Claim your backstage pass and dive inside the high-stakes world of K-pop with this exhilarating new Broadway-bound musical. As global superstars put everything on the line for a special one-night-only concert, one singer's inner struggle threatens to dismantle one of the hottest labels in K-pop. Pulsing with infectious beats, electrifying choreography, and breathtaking joy, KPOP, the Broadway Musical, is an all-consuming multimedia experience that explores the relentless discipline, raw talent, and commercial ambition behind the heart-thumping international phenomenon.
The 2017 Off-Broadway incarnation of the new musical KPOP opened at a venue just a few blocks away from its current Broadway home at the Circle in the Square. But despite the short distance, much of the show’s impact has been lost along the way. The original production was immersive, with segments of the audience moving from one location to another to witness the aching workloads and personal conflicts of young Korean performers to achieve stardom under the guidance of an ambitious record label. That aspect has been necessarily and understandably lost in the show’s transition to a traditional Broadway theater, albeit the only one featuring in-the-round seating. Unfortunately, much of what made the earlier production interesting has been discarded as well, resulting in a more sanitized, less thematically interesting experience that mainly relies on the propulsive energy of its many musical numbers to fuel the evening. The end result provides a reasonably enjoyable facsimile of K-Pop music, but it’s certainly not the same KPOP.
nifer Weber’s formula-based though clever pop-and-bop choreography―with a stylistic assist from assistant choreographer MJ Choi―is as fun and catchy as anything Britney Spears ever performed. Likewise, Helen Park’s and Max Vernon’s evocative score is full of bangers that also comment on the action―much like John Kander and Fred Ebb’s Cabaret. And Jiyoun Chang’s lighting, Mia M. and Neal’s hair and wigs, Joe Dulude II and Suki Tsujimoto, and Peter Fitzgerald and Andrew Keister’s make-up designs must be applauded for converting the show into an actual pop concert. But hats off to director Teddy Bergman for doing the impossible―modulating each show-stopping element so that Kim’s wonderful, multilingual book never loses focus. Though KPOP feels fresh, there is a precedent for what it has accomplished. Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II essentially laid out the blueprint when they revolutionized musical theatre in 1927 with Show Boat―another backstage drama and the first Broadway musical to seamlessly integrate dialogue, music, and dance in the service of plot. Almost one century later, it is a pleasure to see this glorious cast of Pan-Asian performers reclaim and elevate the form. If this is the future of Broadway, please consider me a rabid and reinvigorated stan.
2022 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2023 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Choreography | Jennifer Weber |
2023 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Costume Design of a Musical | Clint Ramos |
2023 | Tony Awards | Best Choreography | Jennifer Weber |
2023 | Tony Awards | Best Costume Design of a Musical | Clint Ramos |
2023 | Tony Awards | Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre | Helen Park |
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