If you know anything about me, you’ll know that traveling and musical theatre are the greatest loves of my life. Hyperbole aside, I LIVE for these two things. It’s funny to me that I had no idea before coming here that South Korea had such a vibrant musical theatre scene – this is the country world renown for their K-Pop music after all! One of the worst parts about the pandemic and then leaving the United States was that I’d have to put off seeing live shows on hold for quite some time. Clearly, that couldn’t have been farther from the truth!
The first day at my new job, we had a teacher’s day where we met each other and spent the day setting up our classrooms. It wasn’t long before I was desperate for something to sing to, when I asked my co-teacher, Summer, if I could put on some Disney music. It was a quick and easy yes – and not long before the two of us were belting along to “Let it Go.” Fast forward a few weeks into the year, and we started talking about our mutual love of musical theatre. We spent the rest of the night at work putting Wicked, Hadestown, and Miss Saigon on the big screen and singing along. It was one of those moments from the movie Step Brothers – “Did we just become best friends?!”
Summer had just seen CATS on tour in Busan, and I believe she was the first one to tell me that Wicked was the next show coming to the theatre – I was DEAD. Of course, I had to do everything in my ability to see Wicked in Korea. I have loved the show since I was a kid – I laid on the floor in my bedroom singing along to the album on my boom box in elementary school. I wrote the Broadway Cast in New York an email when I was in Middle School. My Dad caught me standing on top of a rolling chair in the middle of the night, gliding around my house and lip syncing to “Defying Gravity” as it blared in my headphones. So…ya, this is a big one for me.
We purchased our tickets and then waited two months until the show. The show was completely in Korean, but I had seen it twice before (once in Chicago and again in New York) and had had the album memorized for years. It was Summer’s first time seeing the production, and we both were equally ecstatic. It was going to be a totally new experience for the both of us – just two best friends sharing a wonderful, one short day 😉
Seeing Wicked in NYC – February 2020
The day finally arrived, and although it was insanely rainy and wet, it was a perfect night. The moment the orchestra started playing, I began to cry. To be honest, I cried throughout much of the show. The show was fantastic – the casting was superb, the singing was phenomenal, and the production was out of this world. But moreover, the two loves of my life were converging. Seeing musical theatre, and a show that was so dear to me, overseas in my new home, in a new language, was exquisite. I believe we get a handful of rare moments throughout our lives where we get to sit in awe of what we are experiencing and think to ourselves, “Yes. This is my life.”
Much needed caffeine and deep conversation before the show!
I still cannot believe that I got to experience this show, in this place. I’m equally over the moon about the fact that Seoul has a robust theatre district – with shows like Beetlejuice, Hadestown, Natasha Pierre, and Spring Awakening coming just this season alone! I purchased my tickets to Beetlejuice this morning and spent this week planning a trip to see it in Seoul with Jeremy and our dear friend, Kayleigh.
If there’s one thing that I’ve learned, it’s this: those rare moments, where you sit in awe and gratitude of your life, they happen when you radically follow the loves of your life. God, this journey has been difficult. But I’m genuinely grateful for the love, beauty, and grace that following that whisper of my heart have brought me to. I don’t believe that everything happens for a reason, nor do I necessarily believe that what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger. I do believe that the extraordinary happens when you make space for it, when you pursue it. When you follow the call and show up.
That’s what was on my heart as I spent another short day in the Emerald City.
All my Love,
Lex
