The Broadway show about K-pop idols is abruptly closing after two weeks, which, frankly, sucks.
On November 27 , during the night ’s second - to - last song , " Hun Du Ruh ( throw off It ) , " performed by the eight - boy K - daddy group F8 , dance their asses off on a point plunge in a calorie-free project of fire , the entire audience packed in Circle in the Square Theater was screaming , clap , mislay their minds . One 60 - something white gentleman’s gentleman in an acrobatic half - zilch stood lonely in his quarrel dance like acybergoth at a techno rave under a bridge deck . Such is the euphoric frenzy of a 1000 - soda concert , even on a Broadway stage .
This rowdy eve should have been the tone - set orifice weekend ofK - dada : The Musical , a backstage show in the mineral vein ofA Chorus LineorDreamgirlsbut for special K - pop idols on the same record label , that would run on Broadway through April . But belated December 6 , the news founder thatK - POPwould closeon December 11 , only 17 show after it officially opened . ( It also had 44 preview shows that began October 13 . ) " Is this the idealistic result we wanted ? Absolutely not , " enjoin Jason Kim , who created and wroteK - POP , in a statement to Thrillist after the cancelation . " Is it disappointing ? Of course . But night after Nox for two months , we got to distinguish our story in front of K of divers , youthful , ' non - traditional ' audience members , and that is irrefutably special . It ’s been an honor to be a small part of redefine what Broadway can intend . What I wish the most is for every undivided performing artist in this show to keep getting their fair shot . Because they are striking . I will drop seeing them on point . "
The show ’s brusquely kneecapped foot race is n’t representative of the musical ’s prevailing spirit , a jubilant solemnization of the genre that has soared in popularity in the West over the last 10 and a candid , yet warmhearted portraiture into the driving and mindset of idols at various period in their life history within a famously need manufacture .
Courtesy of Emilio Madrid
" We were n’t concerned in doing any kind of documentary film , and we were n’t concerned in severalise a story from a primarily westerly gaze , " said Kim before the show ’s official opening . " When you think of K - pop trainees and the system , you call back of how grueling it is , and you think of how former you begin train , and you conceive of all the aspects of it that have been portray negatively . One affair that I really wanted to ask everybody to debate in the piece was I think that there is a terrible amount of pleasure and honor in that , that people deduct as Koreans . There is this pleasure to act on paragon in that way . "
Watching the mold , 18 of who made their Broadway debut withK - POP , it ’s obvious they ’ve made exactly that kind of mind - boggling effort to organise for performing difficult original soda songs ( written by Oscar - nominate songwriter Helen Park ) that would find totally at plate in something like Spotify ’s K - Pop ON ! play list along with intensive , always - on dancing ( choreographed by Jennifer Weber ) that ’s expected from pro groups . In addition to F8 ( pronounced " fate " ) , sweep in mid - career dramatic play amongst the appendage , there ’s the five - piece girl group RTEMIS ( " Artemis " ) who are about to debut , and the star solo creative person in a creative battle with her recording label Mwe , run by Luna . For K - pop naifs , she ’s one of the OG graven image from the four - extremity girl group f(x ) , the first K - pop band ever to perform at SXSW in 2013 .
For Kim , who grow up in Seoul before moving to the States at 9 , and the rest of the crew , Luna was the " platonic ideal " for Mwe in this iteration ofK - POP , which had begin as an prize - winning immersive Off - Broadway show with a sold - out rivulet in fall 2017 , also because of her experience doing melodious theatre of operations in Korea . " She was this incredibly alone and rare combination that we had dreamt about , and then , when we finally met her , it was just exceedingly unmortgaged from the first import , ' You have to do this , even if you do n’t want to , ' " Kim said . Watching Luna , it ’s hardly a surprise why the team felt so strongly about her . Her voice was impeccable ; a unmarried gamy note had the audience burst into cheers . Whenever she came on microscope stage , her presence pulled you in — and it was n’t even because of her flamboyant costumes . She ’s just a genius .
Courtesy of Emilio Madrid
" A handful of those drop appendage , English is their second words . And that ’s also honest of Luna , our wizard , " enjoin Kim aboutK - POP , which switch between English and Korean . " To see her fishing rig that part so fearlessly , that ’s like 90 % in English … I ca n’t even order a croissant in France , and she ’s on stage in front of thousands of people every week , perform and singing and acting her human face off in English . And to me , that was just so remarkable to see . That was a whole other layer of dedication and technique and fearlessness , I think , that I have n’t ever encountered before . I think it really just goes to show how much we ask of our performers , specially performers of color , that we do n’t really imagine about . "
Another benefit of casting Luna was being capable to see about her experiences as one of the first outside K - pop stars and make the tractableness to go those view into the framework of the update show , set on a single degree instead of two flooring of a Hell ’s Kitchen warehouse . " We have this added bed of duty and obligation and laurels and what it means to find those thing towards your fans , towards your country , towards your industry , your recording label mates , " Kim said . " It was a ' duh ' second when Luna told me during rehearsal , ' Every time you do something as an idol , you have to think about your whole recording label . ' I think that was so interesting . You always inquire , or at least I do , the pop ace you grow up loving , do they care about you ? Do they care about fan ? And the truth is , they do . "
For many rationality , it ’s a shame and a disservice to the theater community thatK - POPis end so untimely — the lack of Asiatic mental representation on Broadway , the casually racist reassessment that have subsume the delight of the show itself , and , as Tony - nominated playwrightJeremy O. Harris pointed out , the mis - marketing of a show that does n’t fit into the stamp for a " received white upper mediate grade theatre of operations audience"—in part of what it nails about K - pop as an experience . The pastel - light up modular stage would be a paroxysm for any up - and - come HYBE ring . The costuming is so perfectly modeled after distinctive tropes : the lay - back girlies , the hyper - feminise boys , the military - adjacent uniforms . Integral look , like rooter - cam and banding introductions , are also baked by nature into the show . And the performer are n’t just babble and dancing ; they ’re figure out in winks and finger heart and soul and other individualized fan - service component that make consultation swoon . " It ’s like doing Olympian - level gymnastic exercise up there and singing and resile crazy high preeminence , " Kim said . " I have a brisk walking to a Starbucks and I ’m out of intimation . "
Courtesy of Emilio Madrid
My showing was rowdy and end with people fox stemmed pink wine on the stage—“I did n’t realize this would be like the crowd at the VMAs , " I overheard the theater lover next to me say to his friend — but it was n’t the outlier classify to the opening . They werealllike that . Kim pronounce that trailer audiences were " reacting very vocally " night after night . " I am of the camp where I think house should be very democratic , and it should be almost a participatory experience , like it used to be , constantly ago , " he say . " It ’s been such a joy because I believe that citizenry think of Broadway [ as ] you have to be pin drop silent , and you have to give attention . But we really want mass to have fun . "
As an idea that ’s existed since 2014 and made , fundamentally , double for very different venue , K - POPis a feat . " Broadway was something that I never even thought about save for , growing up , largely because Asiatic musical do n’t really survive , and when they do , we get one every 15 , 20 years , " Kim said . " So , to be able to create one with my collaborators , it ’s just such a gift . " Kim is most grateful that his parents were able to see the show , especially his pa who had a wellness scare about five year ago but sat next to his son on the 27th . " That was really a gravid bit for me and the show expressing to him , not even only verbally , in verbal and gestural ways , something that he could understand because he does n’t verbalize English , " Kim say . " We ’re a classic immigrant folk . We incite here for education . It was just so nice to be able to say to my mum , ' Hey , see , I did n’t go to aesculapian school for a reason , ' even though she still want me to go . "
Kim , who has write on the television set showsBarry , young woman , Divorce , andLove , can defy his parents ' want a while longer . He ’s been nominated for an Emmy twice as a manufacturer onBarry . He ’s a producer on thefilm adaptation ofCrying in H Mart , the bestselling memoir by Michelle Zauner of Japanese Breakfast . Earlier this twelvemonth , it was announced that he would take on scripting duties for theCrazy Rich Asiansspinoff about Gemma Chan ’s Astrid , and just in October,20th Century Television signed himon a multi - year deal to develop several shows .
But now : Go , while you still can , to see K - POP while it ’s still on Broadway . take hold of a bottle of the Good Day soju you’re able to buy from the concession standpoint and sit down too soon to catch the B - sides of the melodious ( peach mostly by Helen Park , according to Kim ) take on at grocery computer memory - level decibels ahead of the show . If you ’re there on December 11 , quell for the board on AAPI mental representation in theater . And maybe , like any good K - dada stan would , band together with other fans online to necessitate thatK - POP : The Musicallives on once more .
