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Korea Herald
22-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Korea Herald
In 'Once,' supporting characters playing live music complete story
Three actor-musicians on why their 'small' roles in 'Once' matter most For the musical 'Once,' 16 different types of instruments -- including guitar, mandolin, violin and drums -- are used on stage. This show demands 12 performers who can not only act and sing, but also play musical instruments. In fact, the difficulty of assembling a cast of skilled actor-musicians is one reason the show is returning to the stage a full decade after its Korean premiere in 2014. While more musicals featuring actor-musicians — such as Great Comet and Zorro — are appearing domestically, the paths to becoming such versatile performers vary widely. Among 12 actors who take the stage each show for 'Once,' Park Ji-il, Ko Ye-il and Kim Min-seong exemplify that diversity. Park, 65, plays 'Da,' the father of the main character 'Guy.' A seasoned actor with a long career across theater, film, and television, Park landed the role on his second attempt -- an audition that marked one of the rare occasions he didn't succeed on the first try, with more than a decade between the two auditions. This role requires good guitar, ukulele and mandolin but he always loved playing the guitar but wasn't familiar with mandolin back then. However, hoping to participate in 'Once' he practiced, waited for a next change and tried again. Park has always loved performing with others, even if not in a professional setting -- making the actor-musician role feel like an ideal combination for him. 'Being able to play music on stage and also act, something I've done for decades, makes this show one of the most meaningful performances I could ever take part in,' Park told The Korea Herald during an interview joined by two cast members. 'In my 40-year acting career, this might be the smallest role I've ever taken on, but to me, it feels like a huge gift. Despite how small the role is, I feel like I've put in ten times more effort into this one production than I have for any other,' he added. While Park's acting career spans four decades, Ko Ye-il, who plays violin onstage, is arguably South Korea's most experienced actor-musician. The 37-year-old comes from a classical music background and trained as a violist. Her entry into musicals was unplanned; since stumbling into the genre in 2017, she has taken on nearly every actor-musician role available in the country, such as 'Mata Hari,' 'The Man Who Laughs,' 'Midnight,' 'Zorro,' 'The Great Comet' and more. 'I've mostly played roles where I'm running around and moving a lot on stage, so I thought 'Once' would be a quiet, lyrical kind of piece -- very different from what I usually do. This was a deeper and more introspective work and really drew me in,' Ko said, adding 'it has become my favorite role.' 'What's really remarkable about this piece is that every single role, no matter how small, feels embraced with love,' Ko added. Ko takes the role of 'Ex-girlfriend' in 'Once.' Kim Min-seong considers himself fortunate to make his debut as Andrej, a character who plays both guitar and bass guitar in the musical. 'I'd watched the film several times -- it's one of my favorites. When I saw the audition announcement, I thought it would be the perfect experience to have before starting my military service,' said the 23-year-old, who played guitar as he studied applied music in high school. With this role, Kim, who now majors in musical theater performance in college, hopes to pursue his career in musical theater. 'When I studied applied music, I realized that it wasn't the type of art that I wanted to pursue. When I saw a musical, my eyes opened wide. Now, I'm so sure about this path and I know performing in a musical production is something I really want to do,' Kim noted. 'I'm thrilled to start my career with this musical that I love so much,' he said. Originally based on the 2007 Irish indie film, "Once" made its Broadway debut in 2012, winning eight Tony Awards including Best Musical. The Korean version of "Once," produced by Seensee Company, runs at Coex Artium until May 31.
Yahoo
18-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Space photo of the day: Brilliant comet shines at sunset over observatory in Chile
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. A brilliant comet lights up the night sky over Chile's Atacama Desert in this stunning image captured by a photographer with the European Southern Observatory in January 2025. What you're seeing here is the Great Comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS), a comet discovered in 2024 that lit up the night sky late in that year and early 2025, and was the brightest comet in 18 years when it was visible to stargazers throughout January 2025. The comet was first discovered in April 2024 by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (or ATLAS) using a nearly 20-inch (0.5 meters) telescope in Rio Hurtado, Chile. It soon became one of the most anticipated skywatching targets of early 2025. For several days in January, it was visible to the unaided eye for stargazers with clear and dark skies, was even visible in the daytime, a rarity among comets. This image shows comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) from the European Southern Observatory near its Very Large Telescope (which is visible on the mountaintop of Cerro Paranal at left) as seen by ESO photographer Florentin Millour on Jan. 21, 2025. ESO shared the image to the public today, March 17. ESO's observatories in Chile's Atacama Desert operate under extremely dark conditions. Unlike in the Northern Hemisphere, where the comet was only visible for a short week, it was visible for much longer in the Southern Hemisphere, home to ESO and other observatories. Comets that are visible to the unaided eye are an extremely exciting sight. They are icy wanderers from the outer solar system left over from the formation of the sun its planets, including Earth. Because comets like C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) are made mostly of water ice, as they approach the inner solar system, that ice sublimates into a gas as it nears the sun to create a vast, willowy tail. In Millour's photo, you can see that tail blowing out, away from the sun just after sunset, from the comet's head (called the nucleus) on the horizon. The solar wind also blows ions of the comet, creating second ion tail. The fact that C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) was briefly visible during daytime hours is a rare sight indeed. Even astronauts in space observed the comet! If you're looking to learn more, check out our feature on the discovery of comet C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) by skywatching columnist Joe Rao. He also has this retrospective on C/2024 G3 (ATLAS) that explains why it will go down as one of the great comets of the 21st century. We also have a deep guide on how comets work, as well as a guide on how to observe and photograph comets in the night sky.
