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Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee The Seoul Players presents the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee ― a hit Broadway musical presented in English. Can you spell Crepuscule? How about Omphaloskepsis? The participants in the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee hope they can. Six quirky kids (played by adults) compete in the Bee, including a boy with a magic foot, a girl with two ultra-competitive dads and a genius who speaks six languages. The Bee is overseen by three equally eccentric adults who invite four audience members to participate at each performance. Winner of two Tony Awards, Spelling Bee is a hilarious, light-hearted musical for everyone who's lived through the pains of adolescence. Seoul Players is an English-speaking community theater company in Seoul, South Korea. Established in 2001 as a non-profit organization, the company consists of ex-pats and Koreans who delight in bringing English-language theater to audiences in Seoul. Spelling Bee opened on Broadway in 2005, and was nominated for six Tony Awards, winning Best Book & Best Featu

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IVI develops affordable vaccines

By J.R. Breen Contributing Writer The headquarters of the International Vaccine Institute (IVI), a rare case of an organization with a global mission based in Korea, lies on the slopes of Mt. Gwanak in southern Seoul. The institute focuses on diseases effecting developing world populations, specifically children and has already developed a number of vaccines. ``These vaccines are of essentially no commercial interest to the pharmaceutical companies, because the people who tend to get these diseases are the poorest of the poor,'' says Director General John D. Clemens. ``That is really one of our niches, to develop vaccines where there is a so-called market failure.'' Since its establishment in 1996, and the opening of its laboratories only four years ago, IVI has created the world's first affordable vaccine for cholera, licensed in India, and is working on numerous others. ``Cholera is not a democratic disease,'' Clemens said. ``It selectively preys upon the very poor. Countries could provide a vaccine to the poor if it were in the range of 1 dollar per dose, and t

Seoul mayor’s foreign investment advisor to leave Korea

By J.R. Breen Contributing Writer Les Edwards, the chairman of the Seoul mayor's foreign investment advisory body and a former chairman of the New Zealand Chamber of Commerce in Korea, is set to leave Korea after 16 years. A well-known figure in the expatriate business community, Edwards, 56, is an advertising professional. He was chairman of the Kiwi Chamber, as it is known, for 18 months from its founding in 2008 until earlier this year. He leaves Korea next month. ``I am both excited and sad, it has been a really nice time,'' Edwards said. ``I met my wife here, we got married here, our kids were born here. But I am excited to start a second career and second part of my life in New Zealand.'' The Kiwi Chamber and Australian Chamber of Commerce in Korea (Austcham Korea) jointly hosted a farewell dinner for Edwards Tuesday at the Grand Hyatt Seoul under the theme ``Lest We Forget.'' The event was set to feature a mock debate on the motion that Edwards should be allowed to leave, with friends debating the for and against arguments. ``I am delighted and honoured

Foreignline

25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee The Seoul Players presents the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, a hit Broadway musical presented in English. Can you spell ``crepuscule?'' How about ``omphaloskepsis?'' Participants in the annual bee hope they can. Six quirky kids (played by adults) compete in the bee, including a boy with a magic foot, a girl with two ultra-competitive dads and a genius who speaks six languages. The bee is overseen by three equally eccentric adults who invite four audience members to participate at each performance. Winner of two Tony Awards, ``Spelling Bee'' which opened on Broadway in 2005 is a hilarious, light-hearted musical for everyone who's lived through the pains of adolescence. The music and lyrics are by William Finn, the book by Rachael Sheinkin and the piece was conceived by Rebecca Feldman. The production ran in Korea in 2007, entirely in Korean aside from the words spelled in the bee. Currently, there are hundreds of productions around the world, including a national U.S. tour. This is the first time it will be per

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