South Korea put a surprising new spin on a Neil Sedaka oldies musical

It wasn’t exactly lost in translation, but the Korean production of Breaking Up Is Hard to Do definitely strayed from the source.

The show, originally produced in New York in 2006, has played across the country and internationally. When it landed in Korea, it got a new title—along with “95 percent new material,” which we creators only learned about after the fact.

I was genuinely amused to run across this article in Korea JoongAng Daily well after the production closed:

“Instead of calling the musical ‘Breaking Up is Hard To Do,’ which is difficult to translate in Korean, we decided to give it an easier name,” said Park Young-seok, Korean producer of the musical. “A [different] name, in fact, makes sense because we’ve actually changed about 95 percent of the script to suit Korean audiences and added songs by Sedaka that Koreans are more familiar with.”

During the 1950s and 60s, when Koreans were more accustomed to listening to the radio all day long, as owning a television was a luxury, Sedaka’s songs including “Where the Boys Are,” “Sweet Sixteen,” “One Way Ticket,” “Stupid Cupid,” and of course, “Oh! Carol,” were frequently played, said Park, explaining the reason why he wanted to adapt the musical for Korea’s somewhat older generation who are not used to watching musicals.

Director Han Jin-seob, also said that he didn’t hesitate to direct the musical as he’s also from that generation, adding that he wanted to stage a show that can also be enjoyed to the fullest by those in their 60s.

Like the original, the musical follows six characters at Esther’s Paradise resort in the summer of 1960. Two other women, Lois and Marge visit the resort to meet some boys. Male characters include Harvey (played by Nam Kyung-joo, Seo Young-joo and Seo Bum-suk), a veteran emcee at the Paradise resort who is in love with Esther, Del (played by Jung Sang-yoon and Seo Kyung-soo) a popular singer at the resort, and Gabe (played by Hur Gyu and Sung Doo-seob), an employee at the Paradise.

Veteran actresses Jeon Soo-kyung, Kim Seon-kyeong and Im Jin-ah alternate in the role of Esther, while Ahn Yoo-jin, Oh Jin-young and Lee Yoo-ri take turns playing Lois.

I have no idea what Korean audiences saw, but lordy, since my name was on it I sure hope it was entertaining!