By John Redmond
Theater Seoul, a children's theater company, is staging a run of an original piece, titled ``Teeth.''
Written by Margaret Whittum, Teeth tells the story of Prince David, who must rescue a beautiful princess from an evil monster.
All goes well, but once rescued, the princess spurns David because of his ugly teeth! She shows Prince David his own mouth, in an attempt to educate him, but she is then kidnapped by his cavities!
Prince David must learn how to care for his teeth, and only then will he get his love back. The show features Arthur Johansen and Brad Curtin, who both work on EBS educational shows.
Lee Jung-hee, a graduate of Chung-Ang University, started the company in 1995. It has been growing since then, and now has over 100 child actors who come from different areas of Seoul, and rehearse on weekends.
They perform 2 English musicals a year, one in July and the other in January. There is a separate kindergarten class of 20 ― they did ``Peter Pan'' last summer and ``A Christmas Carol'' this past December.
The older children did an original musical ``Prometheus and the Fire'' last July, and they will be performing ``The Little Prince'' at the end of January. The aim of the company is to help children learn English through acting.
In addition to the two shows a year, there is a touring show that only the very best are in. It is a musical of the famous Korean story of ``Choonhyang."
Choonhyang has toured extensively for the last five years. In 2007, it went to Incheon and Pohang in Korea, as well as Shanghai for the International Children's Festival and Edinburgh for the Fringe Festival. In February, Choonhyang will go to Singapore.
Theater Seoul in expanding its repertoire wanted to create a simple English musical with native English speakers that would be comprehensible to all children, regardless of language.
Established in 1995, Theater Seoul is Korea's first and largest English Musical Theater Company for children, with almost 100 members. They have performed in New York, Shanghai, Edinburgh, and throughout Korea, including a special performance at the 2002 World Cup. This is Theater Seoul's first show with foreign actors.
Sanymyung Arts Center 1, Dehangno (Hyehwa station exit 1)
Jan. 9-27
Weekdays 11:00 a.m. and 2 p.m., weekends 2 p.m. and 5 p.m.
30,000 won
010 7219 2534 / www.smusical.com
Interpark 1544-1555 / www.interpark.com