| The Last Empress | |
|---|---|
| Music | Kim Hee Gap |
| Lyrics | Yang In Ja Georgina St George |
| Book | Mun Yol Yi |
| Basis | Historical novel by Yi Mun Yol |
| Productions | 1995 Seoul 1997 Lincoln Center 2002 West End 2003 Los Angeles 2004 Toronto 2007 Seoul |
The Last Empress (Hangul: 뮤지컬 명성황후) is a musical about Empress Myeongseong of Korea. It debuted in 1995 as South Korea's first original musical, and is continuing its run in Seoul as of February 2007. It is based on a historical novel written by the well-known South Korean author Yi Mun Yol, composed by Kim Hee Gap, with lyrics by Yang In Ja (translated by Georgina St George), and directed by Yun Ho Jin. The 21⁄2-hour musical is produced by Seoul-based Arts Communication (A-Com).
The original production at the Seoul Performing Arts Center expects to reach one million ticket sales by March 2007.[1]
It played at the New York State Theater, Lincoln Center, in 1997 and 1998, to favorable reviews. It also played in London's West End in 2002 [2], the Kodak Theater in Los Angeles in 2003, [3] and at Toronto's Hummingbird Centre in 2004 [4].