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| Musical 'Once' practice site.Photo courtesy = Shinshi Company |
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Musical 'Once', which was recognized for its productivity and box office success by winning eight categories including the Tony Award for Best Musical in the same year for beautiful music, story and original directing, will be performed in Korea for the first time in 10 years.
Based on the 2007 Irish indie film of the same name, "Once" was staged by a dream team of top artists and creators, including John Tiffany, a genius director who rose to the ranks with the play "Harry Potter'Black Watch"; world-renowned playwright Enda Walsh, a creative choreographer; Steve Hoggett, a five-time Tony Award-winning stage designer; Bob Crowley, a musical "Aida's" lighting designer; Natyasha Katz, a lighting designer for "The Lion King"; and Clive Goodwin, a sound designer for the world-renowned rock band Radiohead.
Entering Broadway in March 2012, 'Once' also won Glenn Hansard, Maketa Iglova's Olivier Award, Grammy Award, Academy Award and Drama Desk Award, all other awards that could be given to music.
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| Musical 'Once' practice site.Photo courtesy = Shinshi Company |
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| Musical 'Once' practice site.Photo courtesy = Shinshi Company |
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| Musical 'Once' practice site.Photo courtesy = Shinshi Company |
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| Actor Park Ji-yeon is looking at the score during the recent public practice of the musical 'Once'. Photo courtesy = Shinshi Company |
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The movie 'Once' (director John Carney) is still loved by many people, along with the representative song 'Falling Slowly', which was a great success worldwide by creating a time of encounter and attraction between a street guitarist and an immigrant selling flowers into a work where beautiful music lives and breathes.
Rooted in musical impression, 'Once' first debuted as an off-Broadway workshop in 2011. The production, which received attention for its original directing line by genius director John Tiffany, special stage composition outside of the musical's general formula, and perfectly staged music, took to Broadway the following year and entered the West End of England in 2012 to critical acclaim. Afterwards, it will be performed in major cities around the world, including the U.S. tour, Australia, Canada, Korea, Japan, and Dublin, the home of the work 'Chicago'Les Miserables'Mamma Mia!' Like "Aladdin", he was on par with great works that were successful in both movies and musicals.
'Once' is considered out of Broadway rules. It's based on an Irish indie film, not a Hollywood blockbuster. There is no orchestra and all the performers play on stage instead. The only thing that appears on the one-set stage, set by a simple bar in Dublin, is ordinary people who seem to be seen everywhere, and piano and vacuum cleaners. There is no fancy group dance that is unique to Broadway show musicals. It's all about stomping your feet or clapping with a musical instrument. The emotion of the stage comes only from the actors. Every performer on stage is an actor.
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| Kim Moon-jung, director of domestic cooperative music, is watching the recent practice site of the musical 'Once'. Photo courtesy = Shinshi Company |
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| photo courtesy of new company |
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This unique compositional method can be encountered the moment the audience enters the auditorium. The stage is a bar in Dublin, where actors start improvising with guitars, accordions, mandolin and cello before the performance begins. The choice of music changes every day. Audiences can go up to the stage before the performance or during intermission time, drink drinks at the bar, and enjoy the improvisation presented by the actors together.
"'Once', which premiered in Korea in 2014 and performed in 2015, will be joined by 20 all-round players who can sing, act, dance and play musical instruments, including Yun Hyung-ryul, Lee Choong-ju, Han Seung-yoon, Park Ji-yeon, Lee Ye-eun, Park Ji-il and Lee Jung-yeol.
The Korean premiere, which opened at the CJ Towol Theater at the Seoul Arts Center in 2014, was joined by top singer Yoon Do-hyun and rising musical stars Jeon Mi-do, Park Ji-yeon and Lee Chang-hee. This is why it has not been possible to meet the work for a long time since its premiere due to the extreme difficulty in which actors are responsible for all the music of the work without an orchestra.
Therefore, auditions have been held since January 2024 for the 2025 performance. Martin Lowe, the Tony Award-winning arranger, Dez Kennedy, the director of overseas cooperation, and Lee Ji-young, Kim Moon-jung, and Hwang Hyun-jung's domestic staff have selected 20 actors who will fully digest the work in three rounds.
'Once' will be performed at the Shinhan Card Artium at COEX in Seoul from May 19 to May 31.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
