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...

The Gyeonggi Sinawi Orchestra is to present its new original musical, “Geumak,” Aug. 18 to 29 at the Gyeonggi Arts Center in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province. The fantasy period musical is set in the Joseon era (1392-1910). A mysterious event surrounding a forbidden music score from the Silla Kingdom (57 BC-AD 935) unfolds at Jangagwon, the institution in charge of court music and dance. The orchestra’...

The KNO was to go onstage with the opera in April 2020, but the performance was postponed to this year due to the spread of the COVID-19. Conductor Pietro Rizzo, who worked with the KNO on “Don Carlo” in 2013, will take the baton for the upcoming performance, joined by the Korean Symphony Orchestra and the Met Opera Choir. Stage director Nicola Berloffa is to direct the performance. The Italia...

National Dance Company of Korea presents tradition-inspired dance show ‘Sanjo’

Ko Eun-sung and Ren from boy band Newest have newly joined the cast. Ko came under the spotlight for playing Anatole in the musical “The Great Comet” earlier this year and competed in the JTBC music audition show “Phantom Singer.” Ren began his musical career in 2020 with “Jamie.” He played Jamie New, a high school student who dreams of becoming a drag queen. “Hedwig and the Angry Inch” runs Ju...

Sound immersive play “In This Garden We Loved” began its run at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts on Tuesday, complete with 60 speakers installed across the theater. The play is the third edition of the Sejong Center’s Contemporary S series project that aims to present innovative, original show productions. It is the first time that French writer Pascal Quignard’s play “Dans Ce Jardin Qu...

The opening of the licensed Korean-language musical “Beetlejuice” -- a production based on Tim Burton’s iconic film -- will be postponed to June 29 for technical improvements, according to CJ ENM, the co-producer of the show. Describing the musical as a tech-heavy show, an official from the entertainment company told The Korea Herald, “We have decided to move back the opening date after concludi...

Veteran actor delves into the feeling of loneliness in Tim Burton film-inspired comedy musical

Virtuoso dancer Kim Mae-ja looks back at her life onstage

Star Korean ballet dancers with overseas dance companies such as Lee Choong-hoon from the Dance Theater of Harlem in New York and Lee Ji-yong of the Hessisches Staatsballett in Wiesbaden, Germany, will join the festival gala show, which will be held on June 24-25. “Ballet Festival Korea is the only occasion for ballet figures from around the country to gather,” Yoo In-taek, head of the Seoul Art...

The virus-hit South Korean performing arts sector is heading for a recovery this spring after plummeting last year, thanks to recently eased social distancing rules, data showed Tuesday. The combined revenue of 2,700 theatrical plays, musicals, classical concerts and other performances reached 70.5 billion won ($63.6 million) over the March-May period, according to the data by the Korea Performi...

Korean ballet dancers with overseas dance companies will join a gala show for the 2021 Ballet Festival Korea at the Seoul Arts Center in southern Seoul, June 24-25. More than 100 prominent ballet stars who perform on the international ballet scene have participated in the annual gala since its inception in 2001. Yang Jong-ye will perform “Le Sacre du Printemps” (The Rite of Spring). Chung Hye-m...

“Good Morning Dokdo,” a musical about South Korea’s easternmost islets and the territorial dispute with Japan, is coming back to the Seoul Arts Center from June 10-13. The show, which first opened in May 2020, has been upgraded with new cast members and visual effects, said the Seoul Arts Center, which held open auditions. “Good Morning Dokdo” follows the Dokdo Lovers, a group that shares an in...

Big name stage actors Jung Sung-hwa and Yu Jun-sang take on the role of Beetlejuice, who calls himself a “bio-exorcist.” “I have starred in various comedy musicals, but the Beetlejuice character is at the peak of my comedy musical career. Beetlejuice is rude and humorous. He is like a strategist, a mix of good and evil,” Jung said. Yu mentioned the cast members are practicing 12 hours a day. “...