Kodak Theatre, Hollywood
Through May 4
With a book by Mun Yol Yi and music and lyrics by Hee Gap Kim and In Ja Yang, "The Last Empress" is an eye-popping extravaganza: a crafty and colorful blend of opera, operetta and Broadway musical showbiz. All told, there's a company of 50 talented singers/ dancers under the deft direction of Ho Jin Yun.
Credit Dong Woo Park for the spectacular minimalist sets; Hyun Sook Kin for the 600 glorious, brightly colored costumes; Hyung O Choi for the effective lighting; Ki Young Kim for the sound design; and Byung Koo Seo for the gripping, intense (and sometimes magical) choreography.
All create a first-rate epic spectacle of sweep and scope, one that encompasses the political as well as the personal.
"Empress" tells the larger story (sung in Korean with English supertitles) of the 19th "Chosun Kingdom" (later renamed Korea) just before the turn of the 20th century, when the "Hermit Kingdom" (still another name for Korea) was emerging from an isolationist, self-contained nation into an era of "modernization." All this encompasses a complicated (and sometimes tedious) power struggle, within Chosun as well as the greedy and duplicitous foreign nations (China, Japan, Russia and the United States, principally) who covet Chosun's trade and commerce. Still, none in "Empress" is depicted as villainous as the Japanese, who ruled Korea from 1905-45.
Alongside the political story is the personal story of Queen Min (the exquisite coloratura mezzo-soprano Tae Won Yi), a commoner who becomes queen and comes to embody and embrace everything that is modern. She's bright, outspoken, controversial, politically adroit and charismatic -- something like a sympathetic Evita. She's eventually assassinated by the Japanese.
The principal male roles are also excellently sung: Seung Ryong Cho as Queen Min's husband, King Kojong; Hee Jung Lee as the Regent; Beom Seok Seo as Queen Min's personal bodyguard, General Hong; and Sung Gee Kim as the nefarious Japanese samurai assassin Miura.
At more than two and a half hours, the show is long. Still, this lavish production -- especially its stirring closing number, "Rise, People of Chosun" (like the finale of "Les Miz") -- is well worth every minute of it.
The Last Empress
Presented by Radio Korea, Daily Sports USA, JoongAng IIbo and A-COM International Co. Ltd.
Credits:
Book: Mun Yol Yi
Adapted by: Kwang Lim Kin
Music: Hee Gap Kim
Lyrics: In Ja Yang
Director: Ho Jin Yun
Sound designer: Ki Young Kim
Choreographer: Byung Koo Seo
Scenic designer: Dong Woo Park
Costume designer: Hyum Sook Kim
Lighting designer: Hyung O. Choi
Musical director: Moon Jyung Kim
Cast:
Queen Min: Tae Won Yi
King Kojong: Seung Ryong Cho
Regent: Hee Jung Lee
Miura: Sung Gee Kim
General Hong: Beom Seok Seo...
Through May 4
With a book by Mun Yol Yi and music and lyrics by Hee Gap Kim and In Ja Yang, "The Last Empress" is an eye-popping extravaganza: a crafty and colorful blend of opera, operetta and Broadway musical showbiz. All told, there's a company of 50 talented singers/ dancers under the deft direction of Ho Jin Yun.
Credit Dong Woo Park for the spectacular minimalist sets; Hyun Sook Kin for the 600 glorious, brightly colored costumes; Hyung O Choi for the effective lighting; Ki Young Kim for the sound design; and Byung Koo Seo for the gripping, intense (and sometimes magical) choreography.
All create a first-rate epic spectacle of sweep and scope, one that encompasses the political as well as the personal.
"Empress" tells the larger story (sung in Korean with English supertitles) of the 19th "Chosun Kingdom" (later renamed Korea) just before the turn of the 20th century, when the "Hermit Kingdom" (still another name for Korea) was emerging from an isolationist, self-contained nation into an era of "modernization." All this encompasses a complicated (and sometimes tedious) power struggle, within Chosun as well as the greedy and duplicitous foreign nations (China, Japan, Russia and the United States, principally) who covet Chosun's trade and commerce. Still, none in "Empress" is depicted as villainous as the Japanese, who ruled Korea from 1905-45.
Alongside the political story is the personal story of Queen Min (the exquisite coloratura mezzo-soprano Tae Won Yi), a commoner who becomes queen and comes to embody and embrace everything that is modern. She's bright, outspoken, controversial, politically adroit and charismatic -- something like a sympathetic Evita. She's eventually assassinated by the Japanese.
The principal male roles are also excellently sung: Seung Ryong Cho as Queen Min's husband, King Kojong; Hee Jung Lee as the Regent; Beom Seok Seo as Queen Min's personal bodyguard, General Hong; and Sung Gee Kim as the nefarious Japanese samurai assassin Miura.
At more than two and a half hours, the show is long. Still, this lavish production -- especially its stirring closing number, "Rise, People of Chosun" (like the finale of "Les Miz") -- is well worth every minute of it.
The Last Empress
Presented by Radio Korea, Daily Sports USA, JoongAng IIbo and A-COM International Co. Ltd.
Credits:
Book: Mun Yol Yi
Adapted by: Kwang Lim Kin
Music: Hee Gap Kim
Lyrics: In Ja Yang
Director: Ho Jin Yun
Sound designer: Ki Young Kim
Choreographer: Byung Koo Seo
Scenic designer: Dong Woo Park
Costume designer: Hyum Sook Kim
Lighting designer: Hyung O. Choi
Musical director: Moon Jyung Kim
Cast:
Queen Min: Tae Won Yi
King Kojong: Seung Ryong Cho
Regent: Hee Jung Lee
Miura: Sung Gee Kim
General Hong: Beom Seok Seo...
- 4/22/2003
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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