By Chung Ah-young
Staff Reporter
The Korean ``Cats'' has been finally unveiled. Seol & Company, one of the major musical production companies in Korea, announced 34 Korean cast members for the first licensed Korean rendition of the musical at Charlotte Theater in southern Seoul Tuesday.
The original London team selected the Korean cast members through auditions carried out over the last five months.
Singer-turned-actress Ock Ju-hyun and veteran actress Shin Young-sook will alternate acting the role of Grizabella, the ``Glamour Cat'' in the musical, who is a prominent character on stage.
Grizabella is shunned by the rest of the tribe when she leaves it to explore the outside world, but now wants to return. She enchants the audience with a memorable song, ``Memory.''
Ock, a former member of now disbanded all-girl group Fin.K.L, received good scores for her performance in impromptu tests requested by judges.
``It will be a great opportunity for me to experience becoming an animal. I can learn many things from this challenging role. I am very excited to show another side of myself,'' Ock said in a press conference at the theater.
``Although Grizabella is now an old and lonely cat, she was beautiful and sexy in her youth. I will try hard to portray her pain and solitude,'' she said.
Ock will also be taking part in the musical, ``Chicago'' which will give encore performances from July 11 to Aug. 10.
For Shin, a veteran of the musical scene, ``Cats'' provides a new challenge. ``I have taken various roles in numerous works over the last 10 years regardless of whether the roles are minor or major,'' Shin said. ``But this role is an important one in my 10-year-long career.''
Joanne Robinson, director and choreographer of the London original production, commented on Shin's excellent vocals and ability to shout with a clear voice.
Kim Jin-woo, a rising musical star, who performed in ``Grease,'' will take the role of Rum Tum Tugger, a black cat with leopard spots on his chest, while Hong Kyung-soo will play the role of Munkustrap, a narrator, singing several songs and introducing many of the other cats.
Also, veteran actor Lee Hee-jung will play the role of Old Deuteronomy, an ancient, wise cat respected by other cats.
The Korean actors featured come from different backgrounds varying from opera and ballet. Some of them came to the audition while studying and performing abroad.
The London touring performance is now giving encore shows prior to the staging of the Korean production in September.
The musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber is based on T.S. Eliot's poems featuring ``Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats'' and other poems by Eliot.
The feline fantasy premiered in London's West End in 1981. Since then, it has attracted about 65 million people worldwide, been produced in numerous productions and translated into more than 20 languages.
Seol & Company puts on the London-based hit musical in Korean supported by the London creative team. The musical is the first licensed local production in Korea
``It is the only case where two different productions have been staged back to back. I am very proud of showing the Korean production after the English language production,'' Tim McFarlane, head of the Really Useful Company (RUC), said.
Approximately 570,000 people saw the London team's performances last year in Korea.
The London team's ``Cats'' will be at the Charlotte Theater in southern Seoul from May 30 to Aug. 31 and the Korean rendition will follow the show from Sept. 19 to the end of January at the same venue.
Tickets cost from 40,000 to 120,000 won. For more information, call (02) 501-7888 or visit www.musicalcats.co.kr.