First Act, Last Laugh, Part 2

I have a message  for whomever tried to stop “Yoduk Story” from playing in Seoul:  read, weep, and know that you have failed.

“Whomever,” according to producer Jung Sung-San and the daily Chosun Ilbo (which backed YS), is  someone  in the South Korean government.  Eventually, the South Korean government got around to denying this.  Personally, I wasn’t there.  All I can say is that the accusation is  consistent with other things the South Korean government has done to  cover for the North Koreans  (censoring defectors, censoring opposition media, beating a human rights activist,  and ordering police to  shadow peaceful protestors, to name a few). 

Another possibility I can’t rule out  is that  the threats were the work of  pro-North or radical  groups in the South, which have carried out  death threats  against defectors, blocked the U.S. Ambassador  from attending an interview, and engaged in  violent attacks on U.S. service members  (see page 15)).  If so, the government certainly didn’t exercise itself to defend freedom of expression from the threat of politically motivated violence.  The threats that caused several investors to pull out of YS  came several months after the Korean press first reported them.   I have sometimes characterized the state’s deliberate absention from enforcing the rule of law, “vicarious censorship.”

Whatever the government’s ultimate culpability,  it must rue the results:  a wave of free publicity, high-level U.S. government attention, and eventually,  a triumphant U.S. tour.  The L.A. Times takes it from here:

A musical about life in a North Korean concentration camp that features heartbreaking lyrics, such as, “In my dreams I can still see my starving brothers and sisters,” drew standing-room-only crowds brought in by the busload during its four-night Los Angeles run, which ended Sunday.

When an unexpected snag only a few days before its opening meant the show could not be performed at the Scottish Rite Auditorium in Hancock Park, a coalition of local Korean American churches scrambled to find a new venue. The churches then decided to offer free admission. Hundreds of people each night were turned away.

What might have been a last-minute show-stopper worked to Jung’s favor when the musical’s organizers rolled with it:

Jung and the South Korean cast members had their hands full after arriving in Los Angeles. Less than a week before the opening, they learned that their planned venue, the Scottish Rite Auditorium, had been closed by court order after a prolonged battle with local residents over traffic and noise. The Korean Church Coalition, which was sponsoring the musical, had already sold 4,000 tickets at up to $80 apiece.

When the churches could not find another theater for the troupe, they decided to present “Yoduk Story” at Holy Hill Community Church near downtown Los Angeles. The church has 1,500 seats, 200 fewer than the Scottish Rite; the stage is about a fifth the size and there is no curtain.

The Korean churches refunded the ticket money and decided to offer the show free, underwriting the $300,000 cost and hoping that donations at the performances would offset some of their costs.

Kwan S. Oh, a deacon at Bethel Korean Church in Irvine, believes it was a good move. He said he wants second-generation Korean Americans “to know what we’re talking about in North Korea,” he said. Maybe the last-minute shuffling “was God’s way of making it so that everybody could come for free.”

Because scores were turned away from the packed auditorium Thursday night, people began lining up outside the church with picnic lunches about 2 p.m. Friday in hopes of getting a good seat. On Saturday night, organizers set up an outdoor screen so 200 people could watch by closed-circuit television.

I attended on opening night here in DC, at Strathmore Hall.  As I’ve already noted, I am not a theater critic.  I generally hate musicals too much to even  bear  sitting through them, but I went anyway, for political reasons and to blog about what I saw.  My full report is  here.  If my endorsement sounds less than rousing, it’s because my lack  of artistic qualifications prevents me from saying anything stonger than this:  YS definitely did not suck.  While it was too emotionally jarring to be “enjoyable,” it  held my interest and  looked like  good art.  No one fell down during any of the dance numbers, the singing sounded good, the characters were  interesting, and the sets and lighting looked great.  Certain scenes seemed schmaltzy, but I’d probably say the same at Les Miz, because  the musical genre itself is the height of schmaltz.  The other audience members responded well.  You could feel the love.  “Packed house” probably overstates it, but the hall — and it was very large — looked to be about 70% full.

Thanks to a reader for sending, and congratulations to those who worked so hard to bring “Yoduk Story” here.  That includes myself, I guess, after the whole day I spent putting up posters and passing out leaflets.

(photos from here)