Theater man returns to basics

This is the second in a series of interviews of heads of Korea's top theatrical companies. ― ED.

By Kwon Mee-yoo

“Forest Fire” changed the life of Park Myung-sung, 48, president and chief producer of Seensee Company. He first saw the realist play by late Korean playwright Cha Bum-suk when he was in high school. It made him fall in love with theater. In 2007, he turned it into a new musical “Dancing Shadows.” He spent 5 billion won but suffered a 2.5 billion won loss when it received harsh reviews. But that hasn’t stopped Park.

From acting to producing

Born in Haenam, the southernmost town of mainland Korea, he called himself a “chonnom,” which means hillbilly in Korean. “Seeing ‘Forest Fire’ changed my life forever. I started to wonder how a play was made and dreamt of becoming a man of the theater,” Park said.

After graduating university, he joined theater troupe Dongin and started acting from scratch.

"I wasn’t onstage for more than two minutes. I mostly played characters who died or were kicked off the stage,” he said. “At that time, untrained actors were not allowed on the stage and I was just thrilled to be a part of a play.”

Despite the joy of being onstage, Park realized he had no talent as an actor and switched to directing, and worked as the troupe’s assistant director for about a decade.

“That was my title, but I covered everything, from lighting and sound to stage management. That experience has been the base of my theatrical works.”

Park is now one of the top producers in Korea, staging several musicals and plays a year.

“A producer is a general designer of a work, from planning a show to throwing the cast party at the end of the show,” Park said.

He also refers to a producer as “a person who has vision upon high from the lowest place.”

As a producer, Park stresses the value of the story in selecting which show to stage.

“I prefer works with well-organized conflict and strong music. I want the audience to leave the theater with a question in their heart.”

In 1999, Park was appointed president of Seensee Company and he changed the company’s name to the Seensee Musical Company.

“I predicted that the musical would prevail in the performing arts scene in three to four years. Changing the name of the company was a way to break away from being a myopic troupe,” he said. “That forecast matched and such radical thinking brought success in business.”

Seensee brought in Broadway hit musicals including “Mamma Mia!” “Rent,” “Urinetown,” “Batboy,” “Hairspray,” “Last Five Years” and many more.

“All these musicals surprised me with their form or music. I thought it was important to experience a variety of forms of musicals,” the producer said. “This content is an asset of Seensee, which allows for making new musicals and plays.”

His innovative approach resulted in many firsts in the Korean musical industry. He staged the Disney musical “Aida” for eight months in 2005, the country’s first long-run musical. For “Dancing Shadows” in 2007, he collaborated with international creators such as Eric Woolfson.

“Dancing Shadows” was Park’s ambitious project to turn Cha’s “Forest Fire” to a musical with Ariel Dorfman’s script and Woolfson’s music.

“It took about seven years to produce the musical with the creative team from overseas. I could not get a good night’s sleep,” he said. “Though ‘Dancing Shadows’ recorded a deficit, I think it was a price that had to be paid for better homegrown musicals.”

Repeated success and failure has tempered him into a strong man. “My life is an adventure full of challenges. It can be reckless, but I enjoy it,” Park said. “I am one of the first generation of musical producers in Korea and the first generation sets up signposts for the younger generation. It takes challenges and adventure, but someone has to do it.”

Return to basics

In 2009, he dropped the word “musical,” from the name changing it back to Seensee Company. He also announced that he would not buy licenses for Broadway musicals anymore.

“Every decade, I would set up new goals, and I thought it was time to invigorate the theater with what I learned from producing large musicals,” Park said. “I created a market for musicals and now I want to prove that a play is also marketable.”

Since then, Seensee has staged several plays such as “Chimhyang,” “Piaf,” “Autumn Sonata” and the Tony Award-winning “God of Carnage” and continued staging musicals from its existing repertoire.

Park’s big move came earlier this year, staging “Forest Fire” at the 1,500-seat Haeoreum Theater of the National Theater of Korea, Seoul.

“It was like investing some 10 billion won into a musical production. However, I knew that the audience would come to see a play if it was well-produced.”

He installed an actual-sized thatched house and bamboo groves to give a realistic portrayal of a village in Mt. Jiri and used some 200 floodlights to portray the forest fire. He was confident that the audience would recognize the genuine efforts he put in.

The result was satisfying. “‘Forest Fire’ brought the middle-aged television audience back to the theater. We didn’t have a full house at every performance, but I think it was a meaningful first step in boosting large-scale plays in Korea,” Park said.

But he is not completely forgoing the musicals.

Seensee returns with hit musicals this summer. “Rent,” will be staged at Chungmu Art Hall from Aug. 28, and “Mamma Mia!” will be at the new D Cube Art Center in Sindorim from Aug. 30.

“Kolleen Park will direct this production of ‘Rent’ and I know she will pull out something new from the young actors. ‘Mamma Mia!’ is the major work of Seensee, bringing men and women of all ages to the theater.”

Park also said he will never give up on “Forest Fire” as a musical. “‘Dancing Shadows’ adapted the original play to give more universality. But I will portray the original sentiment in the musical ‘Forest Fire,’” the producer said.

“I started from the bottom and have been to the highest point. I have tasted the sweetness and bitterness of life and I don’t fear hitting the bottom again because I have already been there.”