Students of the Department of Performing Arts at Cheonggang University Performing Arts School Enter the Heart of Musical Theater
[Musical 'Next to Normal' by DIMF Participating Students of Cheonggang University School of Performing Arts (Photo provided by Cheonggang University)]
Students from the Department of Performing Arts at Cheonggang Culture Industry University (President Choi Seong-shin, hereinafter Cheonggang University) will participate in the 17th Daegu International Musical Festival (hereinafter DIMF) College Musical Festival, held in Daegu from May 19 to June 5, 2023.
DIMF is Asia's first international musical festival attracting global attention. Throughout the festival, there will be 7 official invited productions, 4 creative support works, the College Musical Festival, the street festival DIMFringe, open musical lectures, backstage tours, outdoor musical film screenings, musical talk shows, and various other side events.
Among these, a total of 8 universities have advanced to the finals of the College Musical Festival, including Cheonggang University, after fair competition. The universities in the finals are Cheonggang Culture Industry University, Dankook University, Mokwon University, Suwon University, Baekseok Arts University, Hongik University, Chung-Ang University, and Mahidol University (Thailand).
Cheonggang University won the gold prize with the musical All Shook Up at the 2nd DIMF and also won the gold prize the following year with Hamlet. Later, at the 5th and 7th festivals, they won silver prizes with the musicals Jesus Christ Superstar and West Side Story, respectively.
[Musical 'Next to Normal' by DIMF Participating Students of Cheonggang University School of Performing Arts (Photo by Cheonggang University)]
Cheonggang University's musical Next to Normal tells the story of Diana, a mother suffering from mental illnesses such as bipolar disorder and grandiose delusions, and the impact these have on her family. It is a rock musical with a script by Brian Yorkey and music composed by Tom Kitt. The musical premiered Off-Broadway in the United States in 2008 and moved to Broadway in 2009, where it won three Tony Awards, including Best Leading Actress and Best Original Score, achieving great commercial success as a well-made work.
Unlike the original work, which focused on the story of Diana suffering from mental illness, Cheonggang University's musical places greater emphasis on Dan, the husband who does his best to restore Diana to normalcy and become an ordinary family, and their daughter Natalie. Through this, the musical conveys that behind normalcy, as the title suggests, there is someone's effort, and it questions the true meaning of family to the audience.
Meanwhile, Cheonggang University's Performing Arts School musical will be presented to audiences in two performances on June 1 at the Daegu Seo-gu Cultural Center. Ticket reservations and detailed information can be found on the official DIMF website or Cheonggang Performing Arts School's official Instagram.
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