By Chung Ah-young
Staff Reporter
There were no flamboyant dances, raunchy humor or even real dramatic tension on the small stage for the Korean production of ``Tell Me On a Sunday,'' Andrew Lloyd Webber's latest piece, which opened at the Doosan Art Center in Jongno, central Seoul Monday.
It is a usual story about love and the dreams of Denise, a lone female in New York who fled from London after breaking up with her boyfriend. She is the only character in this monologue-style musical.
The story portrays Denise's struggle with the ways she loses love and finds it again and loses it and then finds it again, portraying a single woman's life in her late 20s and early 30s. The one-hour-and-a-half performance presents an insight into her world.
With just one actor or actress as the engine for this form of show, the ability of the performer is everything.
It was no surprise that the stage was overwhelmed by the energy and charisma brought by singer-turned-actress Bada, which is a good omen for her ambition to turn her 10-year singing career into a musical one.
The musical is her second musical challenge after her debut in 2003 in the homegrown musical ``Peppermint.''
She excellently sang the musical score written by Lloyd Webber, delivering the exact expression of her feelings in stable vocals.
Lloyd Webber's formula, which is strong on good tunes and makes the audience remember particular phrases through repetition, works in this musical through numbers such as ``Tell Me On a Sunday,'' ``It's Not The End Of The World'' and ``Somewhere, Someplace, Sometime.''
The 27-year-old Bada exerted pleasant and powerful vocals, cheering the audience up. She also showed concentration when she easily burst into tears in scenes depicting despair.
She had a good range and controlled the role's whimsical moments so as not to seem too exuberant.
Bada also has a good stage presence but was a bit too ``cautious'' rather than ``excessive'' when managing silent scenes, and could have put in an extra bit of her acting experience to fill the emptiness left by the lack of supporting characters.
Despite her lack of experience in musicals, she solely dominates the stage for one and half hours.
The musical helped her cast off her old image as a member of the all-girl band S.E.S, and put her name on the list of female musical stars. The group disbanded in 2002.
Not only her performance and singing ability but also the simple but effective stage sets using lights were impressive. Two other female actresses _ Kim Sun-young who starred in ``Evita'' and ``Miss Saigon'' and Chung Sun-a who starred in ``Rent'' _ will alternate as Denise.
The show is being held at the Doosan Art Center until Nov. 25. The musical is the opening performance for the theater, which was remodeled from the old Yonkang Hall.
Tickets cost 40,000 won to 50,000 won. For more information, call (02) 501-7888.