Eumin Productions, a professional English-language production company will perform its first musical, “A Familiar Story,” in Seoul this weekend.
Danny Hwang, the artistic director, founded Eumin at the beginning of the year, with a crew of 35 people.
“We are a family-friendly theatrical company with our own concept of edutainment, combining full-scale fun for old and young with an educational background,” said Hwang.
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“A Familiar Story” (Eumin Productions) |
“A Familiar Story” is about young siblings Rion and Sam wishing to hear a bedtime story from their parents of how they met and fell in love.
It features elements from classic tales from the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Anderson, ancient Greek mythology and other sources, and songs from famous Disney movies such as “Aladdin,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “The Little Mermaid” and the latest animation, “Frozen.”
The stage cast will be led by K-pop singer Tim in the role of Aladdin.
“Especially our younger audience will enjoy and sing along to the Disney songs when they hear them,” said Hwang.
“The audience can expect an incredible entertaining performance with a beautiful story. They will be wowed by the level of talent they will witness on stage and behind, as we created the entire stage set by ourselves.”
While the musical is geared toward expats and English-speaking locals, the subtitles will allow Korean parents to enjoy the musical along with their kids. Hwang wants to reach out to these two audience groups in different ways.
“First of all, I wanted to do something about the lack of quality English-language family entertainment options. Furthermore, we have an incredible amount of gifted expats here in Seoul, with experience in acting and singing, but lacking opportunities … (for) showcasing their talents,” he added.
“But the biggest issue we want to attack is the problem of unhappiness of schoolchildren here in Korea. There are recent surveys that show that although Korean school children are top of the class, (they rank lowest) … in the world of students who report being happy at school.”
Hwang is speaking of the PISA study conducted annually by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.
He and his team are trying to mix education and fun by reaching both children and parents.
The show features inspiring themes such as love, forgiveness and self-identity which the younger audience can identify with, according to Hwang.
“We also want to encourage parents to take the initiative to have quality family time together with their children by inspiring them to use their imagination and creativity.”
Hwang is already planning to perform two new shows with his team by the end of the year.
“A Familiar Story” lasts 70 minutes and will run at the Baekam Art Hall near Coex in Seoul, at 1 p.m., 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Saturday and 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. Sunday.
Tickets range from 25,000 won to 44,000 won, depending on the seats, and must be bought online.
For further information regarding the show or how to buy tickets, visit euminproductions.com.
By Bileg Tsedensodnom, Intern reporter
(
bileg.ts@heraldcorp.com)
