Hello, again!
I've decided that it would be better to split each musical into three parts: general information, Act I and Act II.
Thus, I will give general information about Ben Hur as promised yesterday.
I have never seen any of the three films nor have I read the 1880 novel by Lew Wallace, but judging from my experiences watching books-turned-musicals in Korea, something will be different from what you know. The very general storyline will be the same, but that might be it.
Ben Hur is being performed at the Chungmu Art Centre. It started with previews on Thursday, 24 August 2017 and will run until Sunday, 29 October 2017. They never perform on Mondays, but they usually perform once on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays and twice on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays.
Getting to Chungmu Art Centre
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| LEGEND: The music notes are Chungmu Art Centre. The exclamation points are subway stations. The cars that say, "GO!" are bus stops. |
Dongdaemun History and Culture Park (DO NOT CONFUSE IT WITH DONGDAEMUN): Subway Line 4 (exit 2 is best - 9 minutes by foot - 655 m / 2150 ft) and Subway Line 5 (exit 4 - 14 minutes by foot - 945 m / 3100 ft)
Sindang: Subway Line 2 (exit 9 is best, but exit 1 will be okay - 7 minutes by foot - 450 m / 1475 ft), Subway Line 6 (exit 9 - 2 minutes by foot - 195 m / 640 ft)
Chungmu Art Centre / Sports Centre (Stop #02177 - going towards Dongdaemun Station): Bus #202, Bus #421, Bus #463, Bus #2012, Bus #2014, Bus #2015, Bus #2233, and Bus #9403
Chungmu Art Centre / Sports Centre (Stop #02178 - going towards Sindang Station): Bus #202, Bus #421, Bus #463, Bus #2014, Bus #2233, and Sunhan Bus #05: Get off at Chungmu Art Centre / Sports Centre (Stop #02178) and it's directly across the street (5 minutes by foot - 340 m / 1115 ft).
Sindang-dong Tteokbokki Town (Stop #02187 - going towards Sindang-dong / Cheonggu Station): Bus #142, Bus #147, Bus #6211 and Sunhan Bus #05: Get off and walk the direction from whence you came (8 minutes by foot - 525 m / 1725 ft). Turn left at Sindang Station on Toegye-ro.
Sindang-dong Tteokbokki Town (Stop #02188 - going towards Sindang Station): Bus #142, Bus #147, and Bus #6211: Get off at Sindang-dong Tteokbokki Town (Stop #02188) and walk the direction you were going on the bus, crossing the road at the first crosswalk on Dasan-ro (9 minutes by foot - 625 m / 2050 ft). Turn left at Sindang Station on Toegye-ro.
*Please note that the bus stop numbers can only be seen at the bus stops - not on the bus.
In case you get lost ...
Chungmu Art Centre 충무아트센터
Seoul 서울
Jung District 중구
Toegye-ro 387 퇴계로 387
Zip Code: 04569
Tickets
Tickets range from 50,000 to 140,000 won for first timers. If you use the Korean Interpark website, you can get a small discount (25% I think) for every subsequent visit. However, make sure you take your latest used ticket with you. They usually stamp the back so that you can't get the discount multiple times.
If Korean's not your thing, you can use the Global Interpark website, but there usually aren't any discounts.
When you arrive at the art centre, go up the escalators on the right. The ticket booth is on the second floor.
VIP = 140,000 R = 120,000 S = 80,000 A = 50,000
Casting
I'm adding the cast as well. However, please notice that this is not Broadway, where all the actors do eight shows a week. This is Korea, where main parts have two to four people rotate playing the same part. [Note bene: I use the government style romanisation, so, for example, the well-known last name Park will be Bak here. The only exceptions are English stage names.]
1995 debut 2007 debut 2007 debut (?)
47 years old 36 years old 35 years old
180 cm / 5'11" 182 cm / 6'0" 182 cm / 6'0"
71 kg / 157 lbs. 71 kg / 157 lbs. N/A
Min-seong BAK U-hyeok MIN U-hyeok CHOE
2007 debut 2013 debut (?) 2015 debut
35 years old 34 years old 24 years old
180 cm / 5'11" 187 cm / 6'2" 182 cm / 6'0"
67 kg / 148 lbs. 78 kg / 172 lbs. N/A
Ivy (left)
2005 debut
34 years old
164 cm / 5'5"
50 kg / 110 lbs.
Si-ha AN (right)
2004 debut
35 years old
164 cm / 5'5"
49 kg / 108 lbs.
Gyeong-eup NAM (left)
1980 debut
59 years old
Hui-jeong YI (right)
1986 debut (?)
53 years old
Ji-yeong SEO
1989 debut
48 years old
1989 debut
48 years old
Na-yun GWAK
This is her debut.
N/A
Seong-gi GIM
1989 debut
52 years old
Jeong-su YI
2010 debut
34 years old
Han-guk SEON
2013 debut (?)
26 years old
Yun-u YI (left)
2015 debut
10 years old
Ji-hun YI (right)
2017 debut
10 years old
Casting Schedule
As I said above, casting varies depending on the time and the day.
If you prefer to see someone specifically, please comment below and I will let you know!