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The Musical: Episodes 1-2

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I’m back with a new musical drama! I guess after You’ve Fallen For Me, my fix for musicals wasn’t sated. I honestly was not going to watch this drama at all. I was quite partial to What’s Up (Im! Joo! Hwan!) and didn’t want to bother watching this drama. But just one episode and I can’t help but be hooked. The music is GOOD. You’ve Fallen For Me concentrates on the fresh-romance-college-student scenario, whereas The Musical concentrates on the name-in-big-bright-lights scenario. Mixed together, it would make for an excellent drama. Maybe. Let’s see if The Musical holds up for its entire 16 episodes.

Without further ado, I present to you The Musical!

Characters:

Go Eun Bi (Gu Hye Sun) is a third-year medical student who seems to be doing the whole med-school-track to please her family. Her true aspirations lie in singing and dancing for musicals. She lives, breathes, sleeps, oozes musicals – particularly songs like “This is My Moment” by Jo Seung Woo in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. I love how she memorizes her bio terms and diseases by singing them – even though it earns her stares on the train. Or when she watches a musical through her iPad/tablet instead of listening to her teacher go on about anatomy, only to fall into a daydream that her entire class is singing “This is My Moment” with her.

And how awesome is it that she gets Hong Ji Min to be her professor?

She bumps into composer Hong Jae Hee (Daniel Choi) late one night. He just arrived in Korea after a stint in New York and was out drinking with his buddy Gu Jak, an aspiring musical producer/director who wants Jae Hee to just write him a musical score already. Thing is, Jae Hee refuses to write another musical song (sticking to pop songs instead) because of a stigma associated with Bae Kang Hee (Ok Joo Hyun).

Despite his drunken state, he yells at Eun Bi for completely massacring one of his songs, “Maria.” She doesn’t believe for a second that he could be famous Hong Jae Hee, but is completely offended when he tells her that she’s a terrible singer. With that, she takes a leave of absence from school and vows to make it on a musical in one year.

Now back to Bae Kang Hee – she’s a famous, super-talented musical actress. Already I can feel the stirrings of a “Boy Loves Girl, Girl Loves Music, Girl Leaves Boy for Music, Boy Becomes Bitter” storyline. She meets one of the investors of the play she’s starring in, and he introduces her to Yoo Jin (Park Ki Woong), his younger grandson who will now be investing his family’s money into musicals. Yoo Jin has a savvy business sense, so despite his meager budget, he manages to profit well from his small investments.

And so, as these characters meet, we skip to one year ahead, where Eun Bi has two weeks left on her 1-year deadline…

Episode 1 and 2:

What is a girl to do when she’s getting calls from her family about going back to school, cut her hair real short, and works part time at a movie theater? She looks through the ads and finds an audition call for a male chorus. Well… she looks androgynous enough…

Meanwhile Yoo Jin has just had another success with a musical starring Kang Hee – called “The Queen” – and celebrates with the cast. Another producer approaches him about another musical project, but he refuses to sign on because there are too many conditions attached – royalty fees, contract renewals every three years, and a high minimum guarantee payment. It becomes clear from the conversation that Yoo Jin is all about the money: small investment, big returns. No risks taken.

At the audition, Go Eun Bi – or now known as Go Eun Ho for that matter – has a hard time staying cool amidst all these hot-blooded guys. Yeah – like splaying yourself against a door is going to help. Yoo Jin comes up behind her – he needs to get through to that door.

Instinctively she raises her arms up to protect her chest. You hear that sound? Those are crickets chirping from the awkward silence. Yeah – he is SO not going to suspect you’re a girl now.

Kang Hee and Representative Han Sang Won (her lover/husband/colleague) are present for the audition. Eun Bi does well enough at the audition, and one of the casting directors calls her forward. However, Yoo Jin interrupts and kicks her out in front of everyone – she’s a girl. And if she continues insisting she’s a boy, then they can take off her shirt.

Of course, Eun Bi just leaves the room, but she begs Yoo Jin to give her another chance. She’s had over 80 auditions and every single one of them rejected her. She needs to get into a musical within two weeks, but doesn’t tell him why. He throws her bag at her; for a girl who’s failed 80 times in a year, clearly she doesn’t value musicals enough to look into herself, and figure out what’s wrong with her instead of blaming others for rejecting her.

As Yoo Jin scolds her, another aspiring musical actress overhears. Christine – or Bok Ja – takes her opportunity to make a new friend in Seoul, having come back from the States recently. She approaches Eun Bi in the bathroom and tells her that she’s an experienced actress and coach, and will train her for free. With some hints on who her senior is (Bae Kang Hee) and her experience (having worked on musicals in New York), Eun Bi eagerly clings on to her for guidance. Even if that means Christine will move in with her, and mooch off of her money for food.

Back in the audition room, it’s now time for each individual chorus member to show what he’s got. One of the guys sings “This is My Moment” but isn’t too stellar. He’s stopped prematurely, and he insists that the upcoming verse is his best part. Suddenly, Kang Hee sings that verse in her clear, strong voice effortlessly. Everyone on the judging panel smirks. Yeah – she totally creamed you on that one.

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Later that evening, Yoo Jin gets a visit from an older brother who’s part of their grandfather’s company as well but heads a different department. The older brother wants to see if Yoo Jin knows any pretty girls for him to meet; he’s a player with women and money. Yoo Jin points out that he’s been able to make more money with his measly budget compared to what his brother has done. Brother ain’t too happy about that, and leaves.

Alone in his dark office, Yoo Jin throws his Spiderman toys against the window, where it crawls down the surface. “Just because you’re falling slowly doesn’t mean you’re not falling.” Looks like younger brother has some inferiority issues, a dastardly plan, and an overdose in the “bitterness pill.”

At the college admissions office, Eun Bi is having a moment of crisis – hand in her “Leave of Absence” paperwork, or “Course Registration” paperwork? She picks “Leave of Absence” and hands it to the administrator. Her friend comes up behind her and quickly rips it up. He calls up her grandmother and tattles on her. HAHA – she kicks him in the shins and then grabs the phone, lying that she’s returning to classes instead. Her poor friend can’t believe her gall at lying so baldly to her grandmother.

Yoo Jin wants to start preparing for next season of musicals by buying successful ones on Broadway. Sang Won wants to do a musical that will originate from Korea, since they’re going to host a competition anyways looking for new talent. Yoo Jin has little faith in making musicals from scratch, even though they have that competition coming up (which they use mainly for promotional purposes).

However, it’s that competition that Gu Jak wants to enter in with Jae Hee’s help. Jae Hee is still unwilling to write songs for him though.

While Christine gets calls for odd jobs of her own, she gets Eun Bi to do them for her – in the name of “practice and training.” One such job is to dress up as Sailor Moon and promote a dessert cafe. Eun Bi feels absolutely self-conscious and hates that she needs to dance and smile so embarrassingly. But she eventually finds her groove and just starts dancing a few steps to a crowd of onlookers.

Gu Jak struggles to assemble a cast of people for his play, and calls up Christine as last resort to replace another actress. Heh. Jae Hee also comes to the welcome get-together for the cast and writers, but his sole intention is to drink. Christine immediately latches on to Jae Hee because he’s so famous. She puts on the aegyo act to full effect, and it’s so irritating to hear because of her raspy voice. The others are shocked by her condescending attitude as well, and even Gu Jak regrets calling her to join the cast. He embarrasses her by calling her Bok Ja instead of her newly reinvented name.

That same night, Yoo Jin and his girlfriend/partner-at-work Ra Kyung have a meeting with Kang Hee and Sang Won about the musical competition. They want to promote the audition process through a reality TV show. Kang Hee and Sang Won can work on auditioning the actors, but they need an expert to judge the music. Yoo Jin asks if Kang Hee knows anyone who’s best in the field. “The best? There’s one…” And her thoughts stray to Jae Hee…

Jae Hee is struggling to get rid of a drunk Bok Ja, who won’t let go of him or the radish she wants to use for hangover soup. She collapses, drunk, and so Jae Hee is stuck with bringing her home. He finds Eun Bi’s number on the recently called list and asks her to come pick Bok Ja up.

When Eun Bi arrives, she tries to wake up Bok Ja, but to no avail. Jae Hee notices that she calls Bok Ja “Teacher,” and wonders what for. Eun Bi admits that Bok Ja gives her musical lessons, and that she hopes to be a musical actress in the future. He sits by his piano and starts playing a song he’s partly composed. He wants her to sing to the music – whether it’s just notes or make up her own lyrics.

Eun Bi takes one look at the music sheet and then starts singing about how she met Bok Ja.

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I’ve come the long way around, because I wanted to do musicals.

A year after leaving school, 365 days, 8760 hours went by so fast.

80 auditions and I still can’t do low pitch.

When I go high – my voice cracks.

So over and over I failed the auditions. After 80 times, I had only 2 weeks left to school.

Yes! I’ve made up my mind.

Let’s dress up as a man and audition (for male chorus).

That’s when I met my tutor!

A year ago, a man told me not to even dream about being in a musical.

He said that he was Hong Jae Hee or whatever.

A drunkard who can’t even measure up to Hong Jae Hee’s filth!

That’s what got me started. I took a leave of absence and started auditioning.

That’s when I started on musicals!

EHM WOOPS! Jae Hee: “You’re… you’re the girl at Han River?”

They move their talk outside over tea. Eun Bi apologizes for insulting him earlier, especially since she looks up to him. Jae Hee finds her amusing, and instead of being mad at her, he is impressed that she memorized the music score with just a look. Eun Bi just wants to be like Kang Hee – to sing and dance onstage because it feels electrifying and exhilarating for her. Jae Hee notes that Kang Hee should aspire to be more like Eun Bi instead.

His talk with Eun Bi stays with him, and so the next morning he goes to Sang Won’s office to recommend an actress. He snags a private audition for Eun Bi three days hence. Eun Bi is surprised, but supremely grateful. She rushes to go home to train with Bok Ja, but Jae Hee tells her to train with him instead. Well isn’t that LOADS better?!

Sang Won finds Kang Hee brooding late at night, clearly mulling over how to approach Jae Hee about judging for the competition. I get this odd sense that he doesn’t really know their history, and yet at the same time it seems like their love was also legendary… He tells her about Jae Hee recommending a girl, and wonders if Jae Hee has fallen in love.

Without telling Bok Ja, Eun Bi heads over early the next morning to go practice. (So early that even Jae Hee is barely awake.) Bok Ja finds it suspicious, so on day 2 she tries following Eun Bi, but can’t catch up to her bike. During practice, Jae Hee makes her practice her scales and learn how to breathe properly in order to hit the higher notes.

We move to the countryside, where Eun Bi’s grandmother visits her neighbors, a nice, quiet couple. She hands them some homemade honey and promises to bring more of the homemade shrimp dish they like so much. They’re all very good friends, and Grandma uses his hand-me-down computer to check up on Eun Bi’s blog.

But the couple is very important to our story as well. The husband is an artist, and his wife catches him looking at a photo of Yoo Jin. She has no idea who Yoo Jin is though. The husband has regrets about sending Yoo Jin to his grandfather, as he must now struggle within the company and win this “money war.” Sounds like this man is his dad, and estranged from the entire family. Wife/stepmom is very understanding though.

Bok Ja figures out Eun Bi’s secret, so she cooks a very nice dinner and then wants her to practice. Feeling guilty, Eun Bi admits that she’s training with Jae Hee instead. The next morning, Bok Ja drags Eun Bi to Jae Hee’s house. She wants a word with him, because there is no way in hell Jae Hee would have good intentions towards Eun Bi; he’s probably a player and using the lessons to bait her. As Eun Bi’s friend, she must protect her!

Little does she know, Jae Hee is right behind her, listening to every thing she says. He starts answering her rhetorical questions, and when Bok Ja turns around, she remains unfazed. A cool person who insults won’t be fazed if her target overhears everything she said.

They all go in for practice, and Eun Bi struggles to reach the high notes. They take a break, and as Jae Hee gets coffee, Eun Bi takes a deep breath, and sings a few lines from his song “Maria” with the high notes.

And she hits it.

Jae Hee rejoices at her success and then tells her to stop talking. She needs to rest for the rest of the day and prepare for the audition tomorrow.

But Bok Ja has other plans. She wants to celebrate by eating out with Eun Bi, and then have another practice session late into the night. After all, if Eun Bi can hit the notes once, she can surely do it again, right?

Wrong – Eun Bi ends up losing her voice, and when she arrives at the audition, Sang Won immediately brushes her off for wasting their time. He recognizes her from the audition for the male chorus, and berates her for not taking better care of herself. She’s blown both of her opportunities, and goes home crying.

The doorbell rings, and Jae Hee opens excitedly expecting Eun Bi. It’s Kang Hee instead, and she gives him a small peck on the lips: “Long time no see.” Ooh – player. Jae Hee plays it cool, wondering if Kang Hee’s here to report on Eun Bi’s status, but she’s here to convince him to do musicals again. She wants him to meet Yoo Jin tonight.

As she leaves his home, of course that’s also when Eun Bi arrives at Jae Hee’s home. She hides from view as she watches Kang Hee say goodbye. She goes home still feeling bummed, and then gets a call from her father. She has to come home now.

Jae Hee attends the dinner with Yoo Jin and Kang Hee. She introduces Jae Hee as one of the best musical composers in Korea, but because he left for New York, Yoo Jin never really got to meet him. Yoo Jin is unfazed though – he values actors more than composers. He doesn’t think that Korean audiences will watch Korean-produced musicals, and doesn’t think Jae Hee is worth the money. Yoo Jin can be a prick about money sometimes. He admits openly that he’s doing the contest because Kang Hee and Sang Won want it, and not because he thinks he’ll find a good song from it.

Father wants Eun Bi to quit musicals, holding a conservative world-view about it. He wants her to go back to school as a doctor, rather than “throw off her clothes and run around naked.” Eun Bi cries – if mother were still around, she would support her. Grandma immediately rushes into the room to comfort her, and to stop Eun Bi from talking about her dead mother. Everyone seems to still be reeling from the loss.

The next morning, Jae Hee must contend with another producer wanting him to compose another hit pop song for his new girl group. Gu Jak witnesses the girl group and producers leave Jae Hee’s home, and thinks pop songs are such a waste of Jae Hee’s talents. Even if he can make money off the karaoke royalties, he should do something more worthwhile – like compose for his musical!

Jae Hee readily agrees – under two conditions. First, his name will not appear anywhere on the musical application. And secondly, he’s got someone he’d like to bring on board for the cast…

Through Bok Ja, he finds out that Eun Bi went back to her hometown. He takes the train over and meets up with her. She apologizes for wasting the opportunity he gave her, but he forgives her quickly. She needs to learn how to make an impression in a short moment, and he will help her – by composing a song just for her. Damn, he’s really going all out as a mentor!

Jae Hee’s reasoning for helping her so much is that he hasn’t seen or felt passion in a person in a long time until he met her. If she wants to continue doing musicals, he’ll do it with her.

That same evening, Ra Kyung and Yoo Jin meet up. She’s too tired to talk to him about the musical and the reality show, and so he takes her to eat barbecue. He knows her too well – if she’s irritable, it’s because she’s hungry.

Jae Hee waits for her on the train platform with two tickets, hoping that she’ll come, but he doesn’t see her. He boards the last train out, and looks for his seat. Eun Bi bursts in from the other end of the car. Yay! Grandma let her go achieve her dream!

Sitting next to each other, Jae Hee leans over and kisses her on the cheek. (!!!!!!)

Ra Kyung and Yoo Jin have a nice after-dinner walk together. By the wall, he leans in for a passionate kiss.

Eun Bi is utterly shocked that he’d kiss her, and with a playful smile, he leans to kiss her on the lips. Eun Bi covers her mouth, and so Jae Hee kisses her hands instead.

AIEEEEEEEEEEE!

Comments:

Whoa! Not what I expected for the ending of episode 2! I didn’t get why we had random scenes with Ra Kyung and Yoo Jin mixed in with Jae Hee and Eun Bi, until I realized that it was a comparison of two relationships. Ra Kyung and Yoo Jin’s relationship may be new, but it’s also calculated and cold (on Yoo Jin’s part). I can see him passionately kissing Ra Kyung, but I can’t get the feeling that he’s also manipulating her in some way. On the flip side, you have Jae Hee and Eun Bi who are completely thrilled to embark on a new adventure with musicals together. Jae Hee is simply giddy, and so he kisses Eun Bi out of happiness rather than duty. It makes their kisses so much more innocent, but so much sweeter.

OK – now on to the series. So far, the songs are killer. There haven’t been many, but what impresses me the most is that these are very talented actors who are bringing forth strong voices to the show. I also love that Gu Hye Sun is just terrible at singing, because it makes her transformation that much greater. Case in point: when she finally hits the high notes in Jae Hee’s home. If she is to go up against Kang Hee in terms of talent, then she’s going to have to step up her singing game.

I hate to compare, but it reminds me so much of the Hee Joo-Kyu Won scenario, where Kyu Won is the greener singer, and yet her voice sounds clearer and more pure. Kang Hee has the stronger, richer voice that is beautiful and technically good.

Of all the characters in this drama, I am most intrigued by Yoo Jin. Yes he falls into the cliche of cold-arrogant-chaebol-with-a-family-secret. My money is on the fact that he’s either an illegitimate child, or the child of a black sheep. Mom is dead, and father has disappeared from his life. Park Ki Woong manages to play Yoo Jin with enough subtlety that you know he’s not that perfect of a guy. Even more interesting is the appearance of his father and stepmother, and how they’re such good people to Eun Bi’s family.

If he ends up being less interesting than the vibes I’m getting right now, I’ll be sorely disappointed.

I’m really enjoying this drama for the refreshing characters and their relationships to one another. Just watching Daniel Choi and Goo Hye Sun interact as mentor and mentee is enough to make me go ga-ga.

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Haven't watched this yet...will read the recap first if it's good.

Not related to the episode but I've got to say that I really don't like GHS's hair here. ;)

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I think I may have cried a bit when she cut it, lol. She started off so pretty, and now looks hideous. I think I'll go on a strike with her next drama - I'll refuse to watch it unless she agrees to keep her hair long!!

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Looks like is BOF/BBF all over again. Why do these dramas keep giving her ugly hairdos?! WHY?!

And glad for the recap. I sorta wanted to check this drama out and I was a bit deterred from doing so with school starting and with the lack of recaps (because recaps encourage me to watch shows that I already want to watch :P). So glad to see this, glad to see kaedejun. I'm loving your recaps :).

*Psst, you're my favorite guest blogger so far :>*

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Glad you're recapping this drama, kaedejun. <3 Thank you! I'm honestly enjoying it so far. First two episodes were really refreshing. Can't wait to see where it goes. Hopefully it delivers more in the musical aspect than Heartstrings did.

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i'm liking it sofar. acting is good although i feel some overacting on ghs's part. i can already see the early chemistry kicking off btwn daniel choi and ghs. heartstring was a let down for me so really hope this one will be good.

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Daniel Choi is so adorkable. Sigh. Can I get a Daniel Choi for Christmas if Sung Shi-kyung is already booked? Huh Santa? Huh?! Huh?! HUH?!!!!? HAHAHA.

You never seize to amaze kaedejun.

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Daniel Choi is indeed "adorkable"!

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ohhhhhhhhhh, a recap for the musical!!!! what a nice surprise.

thank you kaedejun!

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along with the songs, thats the best part.

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Thank you. I've been waiting for someone recapping the musical. Though the title is horrible, but the drama is good.

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Thank you so much for the re-cap! I was also not planning on watching this, but was happily surprised after the first episode. ^^

That kiss at the end of episode 2 was one of the cutest scenes I have ever seen in a drama. I loved that he did bc he was just so giddy and happy and didn't have a choice in the matter.

Also..I felt really bad for Kang Hee's husband. He aint gettin' no lovin'. >.<

One more side thought: for some reason, I got the impression that Yoojin's mother could have possibly lost her memory and does not remember her own son (rather than an understanding step-mom). There was something about her actions and his father's attitude...

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GHS is overacting as always.

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agree, she does the silly smile so often, i wonder , her character is not so dumb though.

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Daniel Choi is definately adorkable.
Sigh, I just love ALL HIS FRIGGIN CHARACTERS! It's like...he's all of them.
The smart weirdo from high kick, the dorky guy from cyrano...gah! It's so hard to separate reality from his real self!

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NoOoOOo! *filled with jealous rage* I want Daniel Choi to kiss ME!

Anyways thank you so much for the recap, kaedejun!!! Daniel Choi and Gu Hye Sun look adorable together!

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I looked all over if someone was going to recap this show - which comes once a week,and here you are doing this - THANK YOU SO MUCH!!

i liked the show so far, just saw raw of ep 3, not sure what it means with GHS crying and all that, but i am in for the pentagon musical love story, where two guys who already have/had girlfriends, may end up falling for the same girl, who is just learning to sing.

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Thanks for the recap!
My immediate reaction is that this is putting off the same vibe as Heartstrings/YFFM – it looks the same, sounds the same and the initial plot set-up seems to be taking a really long time to get going.

Once again, my dislike for GHS’s acting is getting in the way – mouth moues, hair-shaking and patting/finger-combing her own head continuously, shuffling along in her horrible white JanDi clunky shoes, (she’s even delivering milk on her bicycle! Where’s Ji-Hoo?) and so far, girl hasn't changed her clothes once in episode 2 (over several days)?! What's up with that?

Where is the director here? It’s like he’s giving her free rein to recreate her awful BOF role. Fortunately, the other actors are really good, especially Choi. But please, no romance between Choi and GHS - GHS has ZERO chemistry with male leads. She's unable to relate to them romantically and it shows.
The music is terrific and she is talented singer - that I can appreciate.

I’m balanced on the edge for this one. Episode 3 will be the final determination for me. To Queue or not to Queue. That is the question.

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I am sorry to hear that your dislike of GHS acting has prevented you from enjoying this drama.If you watched carefully, she has 5 changes of clothes in episode 2. The character she plays is tomboyish,she does not care about clothes, thus the baggy boyish shirts. She is only passionate about musicals.

No director will let their actors/actresses "free rein" with their role unless he agree with it. Nor the scriptwriter stand for it if it ruin the character. Have you ever thought that this is what the director wants or this is how the character is written? I find Go Eun Bi character refreshing and adorable.

The story gets more interesting in episode 3. Hope you will continue the viewing.

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Other than the clothing observation, we'll have to agree to disagree. It may be a different plot, but I honestly can't see one thing different about GHS's acting and her approach to the character that isn't different from her portrayal of JanDi in BOF. It was irritating to watch there and it's equally irritating in this. Perhaps she'll change by the next episode and tone it down - as I said, ep 3 will be the deal-breaker for me.

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i agree with cynthia. don't even want to watch this because of GHS. i've never liked anything she's been in and tbh, i think she's a terrible actress (i think boys over flowers is a perfect example). hopefully i'm proved wrong with this drama, but for now, i think i'll stick to your recaps. thanks so much for them!

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I think it's not fair to called her as a terrible actress just because her acting is not endearing enough for you...because in fact her role as Jandi has win over so many people through Asia ;)

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Thank you for recapping this little gem.I am enjoying this drama so far. It has the right balance of drama and comedy. Good acting, and great music/songs. Cute chemistry between CD and GHS. For a change ,there is no bickering between leads, which is refreshing.

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Thank you so much for recapping this! I was unsure whether I should start it or not XD

And, is it just me or does Daniel Choi have something for ladies with short hair? :D

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Thank you recap this show <3

Great Script, Interesting Characters...and ohh so love the singings. The 3rd episode is the best so far...Superb Acting from The Actors *thumbsup*

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AGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! you are recapping this drama?!?!?!

I'll be following your recaps for this drama. I will watch this drama but not right now. It painfully reminds me of the "what could have been" for What's Up. Nevertheless, I'll still DL all the eps and keep it until I'm ready to watch it. For now, you'll be my source of recaps for this one! thank you!

Also, can't say how much I love you for your shout out to my man. IM! JOO! HWAN!

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i NEED TO PUT THIS DRAMA ON MY WATCHLIST :)

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Yay! I'm so glad to see recaps for this drama. So far the storyline has been really interesting and solid, probably my fave out of all the recent "musical" related dramas as of now. Hopefully more people will take interest and start watching!

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Just a name did it for me: PARK...KI...WOONG!!!!

My gosh, I was going to pass this up too, but I happened to glance at the snippet of your review and how felt the same as I did but that you've changed your mind...then I saw Park Ki Woong was cast in it, and a pretty major role for the likes of it! Just loved him in A Man's Story, the quirky stock trading genius.

Thanks for the write up and not letting me pass this up!

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Okay done watching ep 2....

I agree with #23 Thatgirl, the 2nd ep kinda felt flat...a bit for me was GHS seemed too much of a tomboy which wasn't really established she was one in ep 1. At least Yoo Eun Hye was believable being a tomboy that you might mistaken as a boy in Coffee Prince. Personally, at the 1st ep, with her long hair and her flights of fantasy, I thought she might a girly-girl...then all of a sudden, a year later, she's got this extreme tomboy mannerisms? It felt so disingenuous that I couldn't warm up to the character.

Now, Park Ki Woong...he didn't disappoint! Daniel Choi doesn't seem to have a depth of character, I mean yeah you can sorta see how a girl can spark a new love for musicals, but kissing her so early on?!? That sexual harassment dude!

And also...I'm on the same face as #38 yumi, don't understand...is it really the culture or the damn lazy scriptwriters to keep annoying unwelcome "guests"? By gosh, after finding out that Christine is like a scam artist, if anything untrustworthy, why the heck would you keep her at your place? On top of that listen to her advice to go out the night before your big audition, and that is AFTER a reknown composer who's been teaching told you to rest?!? It just boggles the mind and causes a real kink in keeping me hooked into this drama.

Now I feel like irksome people that cause trouble would be kept around not because there's a good reason for the audience to understand, rather just shortcuts to cause convenient conflicts. Well, it's only ep 2...I'll wait and see a bit more.

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Thanks for recapping this drama! What a surprise, I too did not have any interest until I watch the 1st episode then before I know it I was watching episode 2! Now anxiously waiting for episode 3 to be subbed. I agree Daniel Choi and Goo Hye Sun interact as mentor and mentee is sooo cute that it is making me go ga-ga too!

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thanks for the recap..been watching ep1,2,3 RAW,so far the musical take my attention after SOAW..keep smiling while watching scene btw DC & GHS.they so adorable specially the last scene for ep2..cannot wait for ep 4 next week..hope you will carry on to recap this drama..have a nice day kaedajun!

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was not really interested in this drama at first but after reading the recap i'm sooo in for it! especially for that yoo jin guy hehe.

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Is it bad for a Boys Over Flowers fan to say, I like Gu Hye Sun and Daniel Choi together more than her and Lee Minho together?

*Thinking* *Thinking* *Ding!* No! I hated Jan Di!

I actually only watched this because I wanted to give Gu Hye Sun a chance to redeem herself for that awful portrayal of Jan Di, but I ended up really liking this GHS+DC pairing, not that I liked the Minsun couple anyways.

What do we call this pairing? Dansun? Danhye? xD

As for the Drama itself.... Episode 1 was better than 2. I was actually kinda bored with 2. 1 started out kinda like You've Fallen For Me though, which kinda irritated me. I really liked GHS's voice, its nice. xD

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Yes and YAY! I have been looking forward for someone to do the recaps for The Musical!

Totally hooked on this drama after the first episode, and really keeping my fingers crossed to hope it will continue to hold us up for the next 14 episodes. However, once a week does let us k-drama fans feel THIRSTY!

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Yayy!! I was pleasantly suprised when I see your article about this drama... Thanx Kaedejun! <3

The main reason for me to check out "The Musical" is because I do love musical.. and with Daniel Choi as leading man, hmmm... quite promising.

However, same as you, I do wish this drama could holds up till the end.. Good music, good talented actors, and if the script is suck..~ it'll break my heart..

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I just finished watching these! Literally.

I love it. I like the beginning with her breaking out into song. Daniel Choi is amazing. I never really thought much of GHS but this show is making me see her in a whole other light. I'm all ready excited about the next episode. I got a great feeling that this is gonna be great drama. Like frosted flakes great.

Thanks for the recap!

Daniel Choi I love you! Especially in glasses.

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Thanx for the reacap. Loooooooooooooooove this show! One episode a week is not enough!

Soooooooooooo happy you are doing this! Hwaiting!

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Something new to watch... hohohohoho!!! :))))

while i was reading the recap, it was hard for me to pinpoint who the main couple in this series...

is it...

Eun Bi x Jae Hee?

or

Eun Bi x Yoo Jin?

;p can't wait for the next episode... ahihhi

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Agree. I luvet! Thanks for the recap kaedejun!

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This drama is a whole lot better than I expect!!! The cast is great fit. I didn't feel like watching it at first. I'm Ok w/ GHS, but I'm not a big fan of Choi, until this drama!!!! And the singing part is just so cool. I admitted that I watched You've Fallen for Me just for the leading actor and actress only, the drama itself wasn't that good, and the singing part was hard to make me believe that they're good enough to be a great musical actors( except Lee Hyun-jin, his voice is freaking good.)
The musical is just mix right between love story, cuteness, and musical for me. I hope it will keep being great just like this till the end.

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wish they'd picked more attractive leads

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thank you for recapping this serie, kaedejun
Daniel Choi is soo adorable. Oh my, he is cutest ever so far.
Friday is my fav day now.

Impressed by the actress playing his ex too.

First I wished there would be 2 eps per week like other dramas, but then I thought if 1 ep per week, means a normal work schedule for the actors, 1 ep per week is fine.

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The one episode a week is killer - I'm spoiled now, and am used to two, lol!!

And actually, there is no work week. The actors finished filming this drama awhile ago (it's one of those rare series that is completely produced/edited/filmed before airing). So really, it's only us poor, impatient viewers that have to suffer. Of course, I guess we should be glad it found a station to air on at all - beggars can't be choosers. ;)

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Wonderful review, and very well written!

As for the drama itself, I have an odd relationship with The Musical. As a casual viewer, I can't help but notice all its flaws: The unoriginality of the story, the obvious plot-set-up and maneuvering, GHS's overacting and lack of singing ability (oh how I wish she'd swapped roles with PSH in Heartstrings instead).

But, as someone who greatly enjoys musicals and has felt that same "musical bite", I can't help but feel a connection with its main characters; plus, I may have an eensy-weensy crush on Daniel Choi, lol. So even though it's not perfect, and there are other dramas currently airing I'm obsessed with more, somehow I keep returning to this one. I can't seem to stop checking sub progress and keeping my eye open for new episodes, despite a desire to wait until it's finished to marathon. It's kinda weird. Clearly I underestimated the extent of my musical-love, lol. :)

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Park Ki-Woong! Park Ki-woong!

I always find the character he plays intriguing..

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I was hooked afterthe first tem minutes -Hooah!

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Better than I expected!

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Augh, I really wasn't going to watch this because I literally just started Dream High last night and I am still holding out for What's Up (hope dies last, I guess) but.. DAMN YOU, WRITERS. This Is The Moment is my favourite musical power-ballad right now, how daaaaaaare you try and lure me in with this. I can't decide. :/

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I've got a soft spot for Park Kiwoong, so I'm hoping this will be my new drama to watch. I'm liking it so far....

I have to say that I can see the " memory loss real mom" scenario that someone else mentioned. Wouldn't a stepmom know their husband's kids? Although, this is a kdrama, so it's not completely out of the question....

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Thanks for the recap. I'm so happy to see this recap. I saw episodes 1 and 2 this weekend and LOVED it.

"Just watching Daniel Choi and Goo Hye Sun interact as mentor and mentee is enough to make me go ga-ga."

Of course watching Daniel Choi do anything makes me go ga-ga.

I loved Jae-hee's response to Eun Bi covering her lips, I don't think I should approve, because in a way he is overriding her objection, but I loved that he just kissed her hands.

Kang-Hee, amazing voice, but used so unpleasantly. I've not seen someone deploy his/her talent as a weapon so effectively in a while. With her I feel we are securely in the mode of manipulative, selfish, entitled second female leads.

Christine, I can barely tolerate. She might be funny in the original Korean, but that does not comes across in the sub-titles. Her relationship with/exploitation of Eun-Bi makes me suspect Eun-Bi's intelligence. I think her insistence of providing extra coaching before Eun-Bi's audition got the result she wanted.

A cultural question--Why can't Korean characters just ignore or tell other characters to get lost? What's up with people entering your house without knocking? Of people walking by you at your door without you inviting them in? With parents and ex-lovers having your key code and entering your dwelling without warning?

Why do random people seem able to call up younger people they don't know, but who might know their children, and make them come out to meet them?

Let's not even talk about the slapping and the water throwing.

Is this stuff for dramatic purpose, or does any of it have root in the culture?

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I don't really know why people keep saying that GHS is overreacting. Her facial expression is good plus she add vibes to that so maybe this is why people say she is overreacting?

Oh well, not all people share your sentiments if you hate GHS's acting. I guess it happens to all actors & actresses.

GHS is the most multitalented artist I've ever known. She can act, sing, write, produce drama, paint, etc.

People who say her acting is bad, I don't know what kind of excellent level you expect from her. For me, she's doing great.

Have you seen her in Pure19? She won an award for that and I don't think award goes to a bad actress. She look gorgeous with long hair there and now she's with the pixie, hey.. not a lot of actresses can pull a pixie like she does.

I hope people can differentiate whether you dislike her or you dislike her acting. It's 2 different things.

Of course fans of GHS like me will support her all they way!!

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I second every single sentiment expressed here! This drama is the perfect chance for Goo Hye Sun to show what many of us have already witnessed: There is no end of her talent or the potential for her to conquer new ground. No one works harder than than our little farm girl "Yang Gukwha." She's already hit the ground running and this drama allows it's viewers to chart her character's growth as it steadily moves on. "Overacting?" Are there actually people out there in drama fan land who think that ALL of these little tele-plays are meant to be presented as documentaries? Rom-coms generally have very little to do with actual reality. I, personally find that it's perfectly ok for cartoons to appear cartoon-like. We go can back to reality at the end of the hour. Thank you, kaedejun, for re-capping 'The Musical' and for remaining open-minded about it's performers. It seemsaas if you would make for a fair and impartial juror. :) I wish that I could say the same for everyone...

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I completely agree with you.

IMHO, GHS is a great actress. I'm not even irritated at her 'overreacting' some people are saying (unlike PSH but i still like her).

She and Daniel got a great chemistry.

btw, people should stop saying this drama copied HS/YFFM. When in fact, they started shooting TM since last year and recently completed it.

anyway, this is better than HS/YFFM.

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I totally agree with #39, #39.1 and you....I started liking her when I've watched GHS in Pure Heart and will continue liking her no matter what....

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Although I do take into account an actress's acting record before watching a film/drama, as likely if they were good before they will be good now, it doesn't always work.

Take Son Ye Jin. Undeniably one of the best actresses in Korea today, and inexplicably overacting in key parts of Personal Taste (although when it came to the emotional scene hit your gut right there). I say she was a mediocre actress in that particular drama.

It's no different with GHS. Yes, she's generally a good, even great actress. She's had phenomenal performances in the past; but she was terrible in BOF (though that drama had lots of different problems to go with that. She was the least of its problem, made worse by the terrible script and bad directing). Here, in The Musical, aside from a little overacting, she's relatable and believable, slightly dramatic in the way that musical lovers tend to be. I can't say until we're more into the drama, but it looks to me like GHS is back to form.

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I've noticed that GHS may be tired at the end of a series. She's just not engaged in the last two or three episodes. Now that I have learned about the industries unhealthy scheduling practices it makes more sense that she may be exhausted at the end. I noticed this in two separate performances.

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ok.. you've convinced me. im going to watch now.

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OMGGGGG i'm so glad you're recapping this ><

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Also is it just me or is the women who plays Eun Bi's grandma ridiculously beautiful? When I saw her I literally gasped. I want to know her secret!

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In pretty much every single drama I've seen, there always seem to be at least two or three older actresses who are striking, if not stunning. This one (Jung Young Sook) also played the long searching mother of 'Anna Laker' (Do Ji Won) in this years's daily 'Smile Dong-hae'. In that series, it was Do Ji Won who had me "literally" gasping.

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sailor moon? I am going to watch this xD

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Am not watching this right now, but will surely watch this once all the episodes are in.

I love GHS, have loved her since SeoDongYo.

Thanks for the recap! It will keep me company while I wait for the drama to finish.

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I hope it is okay to post here as it is GHS related.I just saw the trailer for Peach Tree at hancinema site. Wow I was blown away! I know it was a fantasy about twins but certainly did not expect this!!! Tell me what you guys think?

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I saw the trailer, based on the trailer I was amazed at how artistic everything is from cinematography, the use of lighting, the actor's expression....amazing. I had so many questions just watching that minute trailer. Will definitely have to watch the movie! Hopefully it delivers!

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Thanks for covering this drama!! Just what we need to get this rolling!!

Just wanted to point out and ask for clarification for the following comment you made...

"I also love that Gu Hye Sun is just terrible at singing, because it makes her transformation that much greater. Case in point: when she finally hits the high notes in Jae Hee’s home."

Did you mean Go Eun Bi and not Gu Hye Sun? Because personally, I don't think Hye Sun is terrible at singing, because if she was, we'd be in for a disappointment when her transformation happens since she will not have the raw talent required. So, I think you may have mixed up the characters to the actors there a bit. If you do mean, GHS, however, it's okay, I'll respect that opinion. Although for that one point, I'll beg to differ.

My take on GHS and Go Eun Bi is that the actress does have the chops to pull it off, but the character is made to really squeak and not be great. And it makes Hye Sun's acting even more commendable that she is able to fake as bad what I believe indeed is a genuinely pure voice.

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I think Yoo Jin's dad actually went off to paint and take care of his wife, who is suffering some sort of memory loss or alzheimer's.

I'm pretty sure the scenes show that the woman, or Yoo Jin's mom, has forgotten she has a son (Yoo Jin) and that's why the dad had to leave and leave the company in his son's hands.

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Yay! I love this drama with just 2 episodes and I'm totally hooked. It freaked me out that there were no recappers and fast subbers for this drama. :( How can they ignore my adorkable Choi daniel?! Ahuhuhu! Otokke!
Dyaran! This post really brightened my day! Here comes my superhero! *giggles* I beg you, please continue recapping this. Hope you can give us recaps on upcoming episodes! Please! ^O^

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Thanks for the recaps! I am loving the chemistry between DC and GHS!

I adore GHS to bits. I get a bit of Jandi vibe with Eunbi but that's fine cause I like both characters ;)

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Thanks for the recap! I enjoy reading them very much. At times the recaps done at dramabeans can be more interesting than the actual content being recapped. Random thoughts here and there~

So at first I really wasn't going to watch the drama as musicals/thearticals were a miss for me especially after You've fallen for me didn't deliver the anticipated climax I was hoping for.

Since the recap was written so well I couldn't help but go watch it and I'm hooked. Hopefully it won't call to pieces at the end.

In You've fallen for me, I somehow felt that Kim Seok Hyun and Lee Kyu Won had a more interesting development for a relationship. Thus I might have transitioned this mentor-student love into Go Eun Bi and Hong Jae Hee.

They have chemistry and I do love the acting. Especially Daniel Choi. Little gimmicks and what not putting me into a warm fuzzy giddy faze and then the unneccessary kya~ and swoon~ runs through me.

Thanks again for the wonderful recap!

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