Actors Park Kang-hyun, Go Eun-seong, BTOB's Lee Chang-seop, Jeong Seon-ah, Yuria, Son Seung-yeon and others confirmed their appearance in the Korean premiere of the Broadway musical 'Memphis'.
On the 9th, production company Shownote announced the casting lineup for ‘Memphis’. 'Memphis' is based on the true story of DJ Deway Philips, a legendary figure who introduced black music to white society in the 1950s. It entered Broadway in September 2009 and was nominated for eight Tony Awards in 2010, winning four categories including Best Picture, Music, Screenplay, and Orchestration.
In the same year, it was nominated in 7 categories at the Drama Desk Awards, winning Best Picture, Best Actress, Music, and Orchestration, and in 2015, it was nominated in 8 categories at the Laurence Olivier Awards, winning Best Choreography and Best Sound.
'Memphis' is set in Memphis, a city in the southern United States where blacks and whites were segregated in the 1950s, and is about the dreams and love of Huey, a radio DJ who wants to change the world by spreading soulful rock and roll, and Felicia, a singer with great talent who sings in black clubs. talk about The work further helps us realize the power and greatness of music through the image of DJ Huey, who breaks down discrimination and boundaries by broadcasting black music on a white broadcasting station.
In particular, the play unfolds in a pleasant and touching way through heart-moving music, spectacular dances and attractions, and characters with both charisma and charm. The music for 'Memphis' was composed by keyboardist David Bryan, a founding member of the legendary rock group Bon Jovi. The script was written by Joe DiPietro, a famous writer in Korea, including 'I Love You', 'The Thing About Man', 'Toxic Hero', 'All Shook Up', and 'Falling for Eve'.
Park Kang-hyun, Go Eun-seong, and BTOB's Lee Chang-seop play the role of Huey, the first white DJ in the Korean premiere of 'Memphis'. Huey was the first white DJ to spread rock and roll, which was considered 'black music' in the 1950s, to the world as soul music.
Jeong Seon-ah, Yuria, and Son Seung-yeon play the role of Felicia, a black singer who overcomes prejudice and discrimination in Memphis and moves on to a wider stage. Choi Min-cheol and Shim Jae-hyun were double cast in the role of Delray, the owner of the Memphis underground club and Felicia's older brother.
Choi Jeong-won and Ryu Su-hwa play the roles of Gladys, Huey's devout Christian mother. Lee Jong-moon plays the role of Mr. Simmons, the president of the radio station where Huey works, Hyo-jin Yoo plays the role of Bobby, the station cleaner, and Seong-rin Cho plays the role of Gator, a bartender at the underground club owned by Del Ray.
This Korean premiere features the best creative staff to match its artistic value and popularity. Director Kim Tae-hyung, who has proven his skills by driving the highest box office success with delicate and original directing in 'Lizzie', 'Bridges of Madison County', 'Almond', and 'Fan Letter', will participate.
Here, the unique style of the work is expressed in detail in various genres such as 'A Gentleman's Guide', 'Phantom of the Opera', 'Kinky Boots', and 'Wicked', and music director Yang Joo-in, who is unrivaled in vocal direction, took the lead. In 'Memphis', a big band consisting of drums, bass, guitar, keyboard, trumpet, saxophone, and trombone will perform live on stage. The live big band that performs on stage with the actors becomes a part of the play, and the audience is expected to be able to enjoy the music more vividly with their eyes and ears.
Choreography director Hyunjung Lee, winner of the 7th Korea Musical Awards Choreography Award, plans to infuse great power into the work with her gorgeous yet powerful choreography. It is expected to make this summer even more exciting and hot with dynamic choreography that perfectly matches the music, including acrobatics, breakdancing, and tap dancing.
For the stage video design, designer Cho Soo-hyun, who has created a three-dimensional visual language through the organic combination of set and video in works such as 'Ifden', 'Hedwig', and 'A Gentleman's Guide', was named. In her latest work, 'Ifden,' designer Cho Soo-hyun created a video created with Unreal Engine, a high-difficulty 3D graphics technology engine, to create a realistic feeling as if New York was unfolding before your eyes.
Lighting designer Ma Seon-young showed the parallel worlds of Liz and Beth that quickly intersect in 'Ifden' with detailed color, and costume designer Ahn Hyeon-ju symbolically expressed the confrontation between Jet and Shark in 'West Side Story' through costumes that reflected the times. Together, we are looking forward to it. With the joining of these top creative staff in Korea, the audience transcends time and space and encounters the rock and roll mecca of the American South in the 1950s.
The Korean premiere of 'Memphis' will open at the Chungmu Arts Center Grand Theater on July 20th.
Kang Min-kyung, Ten Asia reporter kkk39@tenasia.co.kr