The Perfect Opera

"You'd never get away with all this in a play,
But if it's loudly sung and in a foreign tongue,
It's just the sort of score audiences adore,
In fact, the perfect opera!"
            - The Phantom of the Opera


As people who know me are aware, I love The Phantom of the Opera, and I was very bummed that the short-lived Korean revival production would be closing just before I got here. But in a stroke of amazing luck, the run got a short extension, and even moved from Seoul to Daegu, the big city 30 minutes away from Yeongcheon! Long story short, I got to see the show on Oct. 28th, and I'm so, so grateful for the opportunity. Not only was it fascinating to see the show in Korean, it was a flat-out incredible performance with some of the best singing, lighting, and overall presentation I've ever seen. I fell in love with the show all over again.

I went with my friend Sandy and some of my co-worker friends including Su-jin and Kyoung-ha. I was really worried they wouldn't like it, since they'd never heard of it, they had never been to a musical, and, well, the seats weren't cheap. But the first thing they did at intermission was jump out of their seats to go buy the cast recording, so I guess they didn't hate it! Actually, the whole night was a total success and a wonderful experience.

Koren for this post: 오베라의 유령 or "opera-ui yu-ryung"

is Korean for Phantom of the Opera.

Click "read more" for more photos!

The university in Daegu where the theater was. I wondered how good a university theater could be. The answer is, really good!

Walking up to the theater. Very exciting!

Sandy looking beautiful in the lobby. In the background are the four teachers from my school who went with us.

Unlike other productions, there are two actors/actressess for each of the major roles, and they take turns performing. In another stroke of amazing luck, I got both the Phantom and Christine I prefer (having heard both casts on the cast recording)!

Su-jin, Sandy, and me posing for our picture after the show. I'm so glad I asked both of them to go!