Musicals have been gaining much popularity in Korea. Going to the theater to watch a live performance of a famous musical has become one of our favorite pastime activities. Here at KAIST, you can also learn to enjoy musicals through the course titled The World of Musicals. For those of you who are fervent fans of musicals but have never had the opportunity to study them, this class might be a great chance to satiate your passion and interest. The KAIST Herald met with Professor Young Hae Noh, who is in charge of the course, to hear more about her class and musicals in general.

Nice to meet you. Could you briefly introduce yourself?
Hello, my name is Young Hae Noh and I have been teaching The World of Musicals course at KAIST since 2003.

What made you decide to teach a course on musicals?
My major is in musicology, especially that of the 19th century. So, I was very interested in 19th century opera and gradually became interested in musicals as well because of the close relation between the two. In the summer of 1999, I came across the “Les Miserables 10th Anniversary” album and was absolutely captivated by it that I began to study the characters and songs of Les Miserables and other musicals. I was even more drawn into musicals after I studied them and wanted to share my interest with other students.

What is a musical?
From what I understand, a musical is an art form that integrates a variety of art forms such as songs, dialogue, acting, and dance. It even involves technical aspects such as the use of lighting, sound, and various stage effects. I believe it is one art form that truly entertains people and satisfies all of our five senses. There are many different types of musicals. Some are based on stories, such as Les Miserables and plays by Shakespeare. Jukebox musicals are based on songs of the famous artists, such as Queen and Abba. Some are even based on rock music.

What does the The World of Musicals course teach? How does it progress?
The World of Musicals starts with learning the history of Broadway, starting those from the 1940s to modern musicals. Before the midterm exam, students gain a general overview of musicals and learn their different types. We study the main composers, characters, and literatures that the musical is based on and learn to sing the songs together. After the midterm, students form a team of four or five students and choose a musical they want to perform and organize on their own.
The class workload is quite heavy since you need to put in a lot of time into practicing with your teammates. The students voluntarily practice almost every day when preparing for the musical performance. Preparing for the stage, students spend much time practicing and learn to cooperate with each other. I believe this class not only gives them knowledge of musicals, but also plants in them the importance of working with other members in society and therefore grants them leadership skills. Students can also meet new people and make friends naturally by spending a lot of time with them.

What were the students’ reactions upon taking this course?
During the 2003 Winter Semester, we held our first performance. A total of 73 students from KAIST and other universities in Korea, such as POSTECH, Yonsei University, and Ewha Womans University, also participated and performed at Taewulgwan. The students loved it.
During those five weeks, students practiced day and night, encouraging each other and celebrating their success after the performance. Not many people get the opportunity, but this class allowed them to experience feelings of accomplishment and the thrills of being on stage. I was impressed by the great passion and concentration of the students. After the performance, they told me it was a life changing experience and that being on stage was such a thrilling and precious experience. Not wanting to forget this moment, the students and I wrote a book about our class in commemoration of our successful performance. I wrote about the musicals we studied in class and included the students’ comments and a DVD clip of our performance.

Do you have any last comments for our readers and students who are interested in musicals?
I think it is important to watch live performances in order to enjoy musicals to its fullest, though listening to the albums is also good. One of the musicals that I want to recommend is Les Miserables. There are lots of other great musicals such as Jekyll and Hyde, Romeo and Juliet from the 1950s and musicals based on Shakespeare’s other works. My favorite one is The Westside Story, and I think all of these musicals are very interesting to watch. If you want to thoroughly enjoy musicals, try to be immersed in them as much as possible and you will find that watching musicals can be a very delightful experience.