Love, sacrifice, redemption in 'Tale of Two Cities'
Ryu Jung-han, left, as Sydney Carton, and Choi Hyun-joo as Lucie Manette in the Korean production of “A Tale of Two Cities” / Courtesy of BOM Korea
James Barbour
By Kwon Mee-yoo
Last year’s Korean premier of the musical “A Tale of Two Cities,” based on the 1859 novel by Charles Dickens, was not exactly the best of times. Clocking in at over three hours, the show labored to present the dense layers of the story, leaving some viewers bored.
This year, however, the musical is intent to learn from experience, bringing in a director with intimate knowledge of the show. That man is James Barbour, who played protagonist Sydney Carton in the original Broadway production.
The inclusion of the veteran actor has raised anticipation that this year’s run, which begins at the Charlotte Theater in southern Seoul next Tuesday, will garner some of the acclaim that was expected last year.
The novel itself is a timeless story of love, sacrifice and redemption -- with a sprinkle of humor. Such qualities are what audiences here will be looking for in the musical, without getting bogged down in literary details.
The musical, composed and written by Jill Santoriello, is set in the time of the French Revolution and revolves around a British lawyer named Sydney Carton, Lucie Manette, the French woman he loves, and Charles Darnay, a French aristocrat who gives up his status and marries Manette.
Barbour debuted in "Cyrano: The Musical" in 1993 and starred in musicals including "Beauty and the Beast" and "Jane Eyre." Playing Carton in "Tale" earned him a Drama League Award for Distinguished Performance by a Leading Actor in 2009.
He visited Korea for a concert featuring the music of "Tale" last year, prior to the premiere of Korean musical and was impressed by the performance of Korean actors. "I was, quite frankly, shocked by how amazing the talent is here. I didn’t know the musical scene was so massive,” he said. “I truly think that you could take these actors to Broadway if they spoke English.”
When asked to direct the Korean musical, Barbour was more than glad to oblige, having directed two other versions of “Tale” in the United States. While directing the show in a different language and cultural background was a challenge, he says focusing on the universal appeal of the story helped the process.
Having been engaged with the musical rendition of "Tale" for a long time, he has a good understanding of the show, perhaps second only to the creator, Santoriello. He initially decided to be a part of the show after listening to "Reflection," a song Sydney sings after falling in love for Lucy, despite the realization that she can never be his.
"The important thing for me as an artist ― for any artist ― is to bring the author's intent to life," the director said. Barbour, who has read the book over 10 times as a reference point for the musical, interprets “Tale” as a love story.
"For me, Dickens was writing about love and redemption. It just happens during the French Revolution. It could take place here in Korea or World War II," he said. “It’s about a man’s journey ― a man who doesn’t think of himself but discovers his identity through another woman’s eyes.”
In the new Korean production, Barbour endeavors to bridge the gap of language and cultural difference. “It’s not a comedy but an epic with humor, sarcasm and love with the backdrop of volatility of revolution,” he said.
As an actor-turned-director, Barbour has a keen eye for detail. "I think of it as sculpting _ I mold, or create life, from a piece of clay," he said.
Instead of simply giving orders, Barbour tends to guide and make suggestions to shape the characters along with the actors. "As long as they stay within the box, I think actors can take any route they want."
In Korea, it is common practice for two or more actors to alternate the same role in a production; this is rare or almost impossible on Broadway. Barbour welcomed this custom, saying, “They all get to the same end point,” though it poses unique challenges.
“The industry is booming here but the talent pool is small. In New York, there are so many actors and it’s hard to get the job, but in Korea there are so many shows and you can do three or four (at the same time), which I think is incredible,” he said.
As two or three actors share the same role, there are various actor combinations, each of which has its own unique chemistry. “I think this changes the show in a good way, like mixing different ice cream flavors,” the director enthused.
He showed special affection for the three actors who alternate in the role of Carton ― Ryu Jung-han, Seo Beom-seok and Yoon Hyeong-lyeol. Ryu and Yoon played Carton last year, while Seo joined this year.
“When we are working for the scene of ‘Reflection,’ I give them different things to think about the character each time they sing the song. ‘Think about where Sydney Carton came from and his self-loathing ― why is he doing that and what happened to his life?’ That’s how we build characters,” he explained.
He was delighted at three different Cartons created by the actors.
"Each brings such unique things to the character. Beom-seok is intellectual but very funny at the same time. Ryu and I are very similar and I think Yoon, our young Carton, is going to be a superstar. His voice is incredible and he is learning to open up and let those emotions out," he said.
As an actor and director, Barbour clearly knows the importance role of the audience – who he says completes the performance.
“Theater cannot be done in a vacuum. Art, to me, is about change, doing something that changes someone’s life. If we can affect one person’s life with the story we are telling or the song we are singing, and they go out and look at the world differently, then we had an effect on the world.”
The musical “A Tale of Two Cities” runs from June 18 to Aug. 11. For more information, visit
or check out Twitter @bom_korea.
The museum experienced much trouble in collecting enough artifacts to fill its three-floor exhibition halls as all the good stuff had been already under the care of preceding institutions like the Kyujanggak Institute for Korean Studies, National Museum of Korea and Independence Hall of Korea.
The brand new museum became over-dependent on replicas and digital media (say goodbye to special exhibitions) and therefore lacks ability to function as an archive for historical material, Lee quips.
The gaffes pointed out by Lee include the description of the Japan-Korea Treaty signed in Ganghwa Island in 1876. The museum explains that it was an unequal treaty that forced Joseon Kingdom (1392-1910) to accept conventional duties on Japanese imports, among other unfavorable terms.
However, the treaty actually states that Joseon to lift all tariffs on Japanese products, and it wasn’t until 1883 that the kingdom was to negotiate on import duties with Japan again.
There were many artifacts with their names or dates stated wrong, including Rhee’s book ``Independence Spirit,’’ which was actually published in 1910, but described as a 1946 work.
A display intending to portray the strengthening social role of women contains only a copy of the ``Madame Freedom,’’ an early-20th century novel about the extramarital dalliances of a professor and his wife. It’s ironic that, in a country that just voted in its first female president, its newest history museum limits the description of the modern woman to sexual liberation.
"While English is not my profession, so I probably shouldn’t comment on the English descriptions, but even in my eyes, some of the sentences looked awkward,’’ Lee wrote. And he could take my word for it.