B-boys and beat-boxing, once attributed only to coarse street culture, have found their way to the formal stage as musicals, and have not only experienced great commercial success but also showed what potential the genre has to show in the times to come.
Perhaps it is the analog character of musicals that scares away the audience who are accustomed to the digital screen; perhaps it is the snobby, bourgeois image the genre has; or perhaps it is even the greater expense the art demands from its viewers. Whatever the reason, in Korean culture, musicals have always been considered a rather esoteric part of culture. One typically learns of musicals his or her first time through archaically or obscurely titled articles reported in highly qualified newspapers about magical performances delivered by musical prodigies. Thus, many may feel inadequate, even daunted, to simply go and enjoy a performance. However, recently novel programs have broken this elitist trend and have made musicals more approachable to the general public as a viable friend or family outing event.
On November 10 and 11, Marionette was on tour at CMB Expo Art Hall, Daejeon. Marionette is a modern take on musicals; the traditional plot and scene-by-scene format are retained, but the rest hardly resemble conventional programs: beat-boxing, rap style narration, and b-boying mesmerize the audience in place of just singing and acting. The show is performed by members of the b-boying crew Expression renowned for its winning of “Battle of the Year” in 2002 among other successes. So, the dancing guaranteed, how does the program fare?
The stage set is surprisingly simple; there is the floor and a back screen. Rarely any structural props are used while a video projected on the back screen narrates and illustrates the story. The dances are performed mainly to music by Yann Tiersen, well known for their use in films Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain and Good-bye Lenin. In spite of the calm, traditional French folk music, the choice is well justified as the synopsis naturally unites the two: the idyllic, European atmosphere formed by the soundtrack appropriately introduces the theme “marionettes,” the French word for puppets on strings. At other times, brutal music is used to form a sinister, macabre atmosphere as the dancers perform in the dark with glow-in-the-dark suits and masks to portray the antagonists.
Despite the highly unlikely combination of b-boying and storytelling, the performance is nearly seamless in its execution due to the well-devised plot, which allows the b-boys to bring out the greatest tricks up their sleeves. The plot is divided into three scenes. In the first, marionettes escape from their puppeteer with the help of the antagonist, a magician trying to rid of the puppeteer. During this scene, the b-boys in front dance in sync like “puppets” while bound at the limbs by elastic bands to another b-boy in the back, the “puppeteer.” This trick is the trademark of the show and has been noted for its novelty several times in pop culture. Closing the scene, the puppets return after learning the importance of understanding and care between the puppet and puppeteer. The next scene is a story of puppet, which fell in love with a girl in the red hat that frequented the puppet shows. Here, the program breaks the fourth wall of theater as a woman, asked to wear a red hat at the start of the show, enters the stage and partakes in the show. The story closes as the puppet loses the girl to time and feels sorrow. In the final scene, our magician returns to bedazzle the audience with magic tricks and creatures, another specialty of “Expression.” By using partially illuminated costumes in the dark, the crew creates illusions such as human spiders and effects one would see in movies. Another thing to look for: allusions to other pop culture figures, such as Optimus Prime from Transformers, are highly entertaining. The formal program ends with a heartwarming story of the old puppeteer putting on his final show and being serenaded by his puppets.
Admittedly, the plot is neither complex nor profoundly moving. However, Marionette succeeds in putting together a novel type of musical by incorporating parts of modern street culture to appeal to the general public. Although traditional musicals may still have place in the upper echelons of theatergoers, it is this kind of easily accessible musicals that allow laymen to introduce oneself to the genre. In fact, the majority of the audience at Daejeon was not the elder who enjoy the anual Swan Lake but rather it was the families, children, and couples who simply wished to enjoy. Nowadays, the prevalent entertainment media of choice are movies and games; but we fail to realize that there are other art forms out there modernizing, just ready to be thoroughly enjoyed. So, next time, go to a musical. Perhaps get a ticket to Marionette. Heck, get two.