Musical 'Winter Sonata' moves audience in winter wonderland

I could realize the power of "Winter Sonata" once again from this article. :)


SAPPORO, Japan - Even without "Yonsama" or "Jiwoohime," "Winter Sonata," a Korean television drama with enormous popularity in Japan and across Asia, still has a magic hold on its Japanese fans.
On Monday, Odori Park stretching from east to west through downtown Sapporo was filled with state-of-the-art snow sculptures of various sizes. It was the first day of the world famous Sapporo Snow Festival, which attracts millions of people to the city from here and abroad every year.
On the same day, the musical version of the soap opera made its come back to Sapporo Education and Cultural Hall, bringing tears to the eyes of the audience with its story of unfaltering love.
The musical version of "Winter Sonata" is performed at Sapporo Education and Cultural Hall."The story is not exactly the same with the original drama, but I like it as it is," Asada Keiko, a housewife living in Sapporo, told The Korea Herald after the show. "I've seen the original drama a hundred times, but I weep again almost automatically when I hear the drama's theme music at the beginning of the musical," said Uchida Kiyomi, another housewife who came to see the musical. The musical was not sold-out, with only about a quarter of the seats taken. The figure, however, was encouraging enough considering it was the opening night of the snow festival and there were many other things to do to have fun out there.
The audience was overwhelmingly Japanese housewives, the key contributors to the drama's phenomenal success. Reporters from Japanese media including weekly magazine Aera and monthly Nikkei Entertainment also came to cover the show, proving the popularity of the drama in the country.
Yun Suk-ho, producer of the television series, also attended the performance. In fact, the producer, who is also the artistic director for the musical version, was the true star of the night. Many Japanese fans recognized him and surrounded him to get his autograph at the end of the show.
"It was tricky to make the musical something new while keeping all the key factors of the original television series in it," Yun told The Korea Herald during the intermission. "Overall, it was okay but I guess it will need more work on details."
As Yun said, the musical's scores composed by one of Korea's leading pop music composers, Kim Hyung-seok, was a definite plus for the musical. The composer of such hit songs as Kim Kun-mo's "First Impression (Cheodinsang)" and Park Jin-young's "Right Here behind You (Neoe duieseo)," Kim has provided a fresh feel to the story of double love triangles through his music, in which he experimented with various styles of music from bossa nova to rock music.
The musical doesn't deviate much from the soap opera in story, with only minor changes in its plot. Different from the television series where Jun-sang (Bae Yong-jun), Eu-jin (Choi Ji-woo), Sang Hyuk (Park Yong-ha) and Chae-rin (Park Sol-mi) are all school friends, the musical version made Chae-rin a stranger to Eu-jin to good dramatic effect.
Overrall the story flowed smoothly, but it could have been better if a little more care if details about the episode when Jun-sang and Eu-jin became lovers was added. It seems that too much of the show is spent explaining how the two get together again, while too little attention is given to the key part - how the two became romantically involved.
Ko Young-bin's Jun-sang was good and Suh Jung-hyun's characterization of Eu-jin was a little meek but fine. No one on the stage, though, grabbed the audience's attention as much as Jiny playing Chae-rin did.
The former member of popular girl group Diva boasted her all-around talents. Unfortunately, her charmingly husky rock voice and charismatic sexy dance stole much of the praise and applause other members of the stellar cast deserved.
Japanese audiences are said to be quieter and less expressive than Koreans. One of the show's cast jokingly complained that it was hard to know whether or not Japanese audiences appreciated the show. However, the happy smiles on their faces and traces of tears down their cheeks, well testified to how much they enjoyed it.
"Winter Sonata" will be performed at the venue until tomorrow. Yoon's Color, the Korean multimedia production that produced the musical, plans to stage the show in Sapporo every year through 2010 in time with the snow festival.
(danlee@heraldm.com)
By Lee Yong-sung