Gwanghwamun Love Song(광화문 연가) is a musical directed by Lee GiNa, written by Ko Sun Woong, composed by Lee Young-hoon and choreographed by Seo Byung Koo. It is about memory, true love and death. It was co-produced by CJ E&M and Seoul City Musical Company.
In 2017, a middle-aged man, Myungwoo, was in a coma before death. Wulha (god who takes care of human events). He appears in front of Myungwoo and takes him on a journey through his past. The first place that the God brings him to is the moment when Myungwoo meets his first love, Soo-Ah, in the spring of 1984 painting competition. Myungwoo falls in love with this passionate and motivated woman. However, when Myungwoo witnesses Soo-Ah getting attacked by the police during a riot, he feels guilty because he cannot protect her, and eventually leaves her. Myungwoo searches through the moments of regret in his past with Wulha and is led to a mysterious empty house that he cannot remember.
| Script | Ko Sun Woong | 고선웅 | Arirang, script, director, 2015Werder, dramatized, 2017 | 아리랑, 대본, 연출, 2015조씨고아, 각색, 2017[1] | |
| Composer | Lee Yong Hoon | 이영훈 | |||
| Director | Lee Gi Na | 이지나 | The Deveil, 2014Seo Phyeon Je, 2014 | 더 데빌, 2014서편제, 2014[2] | |
| Choreography | Seo Byung Koo | 서병구 | |||
| Music director | Kim Sung Soo | 김성수 | Jesus Christ Superstar, 2015Gone Tomorrow, 2016 |
| Middle age Myung Woo | 중년 명우 | Ahn Jae WookLee Kun Myung | 안재욱이건명 이경준 | |
| Wul Ha | 월하 | Jung Sung HwaCha Ji Yeon | 정성화차지연 | |
| Young Age Myung Woo | 젊은 명우 | Heo Do YoungKim Syung Kyu | 허도영 김성규 박강현 | |
| Yong Age Soo Ah | 젊은 수아 | Hong Eun JooLindsay | 홍은주린지 |
The musical[3] started on March 20, 2011. The composer Lee-Young hoon was passionate about writing the musical and continued writing even while hospitalized. Oh Se-hoon, the mayor of Seoul, and Lee Moon-se attended the opening night performance. Over 40,000 seats were booked before opening night. It received favourable reviews online. People wrote “I can reminisce about the good old days”, “It feels like getting a present from my memory”, and “I cannot sleep after watching its performance”.
When a musical reopens its series, the crews often refer to the reopening musical as ‘the upgrade’. However, Gwanghwamun Love Song went through a major construction. This musical was the first musical that altered each scene.
Gwanghwamun Love Song[4] cast both Sunghwa Jung and Jiyeon Cha as Wulha, which is unusual because they are different genders. Theatre companies often double or triple cast regardless of gender, but this can be more complex in a musical because of the differences in male and female vocal ranges.
| Under the street-tree shadow | 가로수 그늘 아래 서면 | |
| Flying deep night | 깊은 밤을 날아서 | |
| Girl | 소녀 | |
| What it means my love | 사랑이란 것은 | |
| That was me | 그게 나였어 | |
| When the autumn comes | 가을이 오면 | |
| Sunflower | 해바라기 | |
| My old lady | 내 오랜 그녀 | |
| Each other | 서로가 | |
| Red sunset | 붉은 노을 | |
| All today | 오늘 하루 | |
| Whistle | 휘파람 | |
| Only the sound of her laughter | 그녀의 웃음소리 뿐 | |
| Song of sad love | 슬픈 사랑 노래 | |
| Gwanghwamun love song | 광화문 연가 | |
| Merry-go-round | 회전목마 | |
| Old love | 옛사랑 | |
| When you live this world | 이 세상 살아가다 보면 | |
| When love is gone | 사랑이 지나가면 |
| Seoul | 2017.12.15 ~ 2015.01.14. | Seojong Art Center | |
| DaeJeon | 2018.01.20. ~ 2018.01.21. | Daejeon Art Center | |
| Geonggi | 2018.01.27. ~ 2018.01.28. | Gunpo Culture & Art Center | |
| Daegu | 2018.02.02. ~ 2018.02.04. | Geimyung Art Center | |
| Ulsan | 2018.02.09. ~ 2018.02.11. | Ulsan Culture & Art Center | |
| Incheon | 2018.02.23. ~ 2018.02.25. | Incheon Culture & Art Center | |
| Busan | 2018.03.16. ~ 2018.03.18. | Busan Citizen's Hall |