Musical The Man in Hanbok 3...Stage, music, actor 3 beats perfect K historical drama + European epic drama meeting
Nov 27, 2025
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Prospective audiences are paying keen attention to the work, with the musical 『Man in Hanbok』, which is set to premiere at the Chungmu Art Center Grand Theater in Seoul on the 2nd of next month, only two weeks before the opening. Starting from the story of Jang Young-sil, a genius scientist in Joseon, "Man in Hanbok" is considered one of the best anticipated works this winter, foreshadowing a dynamic narrative that crosses 600 years of time and space.
▶ The aesthetics of K-historical drama...an original stage where we meet European-style epic dramas
The musical "The Man in Hanbok" directed by Kwon Eun-ah, who has been active in 'Matahari', 'Mozart!', 'Excalibur', 'Monte Cristo', led by executive producer Um Hong-hyun, is expected to bring together top creative teams to present a completely new style of work. The work is set in Joseon in Act 1 and Europe in Act 2, and plans to showcase the aesthetics of Joseon and the sense of Renaissance Europe at the same time. The work will provide a variety of attractions through a bold challenge that embodies two worlds from completely different backgrounds on one stage.
The stage, which combines the grandeur of Gyeongbokgung Palace's Geunjeongjeon Hall and the architectural beauty of the Renaissance period, conveys an overwhelming image in itself. Stage designer Seo Sook-jin, who has shown a stage with overwhelming beauty and detail through various works such as 'Mozart!', 'Benhe', and 'Frankenstein', contrasted Joseon, which was like 'House' to Jang Young-sil, with the concept of 'Roof', and unfamiliar land Europe with 'A vast place without a roof'. In addition, lighting designer Koo Yoon-young visualized the stark difference between the two spaces by expressing Joseon as a 'spread' of ink painting and Italy as a ' oil painting' of primary color. At the same time, the costumes of Oh Yoo-kyung, a costume designer who reinterpreted the fantastic mise-en-scène where the East and the West coexist, and hanbok's unique beauty, are expected to give the audience a mysterious experience that transcends time and space.
▶ Korean sentiment...a contemporary style of music that is like a festival
Music is expected to be the highlight of this work. The music that leads the narrative of the work focuses on unraveling our own emotions in the most modern way, perfectly portraying lyrical and delicate emotions through the most Korean and global music.
Lee Seong-jun, the music director of 'Benhe' and 'Frankenstein', expressed his ambition to present 'festival-like music' through attempts to reinterpret traditional music such as 'Daechwita' or 'Milyang Arirang' with modern orchestra sound and pop sensibility. Such music is expected to convey deep emotion and comfort to the audience by expressing the universal human inner world that is also used by audiences living in modern times beyond time and space.
In addition, the music video and lyric video numbers were released earlier, raising expectations for the music of the work. Major numbers such as Yeongsil's 'Missing', 'Existing to Leave', and 'Vicha', Sejong's 'In Your Own Star', Jinseok's 'Man in Hanbok', and Princess Justice's 'One Layer effectively reveal the situation and inner side of each character. The music of the work, which allows each character to freely create a dream and sing hope, to feel the emotions of longing and loneliness after breaking up in an unexpected situation, adds expectation to their narratives to be revealed in the main performance.
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All major roles are set to two roles per person, depicting the human group image that exists beyond the times in three dimensions, making veteran actors expect a variety of acting transformations.
Park Eun-tae, Jeon Jeon-seok, Ko Eun-seong, a scholar who traces the truth of Joseon's genius scientists Young-sil and memorabilia, and Sejong, who created Hunminjeongeum for the people and worked hard on scientific development, and Kai, Shin Seong-rok, and Lee Kyu-hyung, who pursue the truth in the memorandum, are actors who give trust just by name. They plan to completely build their own two-person characters with dense acting.
In addition, Min Young-ki as Professor Ma, who helps Jang Young-sil, turns a blind eye to the truth of the leader Jeong-hwa and the memorandum, Choi Min-cheol, who eventually helps Kang Bae and Jin-seok, Kim Joo-ho as Lee Am and Pope, Kim Dae-ho as Jeong Eui-gong and Lee Ji-soo as Elena, Choi Ji-hye, Yoon Sun-yong as Manbok and Toscanelli, Park Hyung-gyu as Mi-ryeong and Paola, Son Eui-wan as well as Kim Yeon-jun are predicting the birth of life characters that give the audience shudder by completing a solid lineup.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
