The Last Empress

Infobox Musical
name= The Last Empress
subtitle=


caption=
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
awards=

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 2 1/2-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. [http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/nation/200702/kt2007020417312852920.htm]

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 [http://www.curtainup.com/lastempresslond.html] , the Kodak Theater in Los Angeles in 2003, [http://www.laweekly.com/index.php?option=com_lsd&task=film&Itemid=109&id=80431] and at Toronto's Hummingbird Centre in 2004 [http://www.thelastempress.com/en/last/history.html] .

See also

* Empress Myeongseong (Historical figure)
* Empress Myeongseong (TV drama)

External links

* [http://www.thelastempress.com/ Official website]
* [http://www.iht.com/articles/1998/03/27/last.t.php 'Last Empress,' Musical Echo of Korea's History] by Don Kirk, International Herald Tribune (March 27, 1998)
* [http://www.pathfinder.com/asiaweek/98/1218/feat3.html Making of an Asian hit: A Korean royal tragedy in the Broadway style] by Ricardo Saludo, Asia Week (December 18, 1998)
* [http://theater2.nytimes.com/mem/theater/treview.html?_r=1&res=9900E0D9173BF936A3575BC0A96E958260&oref=slogin New York Times review 1998]
* [http://theater2.nytimes.com/mem/theater/treview.html?res=980DE4DC173EF932A1575BC0A961958260 New York Times review 1997]
* [http://www.laweekly.com/index.php?option=com_lsd&task=film&Itemid=109&id=80431 LA Weekly review]
* [http://www.asiaweek.com/asiaweek/98/1218/feat3.html Asiaweek article]