South Korean movie theaters are rolling up their sleeves to receive more film buffs as the 2-meter distancing rule in theaters is set to be lifted under the new five-tier scheme next week. Last week, the South Korean government announced a detailed set of social distancing and stay-in-place mandates to improve antivirus measures and clarify business restrictions in a tailored fashion. It came as the country has reported around 100 cases of COVID-19 per day for more than a month, having success

Under the new five-tier social distancing system announced by the authorities on Sunday, performing arts theaters and cinemas will not be required to leave an empty seat between every audience member when Level 1 social distancing is in effect. 　 When South Korea eased the social distancing scheme to the lowest level of the three-tier system on Oct 12, major performing arts theaters and cinemas, both public and private, continued to leave an empty seat between every audience member in concern

Though 2020 has brought unprecedented changes to the performing arts scene, including the world of ballet, “The Nutcracker” will wrap up the year as it does every year. The holiday tradition of enjoying Tchaikovsky’s masterpiece “The Nutcracker” in the Christmas season will continue despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The Universal Ballet will go onstage with “The Nutcracker” Dec. 18-30 at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in central Seoul

The annual dance festival’s only in-person event brings together ritual dance, ballet and contemporary dance all on one stage

Adjusting to the times of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Seoul Arts Center in southern Seoul will stream short-form plays under the Play Clips project. The Seoul Arts Center is to launch Play Clips as a part of its Sac on Screen project which brings performing arts to the virtual stage through online screening. Play Clips will introduce plays, divided into five- to six-minute-long videos. The art center said it hopes to suggest a new paradigm of performing arts for the younger generation who enjoy

Multiplex cinema chain CGV announced Thursday that it would close seven of its branches, including the Daehangno location in Seoul, due to the financial burden of COVID-19. The announcement came just three days after CGV decided to reduce the number of branches by 30 percent due to COVID-19 losses on Monday. The company announced that 35-40 branches of the current 119 branches will close within three years. “As COVID-19 continues, we have unfortunately decided to stop operation of some

Actors rise to the challenge of performing onstage during pandemic

Original musical by Koh Sun-woong pays tribute to Gwangju Democratic Uprising

The international tour production of “Cats” will extend its Seoul run for a month. The West End musical opened Sept. 9 at the Charlotte Theater in eastern Seoul. Though initially slated to run until Nov. 8, the show will now close on Dec. 6. After the Seoul run, the musical will tour Korea, though details of that have yet to be finalized. Adjusting to the time of the novel coronavirus, the musical sold half of the 1,241 available seats. Cast members also wore masks featuring cat

Thirteen Korean movies have applied to be selected as Korea’s entry for the Academy Award for best international feature film, according to the Korean Film Council on Monday. Since Director Bong Joon-ho won the Oscar for best international feature film for “Parasite” at the 92nd Academy Awards in February, movie industry insiders’ eyes are now on who will be selected to compete for the nomination next year. The selected film will be announced at the end of this month.

The 2020 Seoul Performing Arts Festival will be a contactless event, connecting with audiences at home via livestream. The SPAF, organized by the Korea Arts Management Service under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, is an annual festival held in the Daehagno neighborhood in central Seoul. This year, however, due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, the event will be streamed online. It will be the first major performing arts festival here to adopt a paid online streaming model. The

Pawn (Korea) Opened Sept. 29 Family drama Directed by Kang Dae-kyu In 1993, Doo-seok (Sung Dong-il) and Jong-bae (Kim Hee-won) work as debt collectors in Incheon. They may look intimidating, but they are soft inside. One day, the two go to collect a debt from Myung-ja (Kim Yun-jin) who unexpectedly offers her 9-year-old daughter Seung-yi (Park So-yi, Ha Ji-won) as collateral. When Myung-ja is deported from Korea, the two collectors suddenly become Seung-yi’s guardians.   Greenland

The 25th Busan International Film Festival, originally set to open Oct. 8, will be held Oct. 21-30 both offline and online, according to the festival organizers. “We will screen a total of 194 films, and 125 will be screened through our online channel,” a BIFF organizer told The Korea Herald on Wednesday. “There will not be any outdoor events, including opening and closing ceremonies, outdoor greetings and open talk sessions, which can gather crowds. Instead, we will focus

Comedy crime film “Collectosr” is ready to steal moviegoers’ hearts with its original story about tomb robbery. “As the first Korean film about tomb robbery, we will present new visuals that the audience has never seen before,” director Park Jung-bae said during an online press briefing Tuesday. “Collectors” is Park’s debut feature.  　 “Collectors” introduces three robbers. Kang Dong-goo, played by Lee Je-hoon, is a genius robb

The two-day online screening of musical “Mozart!” gathered 15,000 paid audience members in Korea over the Chuseok holiday. EMK Musical Company, the production company behind the hit musical, offered a paid online stream of its hit musical “Mozart!” on Saturday and Sunday via Naver V Live, a local video streaming platform. A total of 15,000 people purchased online tickets for the musical screening, according to EMK Musical Company Tuesday. Some 12,000 were individual t