EMK Musical Company
The musical ‘Beethoven’ meets new hope and jubilation with a distinctly revamped production!
Park Hyo-shin·Hong Kwang-ho signaled a full-fledged box-office takeoff with densely wrought inner characterization and onstage performances across the previews.
Opening on the 9th, the musical ‘Beethoven’ held preview performances through the 10th at the Sejong Center Grand Theater in Seoul, getting off to a successful start. This season, which seeks sweeping change with a renewed narrative and staging, has finely honed the narrative flow and character relationships, raising anticipation for the performances ahead.
After the preview ended, playwright Michael Kunze, who came on stage to greet the audience, said, “When I first conceived this story, it was nothing more than a small seed. Tonight, that small seed has grown into a great tree. That seems to be the mystery and the miracle of performance,” and he expressed his gratitude to the creative team and the artists who completed the show together.
He added, “I hope that when we leave this theater tonight, we all share the same heart. I hope we can believe that the great and the magnificent can be achieved when everyone comes together to dream the same dream,” emphasizing the message of hope and solidarity conveyed by the work.
The musical ‘Beethoven’ is a work created in collaboration by playwright Michael Kunze and composer Sylvester Levay with EMK Musical Company, reinterpreting the life of a master who, even amid the crisis of losing hearing, refused to bend his will toward music. Returning to the stage after three years, this production goes beyond simple revisions to refine its overall storytelling approach. In particular, it restructures the drama to delve more deeply into the solitude and artistic struggle the maestro faced by foregrounding Symphony No. 9 ‘Choral’, written during his period of deafness, as the central narrative.
Within the piece, the gradual loss of hearing is meticulously dramatized, and sounds such as tinnitus as heard from the point of view of Beethoven are rendered through sound design, enabling the audience to feel more vividly the psychological isolation he confronted. Alongside this, the relationship between Beethoven and Toni is also newly established in this production. Toni is reborn as a more three-dimensional character, with his bond and friendship as someone who deeply understands and supports the man Beethoven brought further to the fore.
With relationships and symbolic elements reorganized, this season also refines its musical structure in step with the narrative changes. In addition to the new song ‘Forever True’, a new duet for Beethoven and Antoni that organically weaves together Piano Sonata No. 8 ‘Pathetique’ and Piano Concerto No. 5 ‘Emperor’ has been added, tying the emotional arcs of the characters and the narrative more tightly. Furthermore, by placing the ‘Choral Symphony’, known as the final symphony of Beethoven, at the beginning and end of the piece, the production underscores its message of overcoming hardship and moving beyond despair toward joy.
The choreography has also been reconfigured around the pain and psychological narrative of Beethoven. The ‘spirit’ that represents his inspiration is depicted through dance as a cold and harsh presence that drives only creation while turning away from his suffering, creating a sharper dramatic tension than the original run. Intuitive imagery is added to maximize visual immersion.
In terms of stagecraft, the era is recreated in fine detail. From a court ball unfolding beneath chandeliers and a rose garden, to the Vienna Court Theater, alleyways in the old town of Vienna and its bustling stock exchange, and even a concert hall opening ceremony, the spaces of the time are realized three-dimensionally to add density to the drama.
In this season, where the narrative and character relationships have been meticulously restructured, the performances of the cast also stood out. In particular, Park Hyo-shin and Hong Kwang-ho, who drew attention from the moment the casting was announced for the role of Ludwig van Beethoven, led the drama by portraying in depth the inner world of the master who did not lose the will to create even in the crisis of losing hearing. The stable acting and organic ensemble of the entire cast further heightened the immersion of the work.
After completing its previews with a renewed narrative and music, the musical ‘Beethoven’ holds its grand opening on the 11th and will run through August 11 at the Sejong Center Grand Theater in Seoul.
