Home-grown Korean Musical to Open in Japan Next January

"The Sorrow of Young Werthers" 2012 cast members Kim Jae-beom (left), Kim Da-hyeon (second to left), Seong Doo-seob (second to right) and Jun Dong-seok (right) pose in the cover photo of the musical's Seoul shows, which opened its curtain at Seoul's Universal Arts Center, Korea, on October 25, 2012.

One of the most popular Korean musicals that has been playing for 12 years is set to raise its curtain in Japan in three months' time.

The original cast of acclaimed musical “The Sorrow of Young Werthers” will meet Japanese musical fans at Tokyo’s Akasaka ACT Theater from November 11 to 26 in 2013, the show’s co-producing firm CJ E&M said in a press release Friday.

“I’m sure ’The Sorrow of Young Werthers’ will touch the heart of the Japanese audiences since the musical is highly differentiated from other Korean musicals by meeting people's high expectations and taste without idol cast members. Plus, the show well-describes an innocent man named Werthers through its lyrical music and story,” an official from the show’s local organizer PIA said in a statement.

Based on Goethe’s popular classic of the same name, stagewriter Goh Seon-woong turned the epistolary-styled novel into a dramatic script. His musical version highlights the contrast between two main characters, stable and rational man Albert and unstable yet innocent man Werthers.

Back in 2000 when the show premiered in Seoul, a fan club composed of local musical fans collected production investment money for its next run in 2003, to support the on-stage love story now rendering over 30 musical numbers.

In Korea, the 2012 show has renewed itself with the biggest-ever orchestra composed of 14 members. With such refreshment, "The Sorrow of Young Werthers" opened its curtain at Seoul’s Universal Arts Center on Thursday for a two-month run.

Official poster of "The Sorrow of Young Werthers" 2012 show which opened its curtain at Seoul's Universal Arts Center, Korea, on October 25, 2012. [CJ E&M]

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