Seoul Theatre

This weekend a co-worker of mine invited me to see a production she was part of, called “Love Recipe”. It was my first non-professional musical that I’ve seen here and it was so fun to watch! The cast was having a great time on the stage and even though I didn’t understand all the jokes, it was very enjoyable.

It got me thinking that I have actually seen a lot of theatre in Seoul, so I thought I’d share my experiences with you :).

A free dance recital, downtown Seoul over Chuseok.

Some bigger productions that I’ve seen are: Les Miserables (in Korean!), Wicked, Phantom of the Opera and the Nutcracker. I absolutely loved each of these. The prices are not outrageous for world-renown shows such as these. I think a tickets for the balcony are 50-70,000 won and the best seats might cost 150,000 won (under $150). We went to see these shows at either the Seoul Arts Centre or Blue Square theatre. The quality of the show is amazing. I saw ‘Wicked’ in Toronto and Seoul and the second time was just as good, if not better (because I knew all the songs ^^).

The girls at Phantom!

These days there are tons of English musicals being adapted into Korean. For example, Les Mis had the exact same music and story line, just the words to the songs were different! I have seen advertisements for Bonny and Clyde, Hairspray and Jersey Boys in Korean. Personally, I think it’s incredible how they can translate songs still with keeping the same tune and meaning.

There are many smaller theatre companies which provide non-verbal shows, such as Nanta, Bibap, and Fanta-stick. Many of these shows include b-boy dancers, and since Korea has some of the best b-boys and b-girls in the world, these shows are unbelievable!

The Ballerina who feel in love with a B-Boy. A must-see!

I would definitely recommend any kind of dance show, and Nanta is also fantastic. The non-verbal shows are great for an international audience, but the few shows I’ve seen in Korean are very easy to follow along with.

These kinds of shows are great for getting involved with Seoul’s modern culture, however there are many traditional performances as well. I’ve stumbled upon many stages with women in hanbok singing or dancing or drumming. It’s always been by chance, except when my Mom came to visit we attended the Andong Mask Festival which is held every fall. These performances were all free and are usually held at festivals with awesome street food :)!

Andong Mask Festival, held every fall.

Those are just a tiny snippet of what is actually available in this city. You could probably go to a new show every night of the week if you wanted to! I didn’t mention concerts and dance festivals and that kind of thing because that is a whole other blog post!

Overall, theatre in Seoul is amazing quality, abundant and relatively cheap. I really want to go to more shows so when I do I’ll keep you updated. 🙂

Our class at the LATT Children’s Theatre.