By Chung Ah-young
Staff Reporter
It was explicitly predicted that Korean ``Cats'' would also be a success because of the strength of the original and its time-proven reputation. But its success has been bigger than expected. The Korean rendition of the all-time hit musical wowed crowds with the right casting and a good translation.
The opening performance last Friday raised the curtain on Ock Ju-hyun as Grizabella at the Charlotte Theater in southern Seoul, along with 34 Korean cast members for the first licensed Korean version.
Seol & Company, one of the major musical production companies, expressed confidence in the success of the Korean adaptation, and the feline fantasy played by local musical actors proved to be just that.
The Korean actors featuring various backgrounds ranging from opera to ballet showed off brilliant acrobatic and choreographic moves.
Kim Jin-woo, a rising musical star, known for his performance in ``Grease,'' seemed to well digest the curious and self-obsessed character of Rum Tum Tugger, a black cat with leopard spots on his chest. He was the perfect incarnation of a beloved cat ― especially to female cats.
Hong Kyung-soo played Munkustrap, a narrator, singing several songs with his stable vocals, which portrayed the balanced character well.
Grizabella, the ``Glamour Cat'' in the musical, might be the most prominent character on stage. Ock, a former member of now disbanded all-girl group Fin.K.L, known for her good singing, however, seemed to overplay her part with too many exaggerated facial expressions and a lack of subtlety.
Grizabella is a very old cat withered by age and shunned by the rest of the fellow Jellicles tribe after she left it to explore the outside world, but now wants to return. But for Ock in a disheveled condition and ugly makeup with white hair, too much is as bad as too little. Her vocals were far too strong and powerful by contrast. But she still enchanted the audience with the well known, ``Memory.''
Veteran actor Lee Hee-jung was good as Old Deuteronomy, an old and wise cat respected by the others, with baritone and operatic vocals.
A good translation enabled the audience to understand the content and the music was well presented.
For the Korean rendition, the original London team selected the Korean cast members through auditions carried out over the last five months.
The musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber is based on T.S. Eliot's ``Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats'' and other poems.
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.
Some 570,000 people saw the London team's performances last year in Korea. The Korean rendition will run until Dec. 31.
Tickets cost from 40,000 to 120,000 won. For more information, call (02) 501-7888 or visit www.musicalcats.co.kr.