknyeo is told through beautiful music and choreography, complete with fantastic video projections.

For those who want to sample the essence of traditional Korean music, master pansori singer Ahn Sook-sun will present “Chunhyangga” on May 20 and 21 at the Small Theater.

The pansori play is a famous Korean folk tale revolving around the love story of Chunhyang and Mongryong.

The musical “Rachmaninoff” revolves around Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninoff and his relationship with physician Nikolai Dahl, accompanied with live music played by a string sextet and a piano.

The musical will be performed on May 18 at the Grand Theater.

“Twinkle Twinkle” is a traditional music performance for children. Produced by the National Gugak Center, the play tells a coming-of-age story of a baby star that is afraid of darkness.

The show runs May 16 to 17 at the Small Theater.

For more information, visit www.umtf.or.kr or call 031-828-5841.