Korean Musicals for Foreigners: October 2017

Hi everyone! I hope you enjoyed your extremely long, will-never-have-another-weeklong-two-holiday-combo holiday break!

We start back with half-naked, belly-dancing men as they perform for Pilate, Messala and us. Pilate and Messala talk about Caesar amongst other things. A man is about to put a lit candle in his mouth when Pilate notices him. "Hey!" he shouts. "You're handsome. Come here. How old are you?" The man responds in an unexpectedly deep voice, "42." Pilate is surprised ... and not in a good way. As the rejected man exits, Pilate yells after him, "Hey! Blow those candles out! They're hot!" The men return to their conversation. Messala tells Pilate that he will fight Judah if he's still alive. "How?" Pilate, the teacher, asks Messala, the student. Messala reveals his plan, which I assume is the famous chariot race. Then he takes his leave. Pilate says something is refreshing followed by, "Everyone, let's plaaaaaay!!" Immediately the men shout happily and more half-naked dancing ensues for Pilates' (and our) pleasure.

Next, we see Judah's mother and sister struggling to go back home. His sister hates how they have to avoid everyone (due to their leprosy). His mother says they have to go on no matter what.

Judah has returned to his childhood home. He sings as he walks around ("그날의 우리" / "That Day's Us"). When he goes up the stairs, his mother and sister also arrive. "Mother, why did we come home?" his sister asks. His mother is responding, "I just wanted to take one last look at it," when she sees Judah on the staircase. "Who is that? Isn't that my son? Isn't that your brother?" His sister wants to greet him, but his mother says they can't reveal themselves to him. "We're lepers," she reminds her daughter. His sister is really sad (not that her mother isn't) while his mother is probably explaining how he's better off not knowing their fate ... except that's the moment when Esther walks in with a jar of water. "Madame! You're alive!" she exclaims as she goes to greet them, but Judah's mother puts her hand up to stop her and says, "We're lepers!" She begs Esther to not tell Judah, and all three women cry together for a moment before Esther has to head back in, still crying. Judah's lost in memories, so he doesn't notice her tears. However, he does notice when she starts to move things about and yells, "Don't touch anything!"

As she watches from the shadows, Judah's mother continues the heart-wrenching song Judah started and is joined by his sister. Soon Judah also starts singing as well as Esther, making it a quartet. Judah must be thinking about how much he just wants to see his "dead" mother and sister again. His sister, in the shadows, sings, "Dummy, look ..." His mother starts the last line, "My son ..." and they all sing together the rest of the line, "Together, let's stop crying."

(This video is not from the musical. It's from the press conference they held in early August. I'm posting it so you can hear the song. This is KAI as Judah, Ji-yeong SEO as Miriam (Judah's mother), Na-yun GWAK as Tirzah (Judah's sister) and Si-ha AN as Esther.)

Men gather - I think they're the tribal leaders meeting to discuss something (maybe Jesus). Judah and his men, formerly Tito's men, hide behind a short wall and watch. Tito comes, and I think Judah explains how he wants to start a fight between the natives and the Romans. "We need to go inside," Judah says. Tito replies, "But only Roman soldiers can go inside. How will you get inside?" Judah and his men throw off their cloaks to reveal ... shiny Roman soldier uniforms. "You surprised me!" Tito yells.

They go in fighting, and Messala comes out in his pajamas, yelling as always, "What's going on here?!" Judah sees him and shouts, "Messala!" while trying to strike him with his sword. Messala replies, "Well, look who it is! If it's not my childhood friend!" They trade blows, both physically and verbally. Judah eventually overpowers Messala, but just before he's about to kill him, Messala blurts out, "Your family is still alive!" "My family is dead." "That's probably what you heard - the way I wanted it to seem." "Where are they?" Then Messala brings up the chariot race and says that if Judah wins, he'll tell him where his family is.

Tito, now in Roman uniform, comes running in and says they need to go. Roman soldiers are hot on Tito's heels. Messala, in case you forgot, is wearing his pajamas - not his uniform, so when he orders, "Arrest them!" the soldiers eagerly go to get ... Messala, not the two in Roman uniform. Messala gets so angry that he rips his shirt off. "I'm freaking Messala! Go after THEM!" After throwing a hissy fit, Messala sings a song about how he used to be a pathetic coward and how hard he worked to get where he is now ("나 메셀라" / "I'm Messala"). He does an on-stage costume change, which also represents going back in time to when he first met Pilate on the battlefield.

Messala is almost killed, but Pilate saves him. "Hey, where's your hometown?" he asks as he casually wipes the blood off of his sword. Stuttering, Messala replies. Pilate says something about Rome (maybe commenting on how far the Empire stretches), and Messala answers him with something about his Roman father. "Do you want to see your hometown again?" "Yes." "Then get it together and kill everyone here." Messala sees someone is about to kill Pilate, so he stabs him, screaming. Pilate says something along the lines of Messala having a crazy look in his eye - the kind Roman soldiers need. "What's your name?" "Good, Messala." "Messala? Kill everyone," Pilate order as he walks off-stage. "Yes, sir," responds Messala before turning to the line of soldiers getting ready to face off with him. "Come on - Come on!" he shouts. He sings his thoughts during the battle, then recounts his rise in the ranks as we come to the present. I'm not 100% sure, but I think he kills a Roman general in order to take his place as general.

(This video is not from the musical. It's from the press conference they held in early August. I'm posting it so you can hear the song. This is Min-seong BAK as Messala and Jeong-su YI as Pilate)

So back to the men who have gathered. Esther's father and Tito look at the "elders" and sings about what Judah wants to do, which is start a war ("게네사렛" / "[Lake of] Gennesaret"). Of course, the other leaders don't agree and say that he's a Roman citizen now. It sounds like Tito says, "But he's a king!" He gets upset and says Judah's fighting the Romans. The "elders" aren't hearing any of it. Esther's father tries again. Nope. None of it. The "elders" leave, and Esther's father and Tito talk. Esther's father hears from Tito that Judah will be in a chariot race with Messala, which causes him to think. He tells Tito something, and Tito replies, "I will keep that in mind."

Esther has gone to look for Judah's family where the lepers gather. When she finds them, Judah's mother scolds her, "Esther, what are you doing here? I told you to never search for us." "I have good news for you." It sounds like she's telling Judah's mother about Jesus and his miracles. "I've seen it myself." "Esther, really?" Judah's sister is really happy and grabs Esther's hands, "Thank you, Esther!" Then she realises what she's done - as does her mother - and immediately apologises, "I'm so sorry. I didn't know what I was doing." "It's okay," Esther replies as she reaches for Judah's sister's hands. However, Judah's mother prevents her from doing so and shakes her head. Esther sadly leaves with the promise, "I'll come again." Judah's mother sings another song ("기도" / "Prayer").

The time has come for the famous chariot race. There are six competitors representing different regions. Judah will represent Judea, and Messala Rome. Judah tells Messala, "Don't forget your promise to tell me about my family." "Of course. If you win." They continue back and forth until they walk off-stage. Pilate watches as the judge and holds up a red handkerchief to start the race. After it drops, the game's begun.

Personally, I found this scene amazing between the four robotic chariots, the way the chariots move around the stage, and the background that follows them from different angles. Judah and Messala are neck-and-neck while they sing a song ("죽음의 질주" / "Death at Full Speed"). Messala seems to be full of hate and anger towards Judah, and Judah seems to realise he might be the reason that Messala is the way he is now. But, his desire to see his family again doesn't allow him to go easy on his childhood friend. In the end, Messala ends up falling out of his chariot, and Judah wins, singing "I'm the winner!"

(This video is not from the musical. It's from the press conference they held in early August. I'm posting it so you can hear the song. This is KAI as Judah and U-hyeok MIN as Messala.)

( ... to be continued ... )