[On Stage] Lee Sojeong Returns After 6 Years: "The Charm of Bernarda Alba Is Musical Pleasure"

Debuted in 1995 as Kim in 'Miss Saigon'... First Korean Lead on Broadway
Starred as the lead in 'Bernarda Alba' "Alba is a lonely and pitiful character"
"Unfamiliar and alien music adds a refreshing touch to the heavy play"

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] A stage filled with only 10 actresses. Flamenco, a passionate and sensual dance that highlights the charm of the actresses. Rough and straightforward lines that seem to chew and spit out the grudges in the heart.

The musical 'Bernarda Alba,' which premiered in October-November 2018, recorded sold-out performances for all shows amid explosive attention. 'Bernarda Alba' is returning to the stage. It will open at Jeongdong Theater on January 22 next year.

Along with 'Bernarda Alba,' actress Lee So-jung (47) is also returning to the musical stage. She is the first Korean to play the lead role on Broadway. This is a title like a medal forever granted to Lee So-jung. Lee So-jung debuted as a musical actress in 1995, playing the role of 'Kim' in 'Miss Saigon' on Broadway. Lee So-jung, who was active back and forth between Korea and the U.S., had not appeared on the musical stage since 'The Sun King' in 2014. We met Lee So-jung at Jeongdong Theater on the 14th. It seems there was an instinctive attraction to appear in a musical after six years.

"Maybe because I've been in this field for a long time, I can feel things just by looking at the poster. The premiere poster of 'Bernarda Alba' was intense. Even from the poster, I could sense the completeness of the performance. I thought it would be a cool show. So when I was cast, it felt amazing."

Lee So-jung, who appears as Bernarda Alba in the musical 'Bernarda Alba'
Photo by Jeongdong Theater

Lee So-jung auditioned for the lead role 'Bernarda Alba' and 'Poncia,' the oldest maid among the servants. She was ultimately cast as 'Bernarda Alba.'

'Bernarda Alba' depicts the story of a widow raising five daughters in a rural village in Spain in the 1930s. The original title of the play, completed in 1936 by Spanish writer Federico Garc?a Lorca, is 'The House of Bernarda Alba.' Lorca lost his life two months after completing the play due to the Spanish Civil War that broke out the following month.

Alba had five daughters from two husbands. The play begins after the death of the second husband. Alba orders her daughters to observe an eight-year mourning period according to family tradition and exerts strong control over them.

"Almost every scene where Alba appears starts with lines like 'What are you doing?' or 'Can't you be quiet!' This is the theme of this musical. It shows how people react to the oppression of those in power who suppress freedom and how a small society collapses."

In fact, Alba is also a victim of feudal customs. The number 'Bernarda's Prayer,' sung by Alba in the play, illustrates this well. It is also Lee So-jung's favorite number.

'Bernarda's Prayer' begins with the lyrics 'Holy Mary, forgive me.' At the climax, Alba cries out to her deceased husband Antonio, screaming, 'I am your whore.' This expresses her anger that Antonio treated her violently as if she were a prostitute. Alba then inflicts violence on her daughters under the guise of tradition. The play questions whether social structures force violence on individuals.

Lee So-jung described Alba as "a character who gives the feeling of our mothers and grandmothers who are now over 80 years old." "While acting as Alba, there are times I feel sorry for her. Alba does unreasonable things, but I think she had no choice because she lived through such a life in that era. So I feel sorry for her."

The more Alba tries to control, the more the daughters try to break free. Although the degree varies, all the daughters keep their distance from Alba. It shows the nature of power that becomes lonelier the more it tries to possess. "Because Alba holds power, she may not seem like a pitiful person on the surface, but in reality, she is a very lonely figure."

Lee So-jung, appearing as Bernarda Alba in the musical 'Bernarda Alba'
Photo by Jeongdong Theater

Lee So-jung's life, who said she would go to the U.S. in high school to become a world-class musical actress, might have been closer to the lives of the daughters in the play. Lee So-jung said she completely understands the daughters' feelings. "My parents raised me independently so that their children could do whatever they wanted. When I said I wanted to become a musical actress without knowing anything, my father said, 'How will you make a living as a musical actress? If you want to do it, think of the stage as a grave and work hard.'"

Dance is a way to resist oppression. "The daughters' desires and longing for freedom are expressed through dance." The actresses playing the daughters undergo about two months of flamenco preliminary practice.

Lee So-jung said the biggest attraction of 'Bernarda Alba' is the music. She described it as "the pleasure from the music's strangeness."

"There are standardized Broadway or European musical music styles familiar to Korean audiences. You cannot hear such music in 'Bernarda Alba.' That is the biggest charm point of this work. For example, the beginning of 'Bernarda's Prayer' makes the audience somewhat uncomfortable. There is a peculiar intensity that comes from that discomfort. It may feel unfamiliar, but those who enjoy diverse music can think, 'So musicals can be made with this kind of music.' The play is heavy and dark, but the fresh strangeness of the music gives the play a refreshing quality. Instead of ordinary and familiar music, the selected fresh music enhances the weight of the original work."

Lee So-jung said she focused more on singing than acting after releasing the album 'I Love A Piano' in 2013. Even during the six years she did not perform in musicals, she communicated with the public through jazz concerts and other activities. She said she wants to appear on musical stages more in the future. "As I get older, the roles I can do decrease, so I want to appear in as many works as possible while I can."

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