CJ Cultural Foundation Creative Support 'Stage Up' Selected Works: 4 Pieces Revealed

Group photo of creators selected for Stage Up 2020
[Photo by CJ Cultural Foundation]

[Asia Economy Reporter Byunghee Park] CJ Cultural Foundation has revealed four original musicals that were finally selected for the Stage Up support project in the performance sector. Stage Up is a project by CJ Cultural Foundation, which is in charge of CJ Group’s cultural contribution activities, supporting new musical creators in developing their works and entering the market.

This year’s call for creators’ support ran from the end of February to March 31, with a total of 114 works submitted, about twice as many as last year. Four musicals that overcame fierce competition of about 30:1 are 'Du Eolgul (Two Faces)' (writer Hansol Kim, composers Hyeji Jung and Hyesung Moon), 'Saint Sophia' (writer Soyeon Yang, composer Seunghyun Lee), 'Mom is Sixteen' (writer Ara Yoo, composer Kyungin Jung), and 'Hongindae' (writer Hyunbeom Song, composer Juhyun Kim).

'Du Eolgul' tells the story of love and art of Byeon Dongrim (also known as Kim Hyangan), who was the wife of poet Lee Sang and also the wife of painter Kim Whanki. 'Saint Sophia' reinterprets Dostoevsky’s novel Crime and Punishment from the perspective of Sonya, a supporting character, presenting the story through the eyes of an autonomous woman. 'Mom is Sixteen' is a contemporary play depicting the love and friendship between a mother and daughter within a family that lived together but each felt lonely. 'Hongindae' draws inspiration from a single line in the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty about Crown Prince Yangnyeong meeting a performance troupe outside the palace.

This year, CJ Cultural Foundation doubled the creative support funds provided to creators compared to last year, strengthening support to offer more practical help. In particular, industry experts were invited as mentors for each team, enabling creators to develop their works as a team with mentors until the reading performance scheduled for the end of this year.

The mentors include eight professionals: director Yongsin Jo, who served as artistic director of CJ Cultural Foundation’s Stage Up until last year; director Taeyoung Jung of musicals Suspect X’s Devotion and Robin; music director Eunyeong Kim, who worked on musicals Paganini and Death Song; director Kyungtaek Oh of musicals Red Book and The Origin of Evil by Darwin Young; music director Gillyeo Kim, active in musicals Pan and Song of the Dark; music director Juin Yang of musicals Kinky Boots and The Goddess is Watching; director Sehyuk Oh and music director Jinwook Lee, who collaborated on musicals Rachmaninoff and The Brothers Karamazov.

Meanwhile, this year’s selected works for the space support project are the play Chalchak and the musical Unfathomable Youth. Both works are scheduled to meet audiences on the CJ Azit Daehangno stage in July and August this year. The space support project, added in 2016, creates opportunities for small theater companies to perform promising original works. Selected companies can use the CJ Azit Daehangno theater and its facilities and equipment free of charge, and receive a certain amount of creative support funds, promotional marketing related to the performance, and house operation staff support.

A CJ Cultural Foundation official said, “We plan to work hard on developing works by communicating and considering various aspects together with new creators and a strong mentor group so that original creative performances with outstanding potential can shine. We hope that as the performance market stretches again in the second half of the year after overcoming difficulties caused by COVID-19 earlier this year, the foundation’s support projects will serve as a catalyst for revitalizing the ecosystem.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.