#y'all this is so long a;lkdjadfls;kj

[noscorpsaladerive]

All right LRA Korea Write Up Part Two aka I have now seen this version of this musical five times on y go moflos

Okay this is going to be organized into general notes then by actor then stagedooring because my notes are a mess so that’s how it’s gonna go down

Also warning I wrote this on an airplane after very little sleep so it’s gonna be loopy alright let’s go

Details I hadn’t noticed the first time we saw it: During A l’enfant, all of the actors in Morgane’s play are women, which to me makes sense given her backstory so that was a cool detail.  On the screen behind them they have shadow puppets acting out the story too which was also a cool detail.

For Tu vas le payer, they did keep a bit of the gender bending happening like everyone was wearing these overskirt things so I appreciated that nod to the original production.

Fave staging ever goes to Délivre nous like hot damn.  Not only does Arthur walk among the people, but for the last verse and chorus Arthur is center stage in a white spotlight while everyone is gathered around the edges of it and they’re reaching for him and act as if they’re banging on a glass wall trying to get his attention and it’s so freaking good and brillant y’all

Okay now for stuff by actor starting with the Arthurs:

Han Ji Sang !!!!!  My dude!!!!  We only saw him the one time but I still LOVE his transition from boyish squire to grown ass man king.  His curtain call bopping is also my fave.  I think my fave thing was how he responded to the people (as in Arthur’s subjects), like it really seemed like it was coming from someone who used to be one of them but now finds himself in a position of power over them

Pretty Arthur aka Hoonjeong:  his was the most reserved Arthur??  Like his singing was so lovely and he did act it very well but in a lot of ways he was more timid but not necessarily in a bad way.  He just was a more reserved Arthur.

Noodle Arthur aka Seungjo:  MY NOODLE ARTHUR HAS RETURNED FROM WAR!!!!!! His performance reminded me the most of Flo’s (not DVD Flo but live Flo) but Seungjo took the noodle like fifty steps further and it was BEAUTIFUL. Like he and Kay are in shenanigans together from the beginning and he’s hugging Kay a lot and he’s so damn cute y’all. Seungjo is a very like physical actor???  He would grab Merlin’s staff (wow that sounds like a bad innuendo I’m sorry i’m tired y’all) and would bang it in the ground to establish authority like right before going after Méléagant and Seungjo would grab Merlin’s cloak when he was unsure or angry and oh my god this dude with Guenièvre. Oh my god.  During Rêver l’impossible he’s like adjusting his clothes and running his hands through his hair because he’s gotta look good for the beautiful woman and when he finally speaks to her he’s on his knees like he doesn’t think he’s worthy of her or like he’s in awe of her and when he starts to head off with Merlin but Guenièvre’s like “Mais le roi est fatigué” this noodle just does a 360 around Merlin and he’s so smiley and cute and at one point during quelque chose de magique Guenièvre dances with the ladies then Arthur does a lil dance with the boys and while Guenièvre’s dancing Seungjo claps and waves at the boys to get their attention like “come on we gotta dance to impress!!!”  Also Seungjo gets really into the kissing like not just on the mouth (although he does smooch a lot more than the other Arthurs) but he kisses Guenièvre’s hands and is constantly whispering and giggling with her in the background of scenes it’s so damn cute y’all. 

But like for act two he’s all serious and the physical element of his acting is still there but it’s never comical in a bad way just either cute or heightening the emotion of a scene.  Like during Ce que la vie a fait de moi Arthur and Guenièvre go down the line of wedding guests to greet them and Seungjo hugs Kay and bounces up and down with him and when Léodagant gets down to bow to Arthur Seungjo gets on his knees and makes his father in law stand back up and ugh i love it ;lakdjf;ladksjfsa;dkl.  Oh omg when Gauvain is training him Seungjo’s like ugh come on give it a break then he’s like oh hey what’s over there? Then he attacks Gauvain and it’s so cute ;lakdjf;adslkjfsdk. Also Seungjo had the best “cette femme est ma femme et c’est la reine!!” Like the other Arthurs didn’t emphasize it that much but he really did and ugh i love him.  Seungjo was also on the floor a lot whenever Arthur was stressed which is a Mood but it also makes me want to protect him.  Like his face after Tu vas le payer he looked so scared and confused I wanted to run up on stage and just like wrap him in a blanket or something.  Like Seungjo’s voice is beautiful but it’s not vocally my fave but his acting is what really pushed him to the top of my Arthur list.

Okay so for the Morganes:

Soojin!!!!!!! I’m love!!!!!!  She did a great job of making Morgane evil but you still want to pity her and vocally she’s incredible and just w o w

Lisa overall was almost as good as Soojin in my opinion.  Her voice is gorgeous and especially the last time we saw it she was sooooo into it and having fun but she makes a couple of choices that I just can’t get on board with like at one point during Dors Morgane dors she like goes for a high note but it comes out like a screech?????  Not a huge fan.  The way she acts her final scene too just didn’t quite make sense to me either but still I’m overall a fan of her.

The Guenièvres:

Miyeon was having such an off night the first time we saw her bless her heart but the second time I really loved her????  She has a pretty deep voice which I love and she was like crying during Auprès d’un autre???? Like wow way to tug on my heart strings.

Jisoo was a good Guenièvre!!  Like she has an absolutely lovely voice but I can’t think of anything like super spectacular but I did really enjoy her performance.  Her L’amour quel idiot reprise was more heartbreaking like she’s almost ugly crying and it was so freaking sad :((((

The Lancelots:

Niel was better than we were expecting!!  I think this is his first musical and he did so well!!!  He did some almost growl like things in Wake Up which sounds weird but it worked really well.  He was maybe my least fave if I had to rank them because the poor boy has such a nasal voice which is just how his voice is but that’s also not my fave thing in the world rip.  Something I really loved was during Faire comme si he catches Guenièvre’s arm and holds her hand for a second (which all the Lancelots do) but he holds his hand there after she lets go for a second as if he can’t believe he got to touch her.  He’s also the only one who tries to kiss Guenièvre as he’s dying but their lips don’t quite touch sad emojis

Giant Lancelot aka Byeonggeun:  Holy shit this boy is big.  Like he’s so tall???? And so broad?????  We only saw him once so we don’t remember too much bless his heart.  I liked him though!!

Pretty Lancelot aka Jihoo aka my actual son:  First time we saw him i LOVED his voice but he had some volume control issues??? We weren’t sure if that was the mic or him but the second time I kept saying in my head “ça c’est mon fils!!!!!!!”  Vocally he is by far my favorite and I just adore him he’s my son now

Now the Méléagants:

Chungjoo:  We saw him the last time we saw the show and I really like him as a performer but not as Méléagant. His second act was better than his first but his high range isn’t quite there for me personally but holy fuck his lower range is absolutely gorgeous and I want him to play Jack in Jack the Ripper oh my god.  Acting wise he was good, he played Méléagant unhinged from the beginning instead of just for act two like the others.  He was also very touchy feely with Guenièvre during Nos corps à la dérive (not in a weird way, just in a grab shoulders and face way) whereas the other two were almost too scared to touch her, which like neither choice is good or bad it’s just different

Pretty-agant aka Chanho:  first of all his eyebrows?????? Amazing.  Second of all his voice????? Even more amazing.  His high notes sounded so easy and he was so damn into it like he did the Un Nouveau Départ body rolls and the Mon Combat hip sway (which the others did not do) and something we loved after seeing him was his act one at first seemed a lil boring???? Like his voice was too clean???? But his second act he was becoming more unhinged and his voice rougher so it wasn’t boring it was just acting.  But he was just so damn good oh my god and his performance reminded me the most of Fabien’s which isn’t necessarily good or bad it’s just a thing.  Something that I loved that Chanho did was he reached for things??? Like after he couldn’t pull out Excalibur he held his hands out like “i almost had it” then he reached for it again and as he was leaving the stage after Un Nouveau Départ when Au diable is starting Chanho reaches for Guenièvre and I love

Lucheni-agant aka Hongseok:  I love him so much I just ;alkdjfa;ldkjfd. Like honestly his high notes weren’t as good as Chanho’s but it still worked and it wasn’t screechy which is good and I just adore him he’s so nice ;lakdjf;alkdjfa. Like idk how to explain it but his Méléagant is just so captivating for me???? Like I already mentioned this but when he has Excalibur after Arthur hands it to him there was really such a strong sense of oh shit what’s gonna happen.  It was also super fun seeing him as Méléagant after seeing him as Lucheni.

Omg I almost forgot the second time we saw Hongseok as Méléagant there was a Mishap.  So before Mon combat Morgane explains the kidnapping plan to Méléagant and Leia is supposed to attach Lancelot’s cape around his neck.  Except the cape clasp didn’t stick, and Hongseok couldn’t get it to clasp.  He threw it away at one point then picked it back up and tried to sling it over his shoulder but it kept falling off and finally he was able to throw it offstage but it was funny bc during the kidnapping scene itself after he reveals his identity Hongseok just ripped the cape off entirely and didn’t just take the hood off he looked so done with that cape ;aldkfjadklsjf

Okay now stagedoor times!!

We stagedoored for Seungjo twice, and the first time there were sooooo many people there for him and he looked so small and overwhelmed and mildly alarmed like he didn’t know what to do with all these people????  He kept smelling the flowers people gave him and he was so quiet and shy then he almost couldn’t get out because the fansites were almost in the way ;aldkjfds

The second time he was way more prepared and people kept going up to him in front of everyone and giving him gifts and Vanessa was like “come here!!” And I thought she meant to the end of the line so I could see because short but nope she meant in front of everyone but I stayed back because shy and I can’t speak Korean but she went up and gave Seungjo some Reese’s and said that we’d seen the show in France a lot and he’s the best Arthur and he laughed like he couldn’t believe but his laugh was so beautiful and he’s such a cutie I love him and will protect him.  He also posted a pic of his gifts from that night and you can see Vanessa’s Reese’s and he also used #thanks in English for the first time which we’re choosing to believe is bc of us/mostly Vanessa

We stagedoored for Hongseok three times, twice at King Arthur and once at Elisabeth which I’m gonna write about here lol.  The first time Vanessa told him how many times I’d seen the show in france and he looked concerned??? Impressed???? Idk but he took that to mean I was French lol but he makes the best face in pics with fans I love it.  We told him we were seeing him as Lucheni that weekend which seemed to just confuse him ;alkdjfa;ldkjfasd Next when we saw him after his last show in Elisabeth (which I’m not exaggerating when I say I would sell my soul to see him as Lucheni again) he remembered us and was like “American and French right??” But Vanessa told him I’m American and I’d just lived in France.  All of his other fans were very impressed with Vanessa’s height lol.  We also got to see his wife and new baby and they were all so cute!!!  Hongseok also brought rice cakes to his fan club which was so sweet.

Third time was after King Arthur again which that theater’s stagedoor is actually in the first floor lobby by the bathrooms so people usually stagedoor in the lobby or in front of the actual theater entrance on the second floor and you just linger until you see the person you’re waiting for but as soon as Hongseok came out that night he headed straight for me and Vanessa because he knew exactly who we were there for lol.  Vanessa told him he’s amazing again in Korean then he was like “I can speak a little English” and Vanessa was like “wanna practice??”  And he was like “Practice? Sure!” With a little bit of an oh shit what did I get myself into face but dude you were the one who pulled out the English not us lol.  So we mostly just squealed about how awesome he is and I was just like “I’ve seen this show so much and you’re my favorite” and we got a selfie again then after the other fans talked to him Vanessa told him we were going back home and we wouldn’t see him again so he went to shake our hands but Vanessa is brave and was like “Could we get hugs?” So he hugged us and his sweater was very soft and he’s just so sweet and I wanna go see him in more shows because he’s such a great performer ;lakdjf;lakdjfad

Anyways long story short I love and miss this show so much and if you’re going to Seoul while it’s still running PLEASE go see it!!!!

#ella writes text #stagedooring shenanigans #y'all this is so long a;lkdjadfls;kj #ella sees lra