The Korea Times

Doosan Art Center nurtures young artists

By Kwon Mee-yoo Nine actors sat around the stage at Space 111 of Doosan Art Center, Yeonji-dong in central Seoul, Sunday. A large black table in the middle served as a counter of a small diner and the actors entered and exited, according to their roles. The manager of the diner sat on the right side of the table and led the performance. This is a reading for the musical “Shinya Shokudou,” or “Late-Night Diner,” based on a Japanese comic book of the same title. It was adapted into a television drama, first in 2009 and again in 2011. The show earned popularity in Korea, too, as it portrayed people’s individual stories through food and the genial owner-cook of the diner. Three Korean artists — book writer and lyricist Jung Young, composer Kim Hye-sung and director Kim Dong-yeon — bought the rights to prepare a musical adaptation and worked on it for about 15 months. Veteran actor Song Young-chang took the role of the blunt yet warm-hearted master of the nameless diner that opens from midnight till 7 a.m. in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Regulars include a stripper; a gay ba

Jan 30, 2012By Kwon Mee-yoo

Arts & Theater

Korean ’Zhivago’ inspires director

By Kwon Mee-yoo Des McAnuff, two-time Tony Award-winning director, arrived in Korea to add final touches to the new musical “Doctor Zhivago,” which raised its curtain Friday. “Zhivago is a witness to history and also a courageous man. He ultimately discovers that love can survive through the worst of times by living on art. He captivates Lara and his love for her in his poetry,” he said in an interview with The Korea Times. He joined the project of staging Boris Pasternak’s 1957 novel of the same name a few years ago at the request of Lucy Simon, the composer of “Doctor Zhivago,” who first had the idea. “We assembled a creative team and spent about a solid year and a half just trying to figure out whether it was possible to adapt the novel, before a word was written or a note composed,” he said. “I confess that I liked the idea but I wasn’t entirely sure how easy it would be to adapt until we put the time in. It gradually became clear.” The original novel explores the history of Russia in the early 20th century and the people whose lives are swept up by revolution and

Jan 27, 2012By Kwon Mee-yoo

Arts & Theater

Classical Concerts; Museums; Dance; Pop and Jazz

Classical Concerts Prades Casals Festival in Korea Seoul Arts Center* March 1 The renowned Pablo Casals Festival marks its 60th anniversary this year. Participants to this music festival will perform at Seoul Arts Center on March 1. Michel Lethiec, the most famous musicians in the Pablo Casals Festival in Prades will be in Korea this year. Cellist Arto Noras, violist Gerard Poulet and Hartmut Rohde, Korean musicians Violinist Baek Ju-young, Kim So-ock, cellist Song Young and pianist Park Jong-hwa will also join the concert. Tickets cost 11,000 to 66,000 won. For more information, call 1544-5142. Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Seoul Arts Center* Feb. 21-22 The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (RCO) will perform on Feb. 21-22 under the baton of conductor Chung Myung-whun at Seoul Arts Center. The Korean maestro will be leading a program of Kodaly’s “Dances of Galanta,” Mendelssohn’s violin concerto and “Concerto for Orchestra” by Bartok. This will be followed by another concert on Feb. 22 with a program of the Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 3 with London-based pianist K

Jan 26, 2012By Kwon Mee-yoo

Arts & Theater

Nomadic artists explore world

By Kwon Mee-yoo Young artists are presenting works based on their borderless, nomadic experiences at group exhibition “As Small as a World and Large as Alone” at Gallery Hyundai Gangnam Space through Feb. 12. The team of Kim Na-young and Gregory Maass, stylized as Nayoungim & Gregory S. Maass along with Shin Mee-kyoung, Je Baak, Kang Eem-yun and Kim Min-ae have something in common. Their works are fueled by experience such as travel and migration. They are from Korea, except for Maass but mainly work in Europe and the United States. Instead of being bound to their home culture, they take objectified looks at everyday life and turn it into art. Kim is from Korea while Maass is from Germany and they communicate in French since they met in France when they were studying at L’Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris. They have been working together since 2004. The duo is showing three series of artworks for this exhibition. “Relationships do not exist” is displayed on two long pedestals; “What Happened to My Sculpture?” is hung at eye level, while the “Super Comput

Jan 24, 2012By Kwon Mee-yoo

People & Events

Chung Hyung-min named new NMOCA director

By Kwon Mee-yoo Chung Hyung-min, professor of art history at Seoul National University and director of the Seoul National University Museum of Art, was named as the new director of the National Museum of Contemporary Art (NMOCA), Thursday. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism appointed Chung to the position with a two-year term. This is first time for a woman to lead the national art museum since its opening in 1969. The position had been vacant since former director Bae Soon-hun resigned from office last November. Chung said she would focus on the successful opening of the UUL National Art Museum Seoul, scheduled for 2013. She received her bachelor's degree from Wellesley College majoring in European art history, a master's degree in art history from the University of Michigan and a doctoral degree from Columbia University in art history with a dissertation on Joseon Dynasty painting. She was a Seoul National University professor from 1994 and led the university’s art museum from 2006. She served as director of art galleries at the Seoul Arts Center from 1999

Jan 20, 2012By Kwon Mee-yoo

Arts & Theater

Ways to enjoy Seollal with family

By Kwon Mee-yoo and Noh Hyun-gi “Seollal,” or Lunar New Year’s Day, is one of the biggest holidays in Korea where families gather together and some perform “charye,” an ancestral worship ritual. The representative food for Seollal is rice cake soup called “tteokguk.” According to tradition, you can only become older when you eat this. Four ancient palaces in Seoul ― Gyeongbok, Changdeok, Changgyeong and Deoksu ― and the Jongmyo royal shrine will be open for free on Lunar New Year’s Day which falls on Monday this year. Those wearing traditional Korean costume “hanbok” will also be admitted free on Sunday and Tuesday. Visitors to the palaces and shrine can receive "Dragon and Cloud" paintings on a first-come first-serve basis from Monday at 2 p.m. Several buildings in the palaces will be open to the public. The National Folk Museum, located in Gyeongbok Palace, is full of events to boost the traditional holiday mood. Families can have their New Year's fortune told and participate in folk games such as "yutnori," a board game using sticks, and "jegichagi," a Korean shuttle

Jan 20, 2012By Kwon Mee-yoo

Arts & Theater

Musical Heaven named for diversity, credibility

By Kwon Mee-yoo Musical Heaven is a production company in Korea that has staged musicals such as “Menopause,” “Thrill Me,” “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” and “Spring Awakening.” Currently, its production’s of “Thrill Me” and Broadway-hit “Next to Normal”are ongoing. These feature such non-mainstream themes as menopause of middle-aged women, grotesque murder and power games between a homosexual couple, unlike other hit romantic musicals that boast majestic stage settings. However, Musical Heaven has amassed trusting fans who have confidence in the choice and quality of the company. Its president and producer, Park Yong-ho, is the person who makes decisions, receives investment and selects creative staff to work on the shows. Park, 44, majored in vocal music at Seoul National University. Instead of becoming an onstage singer, he chose another path. “It is not that I lost interest in music but I found myself more suited to art management and business,” Park said in an interview with The Korea Times. Like many leading producers in Korea, he once worke

Jan 18, 2012By Kwon Mee-yoo

Arts & Theater

Cho joins ‘Doctor Zhivago’

By Kwon Mee-yoo Top actor Cho Seung-woo will join the new musical “Doctor Zhivago” as a male lead. Initially, model-turned-actor Ju Ji-hun was cast for the role of Russian doctor Yuri Zhivago whose life is shaken by the Russian Revolution and Civil War in the early 20th century. However, he quit the position due to problems with his vocal chords, forcing OD Musical Company, the production firm, to look for a replacement two weeks before the opening. "People might see me as a relief pitcher or replacement, but for now Yuri Zhivago is my role," Cho said at a press conference. Cho just finished his latest show "Zorro" Sunday and leaked his appearance in Doctor Zhivago at the curtain call for his last performance, hinting that he would "bring Russia to Jamsil," where the theater is located. The surprise choice was put down to the friendship between Cho and Shin Chun-soo, producer and CEO of OD Musical Company. The company has staged many hit musicals including “Jekyll and Hyde,” which Cho starred in "The production was facing difficulties as Ju withdrew from the show.

Jan 17, 2012By Kwon Mee-yoo

Arts & Theater

Mina Cheon treats politics like lollipops

By Kwon Mee-yoo An enlarged DIY action figure of U.S. president Barack Obama rotates in the middle of the exhibition hall and dances to the “Hooked on a Feeling” ooga chaka refrain featured in the hit Fox-TV series “Ally McBeal” in a video installation titled “Obama Dancing.” This is “The “Obama Room,” a part of Korean-American artist Mina Cheon’s exhibition “Polipop” at Sungkok Art Museum in Seoul. Cheon takes politics into the witty world of pop art and named her work “Polipop.” “I am interested in all kinds of media. When I wake up in the morning, I read all the headlines and even tabloids. Those are sources for my work,” the artist said. “Politics has become a source of conversation for everyone. I don’t think we should avoid talking about politics and my work interprets politics through the language of pop art.” “The Obama Room” is on the first floor of the art museum. The hall is colored yellow, symbolizing sensitive issues around the U.S. president such as race, human rights, war and terrorism. Cheon poses with Obama in “Yes, We Can! Obama & Me,” a parody

Jan 16, 2012By Kwon Mee-yoo

Arts & Theater

Musical portray modern family woes

By Kwon Mee-yoo The rock musical “Next to Normal” brings the story of a perfect-looking middle class family to the stage. Dan (played by Nam Kyung-joo and Lee Jung-yeol) is an architect and devoted father with two children — his handsome and mischievous 18-year-old son Gabe (Han Ji-sang and Choi Jae-rim) and sweet, overachieving daughter Natalie (Oh So-yeon). However, their day goes wrong as the mother Diana tries to make too many sandwiches by spreading the ingredients on the table, a chair and even the floor. She has been suffering from manic-depression with hallucinations for 16 years, casting a shadow over the whole family. A crack has been developing for years. Dan is exhausted and Natalie becomes rebellious, suffering from a lack of motherly love. In this production, Kolleen Park and Kim Ji-hyun alternate in portraying the fragile character. Park is famed music director of “Rent” in Korea who also led the chorus on hit KBS show “Qualifications of a Man.” Kim is a veteran actress who was once a member of Japanese theater company Shiki and played Velma Kelly i

Jan 15, 2012By Kwon Mee-yoo

Kwon Mee-yoo

Read more

Doosan Art Center nurtures young artists

Korean ’Zhivago’ inspires director

Classical Concerts; Museums; Dance; Pop and Jazz

Nomadic artists explore world

Chung Hyung-min named new NMOCA director

Ways to enjoy Seollal with family

Musical Heaven named for diversity, credibility

Cho joins ‘Doctor Zhivago’

Mina Cheon treats politics like lollipops

Musical portray modern family woes

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