Often found at theaters and museums, Kwon Mee-yoo has covered a wide range of cultural fields from K-pop and dramas to theater and fine art for over a decade. Now as K-Culture Desk editor, she tries to connect Korean culture with global readers through fresh perspectives.
Park portrays tragedy of Mozart
By Kwon Mee-yoo
By Kwon Mee-yoo
Park Eun-tae, playing the role of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in the musical “Mozart!” which opens Tuesday, is obviously one of the hottest actors on the Korean musical scene.
He is dedicated — the first thing he was concerned about with regard to the time of the interview was rehearsals, which he left for right afterwards.
Park was an ordinary student studying business administration at Hanyang University before auditioning for the musical “The Lion King” in 2006. He was in a singing club and took part in MBC’s Riverside Song Festival, but didn’t think of becoming a musical actor.
In his debut, he was No. 5 in the chorus, playing roles such as grass and the front legs of a rhinoceros. “It was a whole new experience for me. I found out a new world in musicals and it felt great on stage,” Park said.
He played Gringoire in the musical “Notre Dame de Paris” from 2007 to 2009 and Kim Saeng in the homegrown “Pimatgol Sonata” last year.
Park played the role of the prodigy in the Korean premiere of “Mozart!” in 2009. The Austrian musical, written by Michael Kunze with music by Sylvester Levay, portrays the genius musician’s life through powerful rock music. “I think being a genius brings unhappiness. I’m glad that I am not one of them,” Park said.
Though he said this, he exhibited a shade of Mozart’s madness and gift when he talked about his character.
“I try not to think about the previous production and start from scratch,” he said. “Last year, I was overwhelmed by the music and the movement, but I gained more composure this time.”
To understand the character of Mozart, the actor read the script over and over and looked up references on other prodigies to penetrate his moods.
“I didn’t comprehend him perfectly yet,” he said. “Last year, I only figured out the external part of him, but my understanding of the musical is a genuine tragedy.”
Park pointed that Mozart was born a genius and he was happy only when he pursued music.
“If he didn’t have the talent, he could have lived a typical, happy life, though people of ages to come would not remember him,” he said. “Did Mozart like being a prodigy? He was born with it and lived with people’s high expectations. It wasn’t his intention. That is why this musical is tragic and sad.”
The musical rather focuses on the inner struggle of the musician by separating him from Wolfgang — the grown-up outer ego — and Amadeus — the child within him who only knows music.
“Wolfgang might not have wanted such genius, but he was unhappy without the music. The contradiction might be the reason why he hated and was fearful of Amadeus,” he said. “At the end, he realizes the cost of his talent. Using the gift of God was writing the music with his blood. He understands and accepts his fate at the last moment.”
Park said Amadeus was happy only when he was writing music in all circumstances and that makes the character horrifying. “He doesn’t want Wolfgang to love someone or do anything else other than music.”
In the last scene of the musical, Amadeus stabs Wolfgang to get more blood to write music and Wolfgang yields to his other self. “Instead of being overpowered by the talent, he chose the music of his own accord, making this story tragic,” he said. “But I wonder... Did he get happiness by giving up everything else?”
Park was invited as a guest artist at German musical star Uwe Kroger’s concert “Absolute Uwe” in last November. He said it was a breakthrough.
“I trembled a lot. The only memory I have was quivering. The biggest thing I learned was that I was on stage with Kroger,” he said. “Kroger is a 47-year-old, but he is still sexy and passionate on stage. In Korea, actors of that age would only play the father characters.”
Park saw the reason of Kroger’s appeal from solid basics.
“He became my role model and I will keep learning to build extensive experience,” he said. In fact, he is still taking vocal lessons even though he is an established musical actor now. “I used to take ballet lessons as well, but stopped to concentrate on !’”
He believes in the power of time and tries to be sincere on stage.
“Ordinary happiness was a miracle for Mozart and he couldn’t get it until the end,” Park said. “I hope the audience can share the sorrow of a genius through this musical.”
The musical “Mozart!” is staged through July 3 at Opera House of Seongnam Arts Center, south of Seoul. Tickets cost from 30,000 won to 130,000 won. For more information, visit www.musicalmozart.co.kr or call (02) 6391-6333.