Why so serious?

Yoon Young-suk, left, playing Sir Galahad, sings “The Song That Goes Like This” with Shin Eui-jung, the Lady of the Lake, in the musical “Spamalot.” The musical runs through Sept. 1 at Yonkang Hall of Doosan Art Center in central Seoul. / Courtesy of OD Musical Company

'Spamalot' offers hilarious commentary on Korea's showbiz, politics

By Kwon Mee-yoo

What’s the safest way to fill the seats in today’s cut-throat market for musical theater? The blunt but honest answer is hiring pop stars and television personalities, regardless of their ability to speak a line or sing a note.

Sir Robin, a character from the imported musical "Spamalot,’’ even sings as much.

"If you want to hit the jackpot, cast a celebrity. It doesn't matter if he cannot sing well as long as he has appeared on television,’’ the cautious and tentative Round Table knight chirps during a performance at the Yonkang Hall of the Doosan Art Center in central Seoul.

In the original version of the show, the song was called "You Won’t Succeed on Broadway,’’ and used to convey an argument that a Jewish influence is critical for success in Broadway because the top producers, composers and writers there were always Jews.

In Korea, Sir Robin replaces the Jews with the country’s massive K-pop industry that continues to hog the talent pipeline of media entertainment and increasingly performing arts for better or worse.

It seems nowadays that most of Korea’s biggest musicals depend on pop stars and television actors to sell out theaters, a mercantilist compromise that often comes at the cost of quality. Spamalot will provide a commentary about this because the musical, the 2005 adaptation by Eric Idle of Monty Python fame and John Du Prez from the Holy Grail movie, is nothing without commentary.

Given a smaller theater, director David Swan, who helmed the performances of "Jekyll and Hyde’’ and "Man of La Mancha’’ in Korea, scaled-down "Spamalot," but its humor and biting satire remained intact.

Sir Robin’s song comes during a part when King Author encounters a group of strange knights who demand him to put on a musical and ship it to Broadway. In the Korean version, the knights and other characters encountering King Author are dressed as main characters from other hit musicals here ― there is a Jekyll, a Hedwig, Kim from "Miss Saigon,’’ Roxie from "Chicago,’’ Tracy from "Hairspray’’ and Elphaba from "Wicked.’’

Jung Joon-ha, a television funnyman who regularly appears on MBC’s "Infinite Challenge, the most-watched entertainment show in the country, plays the role of King Author, who has to be reminded by his servant Patsy, "actually, you are a celebrity.’’

Another source of laughs is Yoon Young-suk, who plays Sir Galahad. One of the most memorable moments in the musical comes when he parodies a famous showdown between Dr. Jekyll and his monstrous alter ego in ``Jekyll and Hyde,’’ and theatergoers will remember Yoon as one of the stars of Jekyll and Hyde performance in Korea earlier this year.

Yoon also skillfully sings "The Song That Goes like This,’’ a duet with the Lady of the Lake. They don’t forget to take a humorous shot at "Phantom of the Opera,’’ and many of the audience burst out laughing when Yoon belts out "Sing for me’’ to the lady on the boat.

The Lady of the Lake, the only female character in the show is performed alternately by Lee Young-mi and Shin Eui-jung, who are not your typical musical divas. In the song "The Diva's Lament (Whatever Happened to My Part?),’’ she directly complains about how female characters are often subdued and reduced in musicals. The derisive lyrics get funnier when it meets diva-style singing full of vibrato.

However, adjusting the show to a smaller theater meant that some hilarious scenes from the original had to be cut. One of them was the scene built around the song "Finland,’’ where a historian gives a brief overview of medieval England, is irritated to see a Scandinavian village appearing on the stage, and tells the frolicking Finns that he was talking about England, not Finland. In the Korean version, the historian ends up imitating Gollum from "Lord of the Rings.’’

King Arthur and his knights try to defeat French soldiers with a large Trojan “rabbit” in the original production. In Korea, the French soldiers make fun of King Arthur lampooning a political situation involving North Korea, the United States and China.

The Musical "Spamalot’’ runs through Sept. 1. Veteran musical actor Seo Young-joo alternates the role of King Arthur with Jung and Ko Eun-sung plays Sir Galahad with Yoon. Tickets cost from 66,000 to 88,000 won with various discounts. For more information, visit ticket.interpark.com or call 1588-5212.