This post refers specifically to the Park Eun Tae Version of this production.

Remember back in 2000 when Lippa and LaChuisa both had shows based on the same source material, both in NY, and both named Wild Party? Weird that it happened right? I also remember the Yeston’s Titanic coming out the same year as the blockbuster film. Also somewhat akward. Well, a kind-of similar thing happened about 15 years prior with Gaston Leroux’s Phantom of the Opera. This is not totally unheard of; think about A Christmas Carol adaptations, any musical about the last days of Jesus, The Little Prince adapations, modern adaptations of Shakespeare, and on and on. In the mid 1980s, three shows based on Leroux’s Phantom were in works. One by Ken Hill, one by Maury Yeston, and obviously, the big one: Andew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera. It would be an understatement to say Webber’s production “won the race,” as, not only did it win the race, it is literally still in it’s original run on Broadway. a staggering 30 years later and Webber’s musical remains intact, successful, and extremely well recieved by theatergoers. Myself included. Hill’s and Yeston’s Phantom typically go unnoticed, and are seldom mentioned in theater small-talk in my circles.

When I learned about Yeston’s Phantom in high school, even though I was a fan of Nine and Titanic, I didn’t have much interest in listening to the recording because I knew it would be hard for me to seperate the two shows in my mind. And indeed it was hard for me to listen through the American recording as there was too much conflict in visualizations.

I came to this realization very recently, actually, and decided to try listening to a non-English version as to break the connection. And much to my delight, it worked. The 2016 Korean recording is exhilerating and, for me, something fresh and new from one of my, if not my absolute, favorite composers.

With the exception with the use of the name Christine, I do not hear anything in the Korean translation of Kopits libretto that reminds me of Webbers. Also worth mentioning I am a native English speaker and speak no Korean except for what I learned from playing Starcraft back in the day. The two shows are drastically different in terms of music, and it would be completely useless to try to compare the two. IfI had to dig for similarities, I would point out that Webber’s “Play within a play” music (Hannibal, Think of Me (sort of), Don Juan Triumphant, etc.) retains a 1880s Creepy Opera House feel, while the rest of the show is overtly 1980s Creepy Rock-Opera feel. Yeston’s score is the former version of creepy, for the entire show. Even the melody melody melody melody major chord song(s) are creepy.

Yeston’s score has so many complexities and nuanced features and everytime you listen, you hear something new, it is one of those scores that grows and grows on you. With Webber, you can see the show twice and have all the songs memorized and stuck in your head for 30 years.