Week 2 of DIMF Showcases 4 Works Including 'You&It'... Closing on November 1

14th DIMF Official Invitation Work 'You&It' Performance Scene [Photo by EG Musical Company, (c) Park Taeyang]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] The 14th Daegu International Musical Festival (DIMF), which opened on the 23rd, is entering its second week and will present four works including the official invitation piece 'You & It' (written by Oh Seo-eun, music by Lee Eung-gyu, produced by EG Musical Company).

This year, DIMF opened in October instead of summer as in previous years due to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). The festival runs until November 1 with a two-track concept of offline performances focusing on domestic original musicals and an online screening of past DIMF overseas official invitation works. In the first week of the opening, five musical works were presented along with an online global opening concert.

This week, the final week of the festival, four works will be presented along with the closing concert scheduled for November 1.

'You & It' won the DIMF 'Original Musical Award' last year and is the only official invitation work on stage this year. It will be performed three times on October 30-31 at the Culture and Arts Theater CT located in Dongseong-ro, Daegu.

'You & It' is a two-person play depicting the story of a protagonist trapped in grief after losing his wife who meets an AI robot identical to his wife. The performance on the 31st at 6 p.m. will be broadcast live on Naver TV.

The last original support work of the 14th DIMF, 'The Ballroom Bombing Incident' (written by Kim Yoon-young, music by Kim Da-yeon, produced by BE Musical Company), is a period drama connected to the 100th anniversary of the March 1st Movement. The story revolves around 'Yoon,' a female independence fighter during the Japanese colonial period, and 'Jaehwi,' a playboy, with interesting events unfolding around them. Originally a 20-minute one-act play presented at the 'Chungmu Art Hall Musical Academy' in 2017, it has undergone three years of development and will premiere this year at DIMF. It will be performed on the 30th and 31st at the Eoul Art Center.

'Pure and Blue' (written by Kim Mi-jung, music by Pyeon Jun-won, produced by Guri Mirror) is a work that captures the story of the genius poet Go Wol Lee Jang-hee, who led the Daegu literary scene during the Japanese colonial period, with a watercolor-like sensibility. It is the representative work of the performing arts group Guri Mirror, founded in 2014, and will be performed on the 30th and 31st at the Bongsan Cultural Center Gaon Hall.

'Grease,' performed by musical major students from the Department of Life Music at Keimyung University, who won the Excellence Award in the university musical festival category at the 13th DIMF Awards, will be performed twice on the 28th at the Ayang Art Center. The musical 'Grease' is free of charge, and up to two tickets per person can be reserved through the DIMF official website.

The closing concert of the 14th DIMF, held at 3 p.m. on November 1 at the Daegu Opera House, will be streamed live on Naver TV. The stage will feature past grand prize winners of the 'DIMF Musical Star' since 2015 and the 2020 DIMF Musical Star protagonists, concluding this year's DIMF and looking forward to next year. Additionally, among the four original support works premiered during the festival, the winner of the 'Original Musical Award' will be announced.

The online screening of overseas official invitation works introduced to Korea through DIMF over the past 13 years will continue.

Six works including the 12th official invitation piece 'Girl Zhibek' (Kazakhstan), which faithfully captures Kazakhstan's unique culture; the 10th DIMF closing work 'Madame de Pompadour' (Slovakia); the 12th DIMF official invitation work 'Mr. and Mrs. Single' (China), which showcases the growth of Chinese musicals; and the first hip-hop musical introduced domestically, the 13th DIMF official invitation work 'La Calderona' (Spain), will continue screening. On the closing day, November 1, all nine works released through the 'online screening' will be available for viewing 24 hours nonstop.

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