[EDITOR’S PICK] Korean Musicals to enjoy in January!

I hope everyone is enjoying Lunar New Year!

Musical ‘Midnight: Antlers’

뮤지컬 ‘미드나잇 앤틀러스’

Venue: Plus Theater

Runtime: 2023.01.31 – 2023.04.23

Moment Makers and Rang present the third season of Midnight: Antlers. There is an Antlers version and an Actor Musician version, and it is safe to say that the two versions are completely different works with only the same plot and major numbers.

Based on the play Citizens of Hell by Azerbaijan’s representative writer Elchin Afandiyev, it was created as a musical in collaboration with British playwright Timothy Leadman. In Korea, it premiered for the first time in 2017 and was replayed in February 2020. With dense psychological descriptions in a tightly woven script, addictive numbers that entwine the audience’s ears the moment they hear it, and the deep and dark desires of human nature that everyone has, they unleash the black comedy and thrilled the audience.

Set in the Soviet Union under Stalin in 1937, a horror era in which people are taken away and disappear every night, a couple enduring difficult times with love and trust, draws a story that takes place when an ominous guest visits just before midnight on December 31st. It is an impressive work with a stage that symbolically reveals the pressure of the era of surveillance and control, suggesting the figure of a dictator through the huge deer antlers located in the centre of the stage.

Musical ‘Demian’

뮤지컬 ‘데미안’

Venue: Dream Art Center 3

Runtime: 2023.01.15 – 2023.03.26

A creative musical based on the novel of the same name by Herman Hesse is once again back with its second season, this time overseen by ‘낭만바리케이트 제작’ instead of Content One. What is interesting about this work is that all 8 actors chosen for this work can play both Sinclair and Demian. Each actor knows the lines of both characters. Composer Damiro saw this as an efficient method of transcending the limitations in case the actor wants to play either of these roles in the future.

Sinclair, a young soldier, dies in the ruins of a battlefield. His colleagues have already met death with different faces. Left alone, Sinclair trembles with fear as he does not know the future. Then someone appears out of the dark. Watching him walk leisurely as if he had transcended the war, Sinclair recalls his forgotten old face. Sinclair begins a slow journey through his past, conversing with an invisible face in the dark. As the journey begins, traces of ruins are rebuilt toward the past.

***One actor playing both Sinclair and Demian***

Musical ‘Beethoven Secret’

뮤지컬 ‘베토벤’

Venue: Opera Theater of the Seoul Arts Center

Runtime: 2023.01.12 – 2023.03.26

EMK Musical Company brings us their 5th creative musical, this time depicting the life of German-Austrian classical composer Ludwig van Beethoven. The original author is a foreigner, but the copyright itself belongs to EMK Musical Company. This work was created with a future overseas expansion in mind.

Set in 18th century Vienna, Austria, befitting its reputation as a city of music, Ludwig van Beethoven, the best pianist and composer of his day, lives a lonely life unable to erase the painful past he grew up in with, his father’s violence and abuse.

Unlike the music that received applause and cheers, he only received cold gazes and cynical modifiers. He met Tony Brentano by chance while visiting Lord Kinski. Beethoven, who does not believe in love, and Tony, who has never felt love, develop feelings for each other. However, Beethoven soon falls into despair after being told about his unavoidable hearing loss.

Musical ‘About Angels: Fallen Angels’

뮤지컬 ‘천사에관하여: 타락천사편’

Venue: Dream Art Center 4

Runtime: 2023.01.17 – 2023.03.12

This creative musical, originally from MJ Starfish, currently under MP& Company, is back with its fourth season since the 2016 premiere.

Set in Milan, Italy 1495 it starts with a story of Luca, an angel who comes down to Earth in search of an artist endowed with a special talent to praise God’s glory. After hearing the desperate prayers of the God-chosen painter Leonardo da Vinci, he sets his mind to helping him despite being able to show himself to humans only once. Valentino, a fallen angel abandoned by God for loving humans, tries to ruin Luca’s holy mission at every opportunity and shows himself in the form of Giacomo, Da Vinci’s disciple. Luca makes a mistake and shows himself to the disciple instead of the painter, falling for Valentino’s trickery.

Musical ‘Youth Noise’

뮤지컬 ‘청춘소음’

Venue: Dongduk Women’s University Cotton Hall

Runtime: 2023.01.01 – 2023.02.26

A brand new creative musical by Czac Production conveys empathy and comfort to the youth of today. Set in 2022, in an old villa on the outskirts of Seoul, Oh Youngwon, a travel PR writer who has never travelled before, dreams of becoming a real writer that goes on a real work trip someday. Han Ahreum, who is preparing for a full-time job while part-timing, moves into the house above him. They do not know each other’s faces or names but gradually become concerned about the everyday sounds created by the opposite lifestyles.

Musical ‘Alice’

뮤지컬 ‘앨리스’

Venue: Haerang Art Theater

Runtime: 2023.01.28 – 2023.02.26

Nayoung, 17 years old in real age and 5 years old in mental age, is a young girl on a spectrum of autism disorder who likes to draw and read fairytales.
To adapt to society, Nayoung, who is still sensitive to external stimuli such as sound, often screams or hides in her room, so she sets rules of behaviour, acts in order, and conducts social training. One day when she was supposed to attend a specialized school, a sudden sound of thunder surprised her and she was unable to come. Her father sternly scolded her, saying she must become an adult soon and cannot skip school like this. Saddened by her father’s words, she asks her friend Rabbit how to remain by her father’s side forever. The rabbit tells Nayoung that if she goes to a strange country, she can turn back time and wouldn’t have to say goodbye to her father. Nayoung follows a rabbit on an adventure to a strange country.

Musical ‘Robin’

뮤지컬 ‘로빈’

Venue: Daehakro TOM Hall 1

Runtime: 2023.01.09 – 2023.04.09

Showplay’s creative musical is back for the second season since its debut in 2020. In the vast universe, on a planet that was used to escape from radiation on Earth, a genius scientist, Robin, resides. In the moments he bumps into his daughter Luna, this foreign planet does not seem so bad after all. 10 years have passed in an endless wait. One day, he receives a return signal from Earth that he waited for so long. Robin suddenly learns he will die in a week. An impossible situation where you can neither leave for Earth nor remain in space. For Luna, he makes a crucial choice and prepares for his last week in space.

If you would like to see more of certain content, do not hesitate to leave a comment below! ❤

Previous [Editor’s Pick]: HERE

‘Editor’s Pick’ contains teasers of partial cast, please check the official page of the production company for whole cast.

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