Mokwon University Vocal Music and Musical Theatre Department, 'No Audience' Regular Musical Performance

On the 25th, students majoring in Vocal Music and Musical Theatre at Mokwon University are rehearsing for the performance of "Next to Normal" at the Mokwon University Concert Hall. Provided by Mokwon University

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] The Vocal Music and Musical Department of Mokwon University will hold a regular musical performance without an audience.

Mokwon University announced on the 28th that it will hold the musical performance "NEXT TO NORMAL" twice a day at 3 PM and 7 PM on the 28th and 29th at the on-campus concert hall.

This performance was planned as part of the four regular performances held annually. The university originally planned to invite local residents as the audience, but decided to proceed with a performance without an audience due to the recent elevation of social distancing measures to level 4 in the Daejeon area.

Eighteen musical major students will participate in the performance, dividing roles as actors and staff. The students participating in the performance will be tested with COVID-19 self-diagnosis kits before going on stage.

The Vocal Music and Musical Department also plans to submit performances to the "2021 Daegu International Musical Festival" and the "Hyundai Motor Group University Theater and Musical Festival (formerly H-STAR Festival)."

"Next to Normal" won three Tony Awards in 2009 and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2010 consecutively. It is also regarded as the most artistically acclaimed work on Broadway since 2000.

Set in a middle-class American family, this work depicts the process of love, conflict, and reconciliation experienced by a wife suffering from bipolar disorder, her devoted husband, and their adolescent child, as they find familial love together.

Park Moon-hee, head of the Vocal Music and Musical Department at Mokwon University, said, "I hope that through the regular performance, students will have the opportunity to hone their professional skills in their respective roles as musical actors and staff."