00:00 And my favorite line that I say is,
00:04 "We sing together, we dance together,
00:08 we look sexy together."
00:11 [cheering]
00:14 [music playing]
00:15 [singing in Korean]
00:23 There aren't that many roles for us yet.
00:26 And that's because there aren't that many people
00:28 invited to be in the creative process that look like us.
00:32 [singing in Korean]
00:36 Like, K-pop?
00:38 There's a show about K-pop? This is a scam.
00:41 [singing in Korean]
00:43 I felt like a K-pop star when the panels of our show open
00:47 and you hear them cheering.
00:49 [music playing]
00:52 I've realized that every act that we do as Asian Americans
00:56 in the entertainment space is political.
00:58 This show, K-pop, is political.
01:01 [music playing]
01:03 It's the first Korean show on Broadway.
01:06 It's us taking up space.
01:08 [music playing]
01:14 It follows this larger--
01:16 [music playing]
01:26 [music playing]
01:36 [music playing]
01:54 About their journey and all the trials that they have to go through
01:58 to be K-pop idols in general,
02:01 but also to make their debut in New York City.
02:04 [music playing]
02:10 New Now at 11, what started off as a rally in Manhattan today
02:13 ended in song.
02:15 Turned out to support the first Broadway show celebrating Korean culture.
02:19 But the musical that broke barriers for the--
02:21 [no audio]
02:32 I think there's this misconception that
02:35 there are only so few spots for Asian people.
02:40 And I think that's bullshit.
02:42 [music playing]
02:45 I was born and raised in San Diego.
02:47 Growing up, I would help my parents at the saetakseoul.
02:51 They're dry cleaner.
02:53 And I had three sisters growing up.
02:55 And if I didn't call them noona, they would punch me in the face.
02:58 It's just a very Korean family in general.
03:00 I'd say the three of us are probably the dancers of the cast.
03:03 Yeah.
03:04 We--all three of us have extensive dance training.
03:06 Let's go.
03:07 [grunting]
03:08 [dance music playing]
03:15 Growing up Asian immigrant family,
03:18 I didn't think dancing was a viable career option.
03:21 I was always told that, you know, I was going to go to college,
03:24 do my four years, and then study, like, engineering
03:27 or be a doctor or be a lawyer.
03:30 [music playing]
03:35 I got my BA at Harvard,
03:38 studying computer science, economics, and Mandarin.
03:42 I pretty much stopped dance training
03:45 just 'cause I was, like, working, working, working.
03:47 I graduated from college May of 2021.
03:51 And I was working in finance in venture capital.
03:54 I really didn't like my job.
03:57 I was freaking out and having mental breakdowns.
04:00 [laughs]
04:01 And called my sisters, called everyone I knew and said,
04:04 "I think I'm quitting, and I think I want to pursue acting and dance."
04:07 [music playing]
04:08 [music playing]
04:09 [music playing]
04:10 [BLANK_AUDIO]
04:20 [MUSIC]
04:30 Now it is headed to Broadway.
04:41 [MUSIC]
04:48 We all sat down for our first read through together on our very first day.
04:55 And hearing people speak Korean,
04:58 every person in that room, 99% of us, Asian.
05:04 It was crazy.
05:05 [MUSIC]
05:16 The way that K-pop fandoms operate and the way that even K-pop concerts go down,
05:21 it's such a unique experience because it's so communal.
05:24 [MUSIC]
05:34 I think people realize that this isn't the typical Broadway space.
05:41 Like I can bring my light stick of my favorite K-pop band.
05:44 I can bring my glow sticks and my signs.
05:47 [MUSIC]
05:50 >> There have been fans that have seen the show more than ten times,
05:55 who know all the dances, all the lyrics to the songs, know even all the lines.
06:01 [MUSIC]
06:09 So we found out that we were closing the same day that the public found out.
06:14 It's just yet another show in a long line of BIPOC shows that
06:20 ending way too soon.
06:22 >> After weeks of low ticket sales and mixed reviews,
06:26 the first of its kind Broadway show will close after just 17 performances.
06:32 >> Jesse Green from the New York Times,
06:35 the white gatekeeper of the white Broadway industry.
06:40 When I saw that review, I was pissed.
06:43 But having the first line be, if you don't understand Korean,
06:47 you're not gonna like the show, is just in bad faith and in my opinion, racist.
06:53 Cuz you can have shows like Fiddler on the Roof, or shows like In the Heights,
06:58 or operas that aren't completely in English.
07:04 And how come when it comes to a Korean language show,
07:08 we're put to a different standard?
07:10 Everyone who comes to see the show, it's not required of them to speak Korean at
07:15 all to understand what's being said in the dialogue.
07:18 [MUSIC]
07:28 A lot of the shows that are successful right now are the long running shows, or
07:33 the shows with big names attached, or revivals.
07:36 >> Moving, inspiring, and totally badass musical.
07:44 >> That last performance, you could tell it was something very beyond just a show.
07:49 [MUSIC]
07:54 >> After they saw the show, my dad said he was proud of me.
08:00 That made me feel proud of myself too.
08:06 I know I walk away being so happy and so grateful, and so proud of what we did.
08:13 >> It could literally just be one kid who's now a little bit more interested in
08:17 theater, or one kid who's just a little more comfortable showing up to dance class.
08:22 And if that does something for somebody, then we've already done our part.
08:26 >> That show made up probably more than half of the Asians on Broadway right now.
08:32 Right, even in the history of Broadway,
08:35 we probably increased that number by a third, all in this one show.
08:42 [MUSIC]
08:52 [BLANK_AUDIO]
Comments