Daegu Calling
_ Musical Festival Beckons Theatergoers _
By Chung Ah-young
Staff Reporter
The Daegu International Musical Festival (DIMF) is heating up the nation's third largest metropolitan city with an eclectic line-up of internationally and locally acclaimed musicals.
Located 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul with a population of 2.5 million, the city is becoming a hot spot for theatergoers and musical buffs.
Daegu is home to sizable theaters with more than 1,000 seats and more than 46 musical-related departments at 27 universities in the region. It has the second largest ticket sales for musicals after Seoul.
The third DIMF has firmly established itself as an art market for novel and diverse musicals for producers. The festival has also been positioned as an open stage for many gifted artists and as an amusement ground for the audience.
The DIMF is the only exclusive international musical festival in Korea, which aims to develop musical theater into an industry in the city.
This year's event has a total of 24 musicals along with the fringe festival and other side events to entertain musical buffs.
Official Invitational Musicals
The festival raised its curtain Monday, embarking on a 22-day run throughout July 6 in 10 venues around the city and features eight official invitational musicals.
``Metro Street'' is the opening performance at the Daegu Opera House. The Australian production portrays the importance of family love with music and lyrics by Matthew Robinson. In the musical, Sue is dealing with a marriage that has broken down and a recent diagnosis of breast cancer that she doesn't know how to tell her son, Chris about it. Chris and his girlfriend Amy are having troubles of their own, nearing the end of their university courses and unsure where life is leading them. Chris and Amy's neighbor, Kerry, has come to the city to escape her small country town. Meanwhile Jo, Sue's Mom, is trying to hold things together for her daughter and grandson.
The closing musical, the Russian ``Poor Liza,'' describes love and betrayal between a noble man and a common girl. Liza is a girl living with her mother after her father's death. Visiting Moscow to sell flowers, she happens to meet Erast, an attractive aristocrat, in the street. They are charmed by each other. Erast follows Liza to her cabin. They fall in love for a short time despite their different backgrounds. However, in no time, Erast marries an aristocratic widow, and Liza, who cannot accept the fact that he has dumped her for another woman, throws herself into a lake by a monastery.
``Radio Star,'' a local film-based musical, is a tale about the life and friendship between an out-dated but arrogant rock star and his naive manager who dreams of the star's revival. Featuring refined scenery design, appealing music and a well-developed plot, the musical will move the audience through an extraordinary mixture of humor and tears.
``Gomoryung in Rain'' is a tear-jerking story of a mother and her son during the Korean War (1950-1953). The operetta brings tears and laughter amid the two-hour impressive performance that takes the audience on a heart-warming journey.
``Sing, Sing, Sing'' is the sequel to ``Singing in the Rain,'' one of the most popular in Korea. The musical portrays two women and a man who are entangled in love. The musical presents a variety of jazz genres such as funk, swing, ballads, as well as pop ballads and gospel.
``Soul Mate'' is a bittersweet story about the success and loves of a woman in her 20s. It brings to light the innermost conflicts between the two extremely different dispositions hidden beneath the woman's exterior.
``Grand Chase'' is based on a popular fantasy action game of the same name. The musical embodies the fantasy world of the legend behind the online game using a variety of visual elements.
``Mr. Joh'' illuminates the significance of true love for modern day people, who often belittle it as an amusing pastime.
DIMFringe and Side Events
The Fringe Festival is an alternative where any genre of the performing arts is admitted without any criteria based on the literal meaning of ``fringe,'' ``on the outskirts,'' or ``outside the mainstream.'' It originated from the desire of minor groups who wanted to participate, but were not invited to the Edinburgh International Festival. The groups spontaneously flocked together to perform on the fringes of the mainstream festival.
In the DIMFringe, numerous shows and crossovers of the performing arts are receiving more of the spotlight than the main performances as one of the vigorous and various side programs in the festival.
The DIMFringe has a wide variety of art performances at venues such as Dongseong Street, Joongang Memorial Park, Memorial Central Park, Suseong Lake, Dongchon Waterfront and the Small Hall of the Bongsan Culture Center, downtown Daegu.
About 800 participants from 50 performing troupes this year will present various performances from magic shows, exhibitions and dance to fusion traditional music throughout the entire festival.
Not only professional performers but also amateur artists and citizens can participate in the events.
During the festival, aspiring would-be musical actors and actresses have a chance to show off their talents.
In addition to the DIMFringe, the festival is also holding the DIMF College Students Musical Festival from June 15 to July 6, at which nine groups _ seven Korean and two international _ will take part. They are from seven domestic colleges, and one Japanese and one Chinese college. Between June 20 and July 4, visitors will be able to enjoy seven musicals by the nine free of charge.
``We're surprised at this explosive popularity from musical fans at the beginning of the festival. We'll do our best to make the festival successful in response to the fierce interest and participation fever of the audience,'' an organizer said.
There are other events to help people gain an appreciation of the charm of musicals. Five homegrown musicals _ ``Special Letter,'' ``Sinmungo-The Petition Drum,'' ``Moon River,''' ``Tango'' and ``Stealing for Love'' _ which have been supported by the festival, will be shown to the public.
Also, among independent participants, ``The Three Musketeers'' will be staged at the Keimyung Art Center from June 26 to 28, while ``Rainbow Fish'' will be on stage at Daegu Cultural Center for Students from July 2 to 5.
The festival will hold a side event for actor Nam Kyung-joo at the musical concert ``All That Musical'' on June 22 and a fan meeting with musical stars Yoon Hyeong-ryeol on June 23 and Choi Jung-won on June 30.
The Musical Awards _ including Musical of the Year and Best Actor _ will be held at the closing ceremony on July 6 at the Keimyung Art Center.
Reasonable Prices
Almost all the musicals can be enjoyed for about 30,000 won except for ``The Three Musketeers.'' For the officially invited musicals, the most expensive ticket costs 50,000 won for ``Metro Street.'' If you buy one ticket for the opening or closing musicals, you will also be allowed to buy two invited musical tickets for 10,000 won.
The organizing committee also sells 7,000 won tickets for official invitational works at the ticket booth in front of Daegu Department Store at 5 p.m. every evening.
For more details, log on to the Web site at www.dimf.or.kr
