JYJ's Junsu and Davichi's Lee Hae Ri Appear at "Tears of Heaven" Press Conference

The stars of the upcoming musical “Tears of Heaven” appeared at the press conference held on December 13 at the Imperial Palace Hotel.  The cast includes JYJ’s Junsu and Davichi’s Lee Hae Ri.  These two K-Pop stars play the lead roles alongside many veteran musical actors.

The musical is derived from Jo Sung Mo’s music video for song “Do You Know” (2000).  Junsu, along with actors Jung Sang Yoon and Jeon Dong Seok, will switch off in the lead role of Korean soldier Jun fighting in the Vietnam War.  The plot centers around a love triangle in which Vietnamese singer Lyn (played by Yoon Gong Ju and Davichi’s Lee Hae Ri) and American colonel Grayson (played by Broadway veteran Brad Little) comprise the other two characters. 

During the conference, Junsu stated that he drew on his history as a pop star, as well as his experience starring in the musical “Mozart!”, for his role in “Tears of Heaven”. 

“I’m here today as a musical actor, although I feel a bit ashamed to call myself one… I personally think music is most important to a musical, but [composer] Frank Wildhorn’s music was different from that of ‘Mozart!’ — classical but containing a lot of pop music-like elements.  So I feel like that’s what I could do a good job of bringing out.  It’s true that I’m very nervous as well, but I’d like to enjoy the situation I’m in with the audience,” said Junsu.

He added, “I went through a lot of trial and error while doing ‘Mozart!’ because singing pop music is different from singing in a musical.  There are differences in terms of vocalizing and how you weave in your emotions into your singing, although both are based on the same form of language that we call singing. And a lot of people are worried about my acting. All I can say for now is that I’ll work hard and improve on it so that I’ll become a better musical actor.”

We have no doubts that Junsu will rise to the occasion.  Producer Seol Do Yoon stated that Junsu had gone through the audition process like the rest of the cast, but that it was his strength of his debut performance in the musical “Mozart!” that really sealed the deal.

“Tears of Heaven” is an original production which features music by veteran Broadway composer Frank Wildhorn.  It will be directed by Gabriel Berry, who produced the film “Sweeney Todd”, and co-headed by musical producer Seol & Company and Creative Production Co., a  subsidiary of Core Contents Media.  The musical will premiere at the Main Hall of the National Theater of Korea on February 1.