Despite Coronavirus, K-pop Theater Show Seeks Performers

Most theaters in America may be closed, but one musical theater show is not letting that stop it from preparing.

"KPOP" is a musical exploring the world of Korean pop music. The producers are doing a video-based casting call worldwide in hopes of being ready when live performances restart.

Jason Kim is the playwright¹, or writer, of the musical. "We really hope as soon as possible to get into a room with all these people and see them in person," he told the Associated Press.

Producers are looking for Korean, Korean American and Asian American men and women in their 20s. They "must be excellent singers" with a strong pop sound and great dancers. Knowing K-pop music is, of course, helpful.

Claire Burke is a casting director at Tara Rubin Casting in New York. She said she and her team have a "very tall ask." They are looking for performers who have all the energy and lovability of pop stars and also serious acting² skills.

"It's about the shine and the performance and the dancing and the singing — that's huge," she said. But people also need to be able to really feel the emotion of it.

Those who hope to be in the musical are asked to send a video of themselves singing a pop or K-pop song and a video of their dance moves. Submissions⁴ have so far come from the United States, South Korea, Britain, Canada, Japan and Kazakhstan and other countries.

When "KPOP" returns, it will represent a rare thing — a live theater production with a nearly all-Asian cast. The last time New York City had anything like that was in 2015 with "Allegiance." It was a musical based on American actor George Takei's life in a Japanese internment⁵ camp during World War II.

Kim said he strongly believes the right performers are out there and have been "for a really long time."

"KPOP," which had its first showing in New York City in 2017, follows the lives of three sets of performers. It follows a boy band, a girl band and a young woman singer as they try to gain success in the American music market.

Theater critics have had great things to say about "KPOP."

In the original musical, crowds followed different performers from room to room. Kim is rewriting it for a more traditional theater setting and songwriter Helen Park is adding new songs.

The show is changing just as K-pop music is. In the years since it began, Americans have learned more about the music, including such groups as BTS, EXO and BLACKPINK. K-pop fans have also spoken online about everything from Black Lives Matter to Donald Trump⁶.

How casting is happening

Kim has been helping⁷ the casting people go through hundreds of submissions to cast for 12 performers.

Candidates who the team likes are sent material from the show to record and submit. The next step is a live video meeting with the creative team. Then, if chosen, candidates receive a message that they will see everyone at rehearsals⁹ — whenever that happens.

Burke's team is showing understanding about the quality of submissions because of the coronavirus crisis. The usual process has candidates in a room together learning dance moves at the same time. It also has a trained actor as an audition¹⁰ reader along with a person who knows the music. None of that is happening for the online process.

Instead, the "KPOP" team has to deal with poor home microphones, bad lighting¹¹ and the real chance that a candidate's mother or sister is holding the cellular¹² phone to record.

"I don't want to say forgiving, but I am definitely more mindful that everyone has a very different situation" when they are recording¹³ and submitting a video, Burke said.

She said the most exciting thing about her job is when she finds people who may never have thought about musical theater as a career.

I'm Alice Bryant.

Words in This Story

pop - n. music that is popular

casting - n. assigning roles for a play, movie or something else

submission³ - n. a document, proposal, piece of writing, or something else that is given to someone to be considered or approved

internment - n. the act of putting someone in a prison for political reasons or during a war

band - n. a usually small group of musicians who play or perform music together

candidate - n. a person who is being considered for a job, position, award or something else

rehearsal⁸ - n. an event at which a person or group practices an activity (such as singing, dancing, or acting) in order to prepare for a public performance

audition - n. a short performance to show the talents of someone who is being considered for a role

1 playwright   

n.剧作家，编写剧本的人

参考例句：

• Gwyn Thomas was a famous playwright.格温·托马斯是著名的剧作家。
• The playwright was slaughtered by the press.这位剧作家受到新闻界的无情批判。

2 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

3 submission   

n.服从，投降；温顺，谦虚；提出

参考例句：

• The defeated general showed his submission by giving up his sword.战败将军缴剑表示投降。
• No enemy can frighten us into submission.任何敌人的恐吓都不能使我们屈服。

4 submissions   

n.提交( submission的名词复数 )；屈从；归顺；向法官或陪审团提出的意见或论据

参考例句：

• The deadline for submissions to the competition will be Easter 1994. 递交参赛申请的截止时间为1994年的复活节。 来自辞典例句
• Section 556(d) allows the agency to substitute written submissions for oral direct testimony in rulemaking. 第五百五十六条第（四）款准允行政机关在规则制定中用书面提交材料替代口头的直接证言。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法

5 internment   

n.拘留

参考例句：

• Certainly the recent attacks against the internment camps are evidence enough. 很明显，最近营地遭受到的攻击就是一个足好的证明。 来自互联网
• The chapters on the internment are Both readaBle and well researched. 这些关于拘留的章节不仅具可读性而且研究得很透彻。 来自互联网

6 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

7 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

8 rehearsal   

n.排练，排演；练习

参考例句：

• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。
• You can sharpen your skills with rehearsal.排练可以让技巧更加纯熟。

9 rehearsals   

n.练习( rehearsal的名词复数 )；排练；复述；重复

参考例句：

• The earlier protests had just been dress rehearsals for full-scale revolution. 早期的抗议仅仅是大革命开始前的预演。
• She worked like a demon all through rehearsals. 她每次排演时始终精力过人。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 audition   

n.(对志愿艺人等的)面试(指试读、试唱等)

参考例句：

• I'm going to the audition but I don't expect I'll get a part.我去试音，可并不指望会给我个角色演出。
• At first,they said he was too young,but later they called him for an audition.起初，他们说他太小，但后来他们叫他去试听。

11 lighting   

n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光

参考例句：

• The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
• The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。

12 cellular   

adj.移动的；细胞的，由细胞组成的

参考例句：

• She has a cellular telephone in her car.她的汽车里有一部无线通讯电话机。
• Many people use cellular materials as sensitive elements in hygrometers.很多人用蜂窝状的材料作为测量温度的传感元件。

13 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。