[On Stage] Solar "Musical Performances Bring a Thrill Different from Singing Activities"

"The moment during a musical performance when I truly feel like I have become Mata Hari, the role I am playing, is incredibly thrilling."

Sola, who has been a singer for 12 years now, recently has been experiencing a different kind of excitement on the musical stage compared to her activities as a singer. We met Sola, who is currently playing the lead role of Mata Hari in the musical 'Mata Hari' at the LG Arts Center Seoul, at the EMK Musical Company building located in Dogok-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul.

Solar, who is playing the lead role of Mata Hari in the musical 'Mata Hari'
[Photo by EMK Musical Company]

Sola debuted in 2014 as a member of the girl group Mamamoo and stepped onto the musical stage for the first time in 2022 with the musical Mata Hari. After that, in early last year, she appeared as Esmeralda in 'Notre-Dame de Paris,' and from December of the same year, she returned to the Mata Hari stage.

Mata Hari is a work depicting the life of the legendary dancer who acted as a double agent between Germany and France during World War I. For Sola, who is accustomed to dancing on stage, Mata Hari’s dance was not unfamiliar, but she said that dancing as a singer and dancing in a musical are different. "When I perform as a singer, I dance purely as myself, Sola, but in a musical, I have to dance with the emotions of another person, Mata Hari. At first, that difference felt very unfamiliar."

Sola deeply studied the character of Mata Hari and gradually immersed herself in those emotions. "Experiencing living someone else’s life is something a singer cannot do. As I immersed myself in Mata Hari’s life, at some point, I truly felt like I was Mata Hari, and that moment was incredibly thrilling."

Her musical debut began with a suggestion from music director Kim Moon-jung. In fact, she initially had little interest in musicals.

"I hadn’t watched many musicals, but when the director said I would suit Mata Hari well, I decided to take the role. At first, I wondered, ‘Can I really do this?’ but gradually I gained confidence. Thanks to that, I now have a great interest in the musical genre itself. The props and stage devices felt fresh and fun, different from the singer’s stage."

However, the musical stage was not an easy challenge. Singing was one thing, but acting was another concern.

"I was confident about singing, but musical numbers require different vocal techniques and emotional delivery is important. At first, I couldn’t properly express Mata Hari’s emotions, and I received feedback that it just sounded like Sola singing. During the first performance in 2022, I did my best, but there were many shortcomings. I took that feedback positively and kept working hard, and now I hear that I have more composure in terms of emotion and acting."

Solar, who is playing the lead role of Mata Hari in the musical 'Mata Hari' [Photo provided by EMK Musical Company]

While acting the life of another person on the musical stage, Sola discovered a new interest in acting.

"Doing Mata Hari made me very interested in acting. Before that, I was focused only on singing, but learning acting made me realize it’s definitely different, and I became more serious about it."

Balancing both singer and actress roles, Sola wants to continue performing on musical stages and named 'Chicago' as a musical she wishes to appear in. "I watched the Chicago performance late last year, and the actors’ expressions and emotions were so vivid that I wanted to be on stage too. Especially, I was drawn to the role of Roxie. The way the actors communicate with the audience and enjoy themselves on stage was really impressive."