Cultural Insight

[Anchor Lead]

A one of a kind Korean classical opera will be showcased next month that squarely deals with the sexual minorities of the Joseon dynasty era. The production is drawing attention not only for the unusual topic, but also for its star-studded cast that includes all the big names in Korean traditional music called "gukak."

[Pkg]

The idol star in Korean traditional music Kim Jun-su as well as other famous gukak singers such as Park Ae-ri and Yoo Taepyungyang will all appear in one show. A Korean classical opera titled "My Name is Sabangji" will debut on February 16th. It is the story of the character Sabangji, a sexual minority living in the Joseon era, performed in the Korean traditional musical storytelling genre of Pansori. Sabangji was a real life person whose records exist in the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty. The records coated with some imagination have given life to the opera production. Kim Jun-su who will play Sabangji is known to be the best fit for the role. He previously did a great job in portraying a beautiful lady in the classical opera "The Trojan Women." Other main cast members are also familiar faces in the gukak world. How the singers will create synergy on stage is already raising audience expectations. It is a known fact that the K-pop scene has several music groups comprising members from Korea and China. But this time the two countries are about to launch a TV show on unearthing promising entertainers. Company K Global, a company specializing in developing Korea-China cultural content, has joined hands with the Chinese online live platform Huya TV to produce a TV show entitled "School of be a star." The program will help aspiring entertainers from China to debut as singers, actors or models. Their training process will be broadcast live on Huya TV starting in March. A person from the production team said that the project will hopefully inspire more joint Korea-China projects.