‘Mata Hari’ and Musical Star Ock Joo-hyun

‘Mata Hari’ and Musical Star Ock Joo-hyun

Ock Joo-hyun, 35, stepped into the entertainment scene as member of a Korean girl group FIN.K.L in 1998. The four-member girl band was one of the most popular idol groups in the early 2000s, leading the Korean pop music market. 

After the girls stopped working as a group and started pursuing their own careers, Ock was able to widen her scope of activities by entering the musical scene. The former lead vocal of FIN.K.L has established herself as one of the most-wanted musical actresses in Korea. The singer-turned-musical actress played the lead role in several pieces including “Elizabeth,“ “Cats,” “Aida,” and “Wicked.”She has become one of the big names in Korea’s musical world.

This year, Ock adds one more musical production in her career through the musical titled “Mata Hari at the Moulin Rouge.” The musical is about the mysterious life of a historical figure Margaretha Geertruida Zelle, who was widely known as Mata Hari. She was a very beautiful and enchanting Dutch dancer of the 1900s. In 1917, she was executed in the outskirt of Paris, accused of being a double spy that provided intelligence to Germany. At that time, France and Germany were involved in World War I and they fought as adversaries. The French judicial authorities claimed that Mata Hari put the lives of so many French soldiers at risk, thus sentenced execution. However, whether she really did work as a spy has not been cleared and still remains a mystery.

Ock plays Mata Hari in the musical. She alternates the lead role with musical actress Kim So-hyang, also known as Sophie Kim, who actively performs in musical pieces in Korea and New York. 

The musical is produced by a Korean theater company that used to introduce Korean versions of several popular musicals from Austria. It took several years for the 25 billion won project to be ready to be staged for its world premiere in Seoul. The show also eyes to hit theaters abroad after the premier. Jeff Calhoun, who made Disney’s “Newsies” that was nominated for eight Tony Award categories, took the director’s job. One of Korea’s favored composers for theater Frank Wildhorn, made the music together with lyrics by Jack Murphy, making local musical fans anticipate the production.

The show will run from March 29 to June 12 at the Blue Square Samsung Electronics Hall located in downtown Seoul.