If the people of the world take a look at the history of the Chosun Period, Japan very cruelly went fox hunting in Korea. The fox was the last queen of the Chosun Period. But why was the world so inattentive at this moment? It was because they wanted to share benefits with Japan. I want to tell my feelings about the story of the Korean musical named The Last Empress.
The commercial will be added soon…
Rise People of Chosun, The Last Empress
It starts in 1866 when Japan progressed to take benefits from Korea and China during what is now known as Japanese Imperialism. Koreans experienced horror; weak and powerless rulers had to fight against strong empirical powers. In spite of a smart royal family, they could not help the country. And so, Japan takes power and resources only for the Japanese. After a ninja assassinated the smart queen, Emperor Kojong despairs but had to be attentive about reparations. He sent out letters for foreign help, but was ignored completely.
Lee Mon Yeol, Kim Hee Gap, and Yang In Ja, and the actors described the situation well. Passion, patriotism, terror, misery, desire, and unawareness about the future are the top conceptual themes of all the songs. Overture about the misery of the last queen sounds destitute and warlike and it makes you sad. Also, power fights, rulers who married at the wrong age at the wrong time and grownup rulers happy at the imports of new western inventions constitute the themes of the other songs. After the Koreans lost the fight, the last song that desperately called to the Korean people to rise up and hungrily open a new age really relieved and inspired me.
Those who feel sympathetic about this story, I am sure that they will come and watch this if this production visits the city. Most of the songs are not familiar but the story is. I hope that the world people enjoys this and appreciates it. We still can spread the story around through international tours. This production opens in Broadway, London, LA, many regions in South Korea, and Toronto.
