According to Jung, the musical, which is almost like a stand-up comedy show hosted by Beetlejuice, is delicately mapped out. Actors’ movements have to be exact -- they have to be at the exact spot at the exact time for the play to work. “In the musical, I try to appeal to the audience as the character Beetlejuice, not as actor Jung Sung-hwa. I can make the audiences laugh when I pull off my char...

Park Sae-eun has already risen to the top dancer position at the Paris Opera Ballet (POB) when she was promoted to the principle dancer, or "danseuse etoile" in French, last month. But the 31-year-old South Korean aims higher: she wants to be the brightest star in the French ballet scene. "I think I've reached the highest position on my resume," she said in a press conference in Seoul on Monday...

Though most festivals have been canceled or have gone online amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021 Seoul Fringe Festival will be held as an in-person event across the Sangam-dong area in western Seoul from Aug. 4 to 29. The 24th Seoul Fringe Festival will feature some 300 performances by 72 artist acts of diverse genres from drama, performance, dance, music, visual art, photography to ind...

Art theater to move to new Ando Tadao building in western Seoul in 2022

Ballerino Kim Ki-min, a principal dancer of the Mariinsky Ballet in Russia, will hold a recital celebrating the 10th anniversary of his joining the renowned Russian ballet troupe. Kim‘s recital, titled “An Artistic Evening with Kimin Kim,” at the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg, Russia, Sunday, will be the closing performance of the theater’s XXIX Music Festival Stars of the White Nights, ac...

Actor Cha Ji-yeon is to return to the musical stage after a positive test for COVID-19 forced her into quarantine. “Cha tested negative for the virus on Wednesday and checked out of the residential treatment center,” her agency, C- JeS Entertainment, announced Thursday. “She will carry on with the schedules for musicals ‘Red Book’ and ‘Gwanghwamun Sonata,’ while complying with the government’s s...

It also plans to expand the international screening program through its new NTOK Live+ program, screening European theater works such as “Live Oedipus” by the Internationaal Theater Amsterdam in the Netherlands and “Les Fourberies de Scapin” by the Comedie-Francaise in France. The National Theater of Korea has invited “Ultraworld,“ directed by Susanne Kennedy, to perform Nov. 25-27. The play, wh...

“The Devil,” an original Korean musical, has made its way onto the Chinese musical scene as a licensed production. According to co-producers of the musical, Page1 and R&D Works, “The Devil” -- known by the title “Rock Faust” in China -- is set for a 10-city tour across China starting July 23. The musical will be staged in Beijing, Ningbo and Suzhou, among others. The musical had its Chinese pre...

Unlike the original film, the musical portrays Lydia as a more independent character who manipulates Beetlejuice in pursuing her own agenda and decides how the story will proceed. Up-and-coming actor Hong Na-hyeon played Lydia Tuesday. Hong gave a powerful performance along with veteran actors playing the iconic Beetlejuice character. Actor Jang Min-jae also plays the role. The original sandwor...

The musical “Red Book” has canceled its performances for two weeks, after lead actor Cha Ji-yeon was confirmed to have COVID-19. Atheod, the production company behind the musical, announced through social media on Monday that all performances from Tuesday to July 17 have been canceled. A day before the announcement was made, actor Cha tested positive for the virus. According to Atheod’s announc...

A total of 12 plays will be presented -- nine from Korea and three from overseas. Korean productions, including musicals and puppet shows featuring themes such as relationships with family and friends, endangered animals and imaginary monsters, will be staged at local theaters. Nonverbal performance “Air Play” from the US, Japanese shadow play “Hand Shadow ANIMARE,” and Canadian musical theater ...

Actor Cha Ji-yeon, 39, has been tested positive for the coronavirus on Sunday, although the rest of the cast on the musical she was starring in tested negative. Cha’s agency C-JeS Entertainment announced Sunday that Cha -- who has been starring in musical “Red Book,” while preparing for upcoming musical show “Gwanghwamun Sonata” and an upcoming Netflix series “The Bride of Black” -- was confirme...

After a yearlong postponement due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Korea National Opera went onstage Thursday for the Korean premiere of Puccini’s 1910 opera “La Fanciulla del West.” After the Italian production team completed a two-week, mandatory self-quarantine, the national opera troupe took to the stage Thursday at the Seoul Arts Center. Every other seat at the theater was left empty due to co...

The summer edition of the 2021 Chuncheon International Mime Festival will open Monday, under the title “Summer:Movement.” The summer festival held in the city of Chuncheon, Gangwon Province will kick off with its Mime Fringe program from Monday to Wednesday. The program was launched in 2018 to support young mime artists. This year it has been expanded to also include artists who have been hit by...

The South Korean performing arts scene posted a 19 percent on-year rise in its revenue for the first half, showing clear signs of a recovery from the yearlong pandemic, data showed Friday. The combined revenue of theatrical plays, musicals, classical concerts and other performances reached 116.9 billion won ($103.1 million) in the first six months of this year, according to the data by the Korea...