The “romantic musical” Polaroid (first mentioned here as Andy’s second stage role) starring former Miss Korea and classical musician Honey Lee (so pretty) held its dress rehearsal–cum–press conference on June 30, the day before its official July 1 premiere.

The project is directed by Sung Jae-joon and written by Won Mi-sol, who also produced last year’s musical Music In My Heart, and its story unfolds around the two leads who meet by chance on a street — he’s an aspiring photographer, she’s an art student — and fall in love. Although Honey Lee’s musical specialty lies in traditional folk instruments, she had trained as a vocalist with YG in the past, which makes a musical role a natural vehicle for her acting debut. (Although I haven’t heard her sing myself, so who knows?)

Honey Lee was also asked about current Miss Korea Lee Jisun, who’s competing in the upcoming Miss Universe 2008 pageant in Vietnam on July 14. She wished her successor well and said she hoped that Lee Jisun would be able to improve on her own fourth-place finish last year.

Polaroid runs through August 24; Andy joins the cast in August.

Via Yonhap News

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Super Kidd - “사랑예보” (love forecast) [ Download ]

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Filed under: Theater/Musicals by javabeans - 5 Comments →

Shinhwa’s baby member Andy, currently enjoying a hot streak of popularity due his pairing with Solbi on the show We Got Married, is taking another turn on the musical stage this summer.

This time, he’ll star in Polaroid, which is being brought to theatergoers by the same director and writer duo (Sung Jae-joon and Won Mi-sol) behind his musical debut project last year, Music in My Heart. In Polaroid, Andy plays an innocent character pining for a woman who’s in love with someone else in a love story that is unique and “singular, like a Polaroid picture.” Kind of an… odd metaphor, but okay.

After his first musical experience, Andy explained that while his kpop background naturally helped, there were aspects that he had to work on that were new to him, such as singing with greater volume and speed, as well as working on his enunciation. Following his role in Music in My Heart, he’d received numerous other offers, and chose this as his second musical project.

The musical runs from July 1 through August 24 and also stars former Miss Korea Honey Lee; Andy’s performances begin in August.

Via My Daily

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Andy - “Timing” [ Download ]

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• Tablo addressed erroneous rumors that he’s retiring from the music biz by posting a message on his homepage: “I’m not retiring.” He’s not happy with the state of the industry and its focus on singles over albums, but he assures his fans, “I’ll make music forever.”
• Ha Jiwon was invited to the New Zealand embassy in Seoul to welcome Prime Minister Helen Clark on the 15th. She’s been active in promoting films from New Zealand in Korea, and vice versa (Korean films in NZ). She also films her next movie in New Zealand at the end of the year.
• First it was a Girls Generation song (sung here); now figure skater Kim Yuna says she’ll be performing Jewelry’s “ET dance” next, using their chart-topping hit “One More Time” (song here) in one of her skating routines at the KCC Switzen Festa on Ice. Maybe she just really wants to be a pop star.
• MBC’s popular variety show We Got Married has brought several stars into the limelight, including Shinhwa’s Andy, dubbed “top husband material.” But did you know he’d already gone on a formal “seon” (marriage set-up date) years ago at the tender age of 25? His mother tricked him into going, saying it was merely dinner with a friend, but when he showed up the woman was there with a “young girl” — and the mothers quickly got up and left the couple behind.
• And with SBS gearing up to launch two new series, the promotion blitz sure is kicking in. All of a sudden, everything is about Iljimae (Lee Junki, Han Hyo Joo) and Gourmet (Kim Rae Won, Nam Sang Mi). Seriously, Lee Junki is everywhere.

 
SONG OF THE DAY

Andy - “Love Song” [ Download ]

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Filed under: Celebrity News by javabeans - 13 Comments →

• On the April 4 broadcast of MBC’s Section TV, Lee Da Hae listed Taiwanese actor-singer-producer Jay Chou as an actor she’d like to work with. Asked why she chose him, she explained, “The first thing is personality. I wonder if we’d be a good match.” I’m sure she means that strictly professionally.
• Duo Mighty Mouth shot to fame with some help from Yoon Eun Hye with their debut song “I Love You” (listen here), and now they’re featuring the much-hyped new singer and JYP protégé JOO. I guess they have a thing for pretty girls with weak vocals?
• Popular comedian and Infinity Challenge regular Park Myung Soo is getting married tomorrow (April 6) and spent the week leading up to the big day undergoing wedding prep — on the air. The other four hosts (Yoo Jae Seok, Jung Hyung Don, Noh Hong Chul, Jung Joon Ha) carried out the “Making Park Myung Soo the No. 1 Bridegroom Project” — massages, makeovers — in its full gag-laden glory on the variety show.
• Speaking of weddings, Andy and Solbi, who act as a married couple in the “We Got Married” segment on MBC’s Sunday, Sunday Night, are attracting notice for their onstage duet performing his new “Love Song” on MBC’s Music Core.
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• And here’s something especially interesting! Rock/pop singer Lee Juck’s short story is being produced as a full-length animated film by the Korea Film Academy. The source material, “Jeh Bool Chal’s Story” [제불찰 씨 이야기], was included in Lee Juck’s short-story collection (pic at right) Fingerprint Hunter [지문사냥꾼], and is described as a satirical piece about a man (Jeh Bool Chal) who is so ignored by people that he shrinks to a small enough size to enter a person’s ear. I love surreal fiction like this — reminds me of Haruki Murakami’s metaphysical short story “The Elephant Vanishes.” And I love literate musicians — first it’s Horan, and now Lee Juck — combining two of my mostest favoritest things in the world.

 
SONG OF THE DAY

Lee Juck - “장난감 전쟁” (War of the Toys) [ Download ]

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