The Last Empress (musical)


The Last Empress is a musical about Empress Myeongseong of Korea. It debuted in 1995 as South Korea's first original musical with Peter Casey as Orchestrator, and was continuing its run in Seoul as of February 2007. It is based on a historical novel written by the well-known South Korean author Yi Mun Yol, composed by Kim Hee Gap, with lyrics by Yang In Ja, and directed by Yun Ho-Jin. The 2-hour musical is produced by Seoul-based Arts Communication.
The original production at the Seoul Performing Arts Center was expected to reach one million ticket sales by March 2007.
It played at the New York State Theater, Lincoln Center, in 1997 and 1998, to favorable reviews. It also played in London's West End in 2002 , the Kodak Theater in Los Angeles in 2003, and at Toronto's Hummingbird Centre in 2004 .