By Chung Ah-young
Staff Reporter
Broadway musical comedy and multi-Tony Award winner ``42nd Street'' will tour Korea from Jan. 5 to Feb. 28.
It is the first time the Broadway tour team will perform in Korea. Korean actors and actresses performed the show in the Korean production in 1996 and 2004, drawing 70,000 viewers and 200,000 viewers respectively.
The show is renowned for its flamboyant tap dancing, exuberant costumes, speedy stage changes and its memorable musical scores.
The muscial is based on a book by Michael Stewart and Mark Bramble, lyrics by Al Dubin, and music by Harry Warren. The story revolves around a young chorus girl, Peggy Sawyer, who works her way up to become a Broadway star in the 1930s.
The story also focuses on the efforts of famed dictatorial Great White Way director Julian Marsh to mount a successful stage production of a musical extravaganza at the height of the Great Depression.
The story is a typical Cinderella type story depicting how an unknown actress later becomes a famous musical star. But it gives the audience a hopeful message as it shows how the characters make it through the difficulties and bring their dreams into reality.
The show has been frequently revived. The musical was premiered in 1980 and won the Tony Award for Best Musical and Best Choreography in 1981, Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical and Best Actress in a Musical in 2001.
The upcoming performance in Seoul is the revival of the 2001 production, which was upgraded from the previous versions with more splendid costumes colored with gold and silver tones and adorned with spangles and innovative stage sets, which are designed to fast shift to the next scene.
Also, 25 orchestra members will perform impressive musical scores such as ``We're in the Money!'' ``Shuffle Off to Buffalo'' and ``Lullaby of Broadway.'' But what you should not miss is the group dancing, filling the stage with spectacular dance routines, starting with forty pairs of feet tap-dancing away as the curtain slowly rises for the first act.
The tour team has just finished performing in China Sept. 5-Dec. 9, scoring a successful performance. The show will tour Daegu and Daejeon after the Seoul show.
The musical will be held at the National Theater of Korea from Jan. 5 to Feb. 28. Tickets cost from 40,000 to 130,000 won. For more information, call (02) 742-9005.