KPOP to Broadway- Page 2

[BroadwayNYC2]

Posted: 7/13/21 at 9:09pm

Worth mentioning the show will premiere at The Anthem, which is a music venue for club shows, so not expecting much reworking.

[BCfitasafiddle]

Posted: 7/13/21 at 9:32pm

chrishuyen said: "Looks like this is heading to the Signature Theatre in DC for its "pre-Broadway" run, this December/January. Will definitely be keeping an eye on it and might just make the trip down."

I guess that would mean no Ashley Park? She's filming movies, multiple TV shows. Her screen career is sky rocketing.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 7/13/21 at 10:24pm

SouthernCakes said: "Doesn’t say white?"

Hahaha yeeeaaah it basically does, tho.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 7/13/21 at 10:24pm

chrishuyen said: "Looks like this is heading to the Signature Theatre in DC for its "pre-Broadway" run, this December/January. Will definitely be keeping an eye on it and might just make the trip down."

Anthem, not Signature.

https://twitter.com/AyannaPrescod/status/1415047059690885123

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 7/13/21 at 10:53pm

LizzieCurry said: "SouthernCakes said: "Doesn’t say white?"

Hahaha yeeeaaah it basically does, tho."

It says he’s a film director and an American. There are POC who are Scorcese fans. It doesn’t say white or any race. 
 

I hope they don’t do that, but I’m going to give them the benefit of the doubt.

[BroadwayNYC2]

Posted: 7/13/21 at 11:06pm

“Anthem, not Signature.”

While yes, it’s being billed under their “Signature at the Anthem” umbrella a la their cancelled production of Mamma Mia from summer 2020.

[JBroadway]

Posted: 7/13/21 at 11:27pm

BroadwayNYC2 said: "Worth mentioning the show will premiere at The Anthem, which is a music venue for club shows, so not expecting much reworking."

 

Can you elaborate on this? Do you mean reworking from DC to Broadway, or reworking from Off-Broadway to DC, or reworking during the DC run? And in any of those cases, why would the venue indicate that? 

In case you mean re-working from Off-Broadway to DC, I think it's worth mentioning this again (and this is a good reminder to everyone, since there has been a lot of confusion about this ever since they announced their intention to bring the show to Broadway): 

The show off-Broadway was conceived in such a way that the audience was split up, and is taken to different rooms, often interacting closely with the actors. In order to bring this to a regular theatre setting, they have to completely rewrite, re-structure, and basically re-conceive the show. The DC and Broadway productions will effectively be a new show from what played Off-Broadway - more like an adaptation than a transfer.

Some people have already tried to compare this transfer to the way Great Comet moved to a proscenium staging, but this will be a much more extreme re-imagining than Great Comet. Even when it was in the tent, Comet was always written to be performed in front of a unified, stationary audience. That's not true of KPOP. 

@BroadwayNYC2, if this wasn't what you meant in the first place, I apologize for the tangent. But then again, as I said, there's been some confusion about this on the boards in general, so I think it's worth bringing up again. 

 

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 7/13/21 at 11:33pm

iluvtheatertrash said: "I hope they don’t do that, but I’m going to give them the benefit of the doubt."

I'm not white and good for you!

[SouthernCakes]

Posted: 7/13/21 at 11:51pm

Yeah it’ll def be a major reworking of the source material. But someone believe in it! So happy to see what happens. I mean K-Pop is major. Makes sense to capitalize on it.

[BroadwayNYC2]

Posted: 7/14/21 at 12:29am

“@BroadwayNYC2, if this wasn't what you meant in the first place, I apologize for the tangent. But then again, as I said, there's been some confusion about this on the boards in general, so I think it's worth bringing up again.”

Worded this poorly on my end. Was more so emphasizing that this is running at a concert venue. While it’s definitely been reconfigured for sit-down events (a WWE event tends to frequent here), I don’t think this will be a full “bound to proscenium” show.

[Scarlet Leigh]

Posted: 7/14/21 at 7:10pm

One has to wonder if the push to move KPOP to Broadway now is not actually for Broadway audiences... but for the shows future in the South Korean market.

Broadway Musicals transferring to South Korea are a big thing. Now more than ever with international openings there of shows like Beetlejuice and soon to open Hadestown. KPOP getting a deal to open post Broadway IN South Korean could make for staring roles for ACTUAL KPop stars. I am sure it would be a MASSIVE hit there.

[BroadwayGuy12]

Posted: 9/3/21 at 10:45am

The Signature run of the show has been canceled, due to "pandemic-related logistical challenges":

https://playbill.com/article/pre-broadway-dc-engagement-of-kpop-the-musical-canceled

[Robbie2]

Posted: 9/3/21 at 1:17pm

I hear that it will play Circle-In-the Square 

[SouthernCakes]

Posted: 9/3/21 at 1:51pm

Audience interaction? So curious! Sad it was cancelled.

[BCfitasafiddle]

Posted: 3/2/22 at 10:53am

Bump. Likely coming this Fall. They are doing casting now.

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 3/2/22 at 12:07pm

Very interesting that Jennifer Weber will have both this and & Juliet on Broadway at some point next season, in addition to her Hip Hop Nutcracker down in Brooklyn. Finally getting the recognition she deserves!

[jacobsnchz14]

Posted: 3/30/22 at 11:59am

https://www.playbill.com/article/kpop-begins-broadway-previews-at-circle-in-the-square-theatre-october-13-with-k-pop-singer-luna?fbclid=IwAR2_Lq8sBZwevvHXSE1DMYnIsMUif4MiKuTu-u2RMTCBsPYH6KI2xgQOf2s

KPOP Begins Broadway Previews at Circle in the Square Theatre October 13 with K-pop Singer Luna

[TaffyDavenport]

Posted: 3/30/22 at 12:10pm

Tickets are already available on Telecharge.

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 3/30/22 at 12:39pm

I am so excited. I saw the final performance Off-Broadway and I still think about how thrilling that was. I can’t wait to see how it’s being reshaped into a Broadway house, but Circle in the Square is the perfect venue for it.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 3/30/22 at 12:43pm

Is this something that someone like myself who doesn’t enjoy KPOP, could enjoy? I mean, is it just a concert or is there an actual plot?

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 3/30/22 at 12:53pm

Jordan Catalano said: "Is this something that someone like myself who doesn’t enjoy KPOP, could enjoy? I mean, is it just a concert or is there an actual plot?"

“As global superstars put everything on the line for a special one-night-only concert, one singer – played by K-pop and musical theater sensation Luna – faces an inner struggle that threatens to dismantle one of the hottest labels in K-pop. Pulsing with infectious beats, electrifying choreography, and breathtaking joy, KPOP  is an all-consuming multimedia experience that explores the relentless discipline, raw talent, and commercial ambition behind the heart-thumping international phenomenon.

Get tickets now to the award-winning show that opened Off-Broadway to critical acclaim and sold-out crowds as it prepares to take over Broadway this fall.”

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 3/30/22 at 12:55pm

Short answer, yes. I don’t know how much has changed, but it’s about the inner workings of a KPOP studio trying to package three acts (a girl group, a boy band, and a superstar solo artist) for popularity in the US. It deals with western biases, the Asian idealism of western beauty, Asian masculinity, etc. All of the songs are diagetic and are secondary to the backstage drama, although they are all bops. It’s more a play with music, but of course, the songs relate to the situation.

Updated On: 3/30/22 at 12:55 PM

[JBroadway]

Posted: 3/30/22 at 1:03pm

Jordan Catalano said: "Is this something that someone like myself who doesn’t enjoy KPOP, could enjoy? I mean, is it just a concert or is there an actual plot?"

 

Again (and I apologize to those who've been following the various threads who have read my many, repetitive posts on this topic), it's difficult to know what this show is going to look like. When it was Off-Broadway, the show was performed throughout an entire building, and the audience was split up into 3 groups to watch the scenes play out in a different order. And in one segment in particular was heavily reliant on 1-on-1 audience interaction. So the show will likely be re-conceived to some extent, but it's unclear what that extent will be. Will they section off portions of the CITS to split the audience up? Will they have some scenes take place in the lobby or backstage? Or will they abandon the immersive elements of the show, and re-write it accordingly? The latter seems much more feasible and likely to me, but it's hard to know. And even harder to know exactly what it will look like. The planned out of town run would've given us a lot of clarity, but it was cancelled. 

But to answer your question more directly, as well as I can: the show Off-Broadway did have a thin plot, but was largely theme-driven, as each of the 3 main segments was used to dissect and examine some aspect of how KPOP stardom comes with cultural, racial, and societal pressures.  It was very much NOT just a concert, until the epilogue. It was like a "peek behind the curtain" into the backstage lives of 3 KPOP groups (or rather, 2 groups and a solo star). And I, as someone with no knowledge of KPOP, did enjoy it a lot. 

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 3/30/22 at 1:10pm

Jordan Catalano said: "Is this something that someone like myself who doesn’t enjoy KPOP, could enjoy? I mean, is it just a concert or is there an actual plot?"

You will love it. The Ars Nova production was a thrill.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 3/30/22 at 1:25pm

That’s awesome to hear! I’ll get tix now.