“Fuerza Bruta Wayra” is back in Seoul with a few changes and upgrades after a successful run last year.The 70- to 80-minute show features eye-catching acrobatics, heart-thumping sounds, multicolored lights and projections, as well as wind machines.  A scene titled “Corredor” in “Fuerza Bruta Wayra” (Fuerza Bruta) “Salto” is a new segment in the scene titled “Corredor.” /Fuerza BrutaThe show is all about partying, the production’s team said during a press conference on April 30 at FB Theater, a t

The world premiere of Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company’s “Asylum” will open the 38th International Modern Dance Festival (MODAFE) at Arko Arts Theater on May 16.The Israel-based dance company’s most recent work, “Asylum,” which touches on the on-going issues of refugees, immigration, and asylum seekers. Born to a family of Holocaust survivors in 1957, artistic director Rami Be’er has translated his own experience, troubled emotions and identity crisis into a dance.  A scene from “Asylum,“ a ne

Opera companies pledge to correct wage exploitation problem

Two lovers destined for each other is a popular cliche in the romance genre. The phrase “and they lived happily ever after” is the stock ending.The first-ever theater adaptation of Belgian writer Amelie Nothomb’s novel “Riquet a la houppe” (“Riquet with the Tuft”), a Seoul Arts Center production that runs there through May 19, features a man and a woman destined to meet, but it leaves out the details of their life together.In “Riquet a la houppe,” a 2016 update of 17th-century French writer Char

Ballerino An Jae-yong credits success at Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo to hard work, director Maillot

Doosan Art Center kicks off Doosan Humanities Theater 2019, ‘Apartment Nation’

The hit musical “School of Rock” will be performed in Korea in its original language for the first time in June, as part of the first leg of the show’s international tour.Based on the 2003 comedy music film of the same name starring Jack Black, the musical features the original score from Andrew Lloyd Webber and follows out-of-work musician Dewey Finn on his quest to turn students of a prestigious school into rock musicians. It was first performed in 2015, with its original West End production w

The five-day Francophone Festival, organized by the Korean International Theatre & Arts Company, kicked off its inaugural edition in Seoul on Wednesday. “The festival’s first edition in Seoul hopes to celebrate the cultural diversity that spans the French-speaking countries. It also hopes to promote the French language and also strengthen ties between the two nations, France and Korea,” said Patricia Vilfeu from KITAC during a press conference Tuesday in Seoul. A scene from Cueilleurs de Brume’s

Wearing dark blue-green clothes with rolled-up sleeves, seven Swedish dancers appear in a black box theater where dozens of safety helmets with headlamps are scattered around them on the gray floor. The dancers pick up seven helmets and arrange them in a line. Some call out the names of friends and family members while doing so, and others remain silent. The accompanying music recalls a Korean traditional ritual dance. The dancers laboriously perform to the music with distinctive rhythms, and th

Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo will perform “Cinderella” from June 12-14 at the Seoul Arts Center, the first time the company is performing in Korea in 14 years.“Cinderella” is one of the iconic choreographic works produced by the ballet company’s longtime director Jean-Christophe Maillot, who has produced more than 30 ballets for the company, including “Vers un Pays Sage (1995), “Romeo and Juliette” (1996), “The Sleeping Beauty” (2001), “Le Songe” (2005), “Altro Canto” (2006), “Faust” (2007) and “L

The National Theater of Korea will hold screenings of Benedict Andrews’ production of Tennessee Williams’ “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” and James Macdonald’s reinterpretation of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” by Edward Albee, from March 14 -24 at Daloreum Theater. The National Theater of Korea’s upcoming screenings of the two theater masterpieces are imports from National Theatre Live, the Royal National Theater’s program launched in 2009 to broadcast live performances of British theater works and

Knowing and witnessing are two different things. The former deals with thoughts, whereas the latter involves confronting reality up close. “Kill Ahn Young-ho” is a drama that forces the audience to confront the realities facing teenage runaways. By showing us this story of three marginalized young people who have run away from home and the violence and difficulties that pushed them onto the streets, the work invites the audience to empathize. Once you meet these alienated teenagers -- though the

“The Man Who Laughs” got the last laugh at the annual Korea Musical Awards Monday night at Seoul’s Blue Square, winning acclaim for best musical, best actor and best theatrical arts.Its lead Park Hyo-shin won best actor -- an honor he shared with Choi Jae-rim of “Matilda” -- for playing the role of Gwynplaine. He also won best actor at the seventh Yegreen Musical Awards on Nov. 5 for the same role.“It’s been quite a while since I started appearing in musicals, since 2009, and I haven’t done many

The night of the 2019 Korea Musical Awards shone bright with musical stars on the red carpet. With many musicals staged last year, a diverse group of stars nominated for awards attended the event held Monday. (Photo By Kim Hye-soo/The Korea Herald)Musical couple Kim So-hyun and Sohn Joon-ho stepped on the red carpet in a fairytale-like dress and tuxedo respectively. Kim wore a peach bell-shaped dress, looking like an empress -- just like the character Elisabeth she currently plays in the musical

Wednesday sees the kickoff in Seoul of the musical “The Lion King,” marking the beginning of another year with an array of musicals to entertain local audiences.The musical will performed in English, as it comes as part of an international tour. The show continues through March 28 at Seoul Arts Center in Seocho-gu, southern Seoul. It will be held at 8 p.m. on weekdays and 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. on weekends. There are no shows on Mondays or on Feb. 6.   Ntsepa Pitjeng, who plays the role of Rafiki in