⭐ A Stage of Their Own ⛩️ °8.5° °Outstanding°
OH, the acting, The Acting, THE ACTING! Every episode that's what I thought. Every muscle twitch of Ra Mi Ran's set my heart aflutter.
It's 1931. It's COLD. Kang So “Bok” and her father (played by Choi Jung Woon & Lee Deok Hwa) stop at the local theater. Dad needs his daughter to have a place to call home - times are tough. The theater owner looks skeptical, but when Bok begins to talk, it's obvious that someone special is before them.
Next, it's 1956. Wartime.
Jeong “Nyeon” has an astonishing voice. She's digging up shells in low tide with the rest of the women. When her mother finds her singing along with them, she drags her daughter off. “I knew she would get angry as soon as Nyeon started humming along,” says one of the marms. We then watch thugs selling “protection” come through, upending stalls, and terrorizing the smallfolk. Nyeon distracts the gangsters by singing. That's what got Moon's attention.
“Moon” Ok Gyeong (Jung Eun Chae from The King: Eternal Monarch-8.3, Pachinko & Anna-8.1) is riding in the back of a car, like a celebrity. That's because she IS a celebrity. Here's the shocker - she's dressed as a man, and it's pretty convincing. This was a time when the men were off to war and the women kept everything going, including live theater. Moon plays male leads, as gorgeous as she is ~ and this gurl is a looker. Straightaway, after complaining that everything is boring for her now, even singing, is when she hears Nyeon's warbling. Moon exits the car to hear Nyeon demand money before she'll sing again. No problem there. Moon makes sure Nyeon will gladly sing again.
Directed by Jung Ji In (The Red Sleeve, Late Night Hospital) and adapted from the webtoon "Jeong Nyeon," about Pansori theater. Written by Seo Yi Re, JTSiB is a 2024 release that is rated 92 on AWiki. It is 1 season consisting of 12 70-minute episodes. Per AI, “Pansori is a traditional Korean narrative singing style where a vocalist (sorikkun) and a drummer (gosu) tell a story through song, narration, and stylized gestures. It combines expressive singing, spoken narration, and dramatic movements, accompanied by the rhythmic drumming of a buk. “Cheonguseong" refers to a clear, pure, and melodious vocal quality, often associated with traditional Korean singing, particularly pansori.” In the show they describe it as a clear and strong voice, gifted from the heavens, immersed with a feeling of deep sorrow. "Gukgeuk refers to a unique genre of Korean all-female theater. It emerged after Korea's liberation from Japan in the 1940s, gaining popularity in the 1950s, particularly during the post-war period. In gukgeuk, women perform all roles, including male characters, often blending traditional pansori with Western opera influences.” Of all the Cheonguseongs in the world, Nyeon‘s voice is the Cheonguseongiest - just like her mother's. Moon gives Nyeon tickets to that night's performance, but MOM threatens to shave Nyeon's head as a punishment for singing in public. Mom sure does hate singing. Waddup with that?
On the other hand, the village women are quite impressed with Nyeon's singing, and they're /very/ impressed with the tickets. Nyeon wasn't sure what she would do, but their begging her to take them to the performance spurs her to attend. It's not hard to guess that Nyeon was blown away by live theater. Moon played the prince. The entire theater erupted in glee at the closing - they sealed the performance with a kiss.
Enticed by Moon's coaxing, Nyeon dramatically escapes her mother's clutches and passes through the audition - barely. Ra Mi Ran (Black Dog-8.2, Reply 1988-8.6, The Good Bad Mother) is grown up Bok, whom we met in the opening. She now manages the theater. She explains to Nyeon that, since Moon brought her, she has to work from the bottom so that everyone can see that she made it by merit, not connections. She then asks what her mother's name was? Bok looks surprised when she doesn't recognize the name. Nyeon's singing had taken her right back to her friend from her youth. Nyeon seems like the ghost of Pansori past. The whole audition scene is mesmerizing.
Nyeon‘s presence, on the other hand, is disturbing to most of her classmates. She's a bumpkin. She's a fishmonger. She smells! Yet MOON brought her /personally/. They are disgusted AND jealous. Kim Tae Ri from Space Sweepers-7.6, Revenant-7.4, & Mr. Sunshine-9 plays Nyeon. She really shows her range here.
Shin Ye Eun (Revenge of Others-8.1, More Than Friends-8) portrays Heo Yeong “Seo”. She wouldn't admit to breathing the same air as Nyeon. Her background is OPERA. Her mother and sister are FAMOUS. Her family's RICH. Her acid reflux is in major flux: She is appalled by Nyeon ‘s presence. So, she pulls a stunt to try and set Nyeon up. The trainees are putting on a show in 10 days. One of the girls who had a lead part as the jokester, Banja, had to back out of the role, so they need a last-minute replacement. Seo offers it to Nyeon, hoping she'll crash and burn. This is not an easy part. Nylon doesn't mind a challenge, though. It doesn't look like things are going well, because Nyeon skips the last two practices. She's even late for the performance! But she goes out and knocks ‘em dead. She's been practicing with a street performer all week, and now she's got ~moves~. The audience loves her😍. Her enemies hate her all the more😬. The competition between these two is beginning to heat up, and it's one of the major drivers of the plot.
Kim Yoon Hye portrays Seo Hye “Rang.” She's ruthless as the star FL player in the troupe. I've seen this actress in My Sassy Girl-8.5, which I consider to be woefully underappreciated. In MSG she's haughty, cold, and not given to many words. It's not completely dissimilar to Rang, yet she keeps the personas thoroughly distinct. I've also seen her in Vincenzo-7.9 and never knew it was her! She plays someone geeky, quiet, and slightly goofy. For the record, e'erbody in Vincenzo is slightly goofy, at a minimum. Here, they never have her looking her best. Her makeup is always thick and garish while her hair is over-coiffed in 40's permed perfection. They don't put her in complementary colors, either. She's her most beautiful when she's broken down and crying; when she's not in neon makeup, her natural beauty shows. Her crying scene is exceptional.
With regularity, art imitates life in JTSiB. The play in ep10, along with the lines that Moon and Rang must deliver, mirror their current reality. “How could the heavens only gift him with this great talent, but curse me with only the eye to recognize such talent?” That's a line from the last play that they perform, and the dialogue mirrors Seo & Nyeon's situation. JTSiB is about competition, hard work, not giving up, and legacy. The rivalry between Nyeon and Seo is the primary vehicle. Jooran (Woo Da Vi from Poong, the Joseon Psychiatrist & Dear.M) gets caught in the middle. She and Nyeon are close, but after she co-stars in a play across from Seo, Seo starts to rely on her, too. Nyeon has the talent, it's harnessing it that is the challenge for her. She makes mistakes, and her enemies among the thespians instinctively know to capitalize on them.
Nyeon nearly goes off the rails in ep8. It's difficult to watch. I suppose if I have a complaint, it's that we see mostly struggle, while a bit more triumph would have lifted the weight. JTSiB is heavy. Nkw, I feel like a hypocrite since I frequently complain about shows dragging because they have too many episodes for the available content. JTSiB should have been 1 episode longer to allow it to breathe more. I guess I'm never happy, sigh.
As is, the show is superb. The acting is especially superb. The directing and editing support it crease-free. Does mid-century and 40's fashion get anybody else's heart racing? When they finally do the changing room scene and update Nyeon's look, it gave me a thrill. The color palette is soft and often borderline overexposed like an amateur snapshot. JTSiB, itself, deserves to be “overexposed.” It's is one of the best Kdramas on the Hulu stage.
QUOTES🗣
He's a… WOMAN!?
The path of an artist is very long. You'll be going through countless ups and downs in your life. As you endure all of that you'll find yourself at the highest summit looking out further than anyone.
I do not understand myself either.
IMHO〰🖍
📣8.4 📝8 🎭9 💓5 🦋6 🎨8.5 🎵/🔊8 🔚8 🤗7 ▪ 🌞6.5 ⚡4.5 😅2 😭3.5 😱2 😯4 🤢2 🤔5.3 💤0
Age 13+ Rated: PG
Re-📺? Would
In order of ~lite&trite~ to ~heavy&serious~ you may also like:
Dabbling in the Arts
My Only Love Song-8.7 ~ excellent comedy,
My Runway-7.5,
My Secret Romance-7 (if you ff thru overdone flashbacks);
99 days with the Superstar-7,
Her Private Life-8,
Touch your heart-8.2,
Oh My Ghost-10,
Run On-7,
Romance is a bonus book-7.9,
Be Melodramatic-8.7,
Hospital Playlist-9,
It's Okay Not To Be Okay-9,
More Than Friends-8,
Nevertheless-7.6,
Saimdang-8.5,
Anna-8.1,
Hymn of Death-8.4,
〰 Hulu Catalog 〰
A Shop for Killers-8.7
Big Mouth-7.4,
Blood Free-8.5,
Call It Love-8.4,
Crazy Love-7.8,
The First 1st Responders-7.8,
Flex X Cop-8.5,
Gangnam B-Side-7.2,
The Golden Spoon-8.1,
Han River Police-7.1,
High School Return of a Gangster-7,
The Judge from Hell-4.5
The Legend of the Blue Sea-7.2 (this show is marvelous except for taking a quality dip in eps 20-22)
Light Shop-8.6,
Link: Eat, Love, Kill-6.7,
Maestra: Strings of Truth-6.8,
Moving-8.5
Pandora: Beneath the Paradise-3.9,
Parasite-9,
Revenant-7.4,
Revenge of Others-8.1,
So I Married the Anti Fan-6.8,
Uncle Samsik-8.4,
What's Wrong With Secretary Kim-6.8,
Why Her?-8,
Wonderful World-7.8,
The Worst of Evil-7.7
It's 1931. It's COLD. Kang So “Bok” and her father (played by Choi Jung Woon & Lee Deok Hwa) stop at the local theater. Dad needs his daughter to have a place to call home - times are tough. The theater owner looks skeptical, but when Bok begins to talk, it's obvious that someone special is before them.
Next, it's 1956. Wartime.
Jeong “Nyeon” has an astonishing voice. She's digging up shells in low tide with the rest of the women. When her mother finds her singing along with them, she drags her daughter off. “I knew she would get angry as soon as Nyeon started humming along,” says one of the marms. We then watch thugs selling “protection” come through, upending stalls, and terrorizing the smallfolk. Nyeon distracts the gangsters by singing. That's what got Moon's attention.
“Moon” Ok Gyeong (Jung Eun Chae from The King: Eternal Monarch-8.3, Pachinko & Anna-8.1) is riding in the back of a car, like a celebrity. That's because she IS a celebrity. Here's the shocker - she's dressed as a man, and it's pretty convincing. This was a time when the men were off to war and the women kept everything going, including live theater. Moon plays male leads, as gorgeous as she is ~ and this gurl is a looker. Straightaway, after complaining that everything is boring for her now, even singing, is when she hears Nyeon's warbling. Moon exits the car to hear Nyeon demand money before she'll sing again. No problem there. Moon makes sure Nyeon will gladly sing again.
Directed by Jung Ji In (The Red Sleeve, Late Night Hospital) and adapted from the webtoon "Jeong Nyeon," about Pansori theater. Written by Seo Yi Re, JTSiB is a 2024 release that is rated 92 on AWiki. It is 1 season consisting of 12 70-minute episodes. Per AI, “Pansori is a traditional Korean narrative singing style where a vocalist (sorikkun) and a drummer (gosu) tell a story through song, narration, and stylized gestures. It combines expressive singing, spoken narration, and dramatic movements, accompanied by the rhythmic drumming of a buk. “Cheonguseong" refers to a clear, pure, and melodious vocal quality, often associated with traditional Korean singing, particularly pansori.” In the show they describe it as a clear and strong voice, gifted from the heavens, immersed with a feeling of deep sorrow. "Gukgeuk refers to a unique genre of Korean all-female theater. It emerged after Korea's liberation from Japan in the 1940s, gaining popularity in the 1950s, particularly during the post-war period. In gukgeuk, women perform all roles, including male characters, often blending traditional pansori with Western opera influences.” Of all the Cheonguseongs in the world, Nyeon‘s voice is the Cheonguseongiest - just like her mother's. Moon gives Nyeon tickets to that night's performance, but MOM threatens to shave Nyeon's head as a punishment for singing in public. Mom sure does hate singing. Waddup with that?
On the other hand, the village women are quite impressed with Nyeon's singing, and they're /very/ impressed with the tickets. Nyeon wasn't sure what she would do, but their begging her to take them to the performance spurs her to attend. It's not hard to guess that Nyeon was blown away by live theater. Moon played the prince. The entire theater erupted in glee at the closing - they sealed the performance with a kiss.
Enticed by Moon's coaxing, Nyeon dramatically escapes her mother's clutches and passes through the audition - barely. Ra Mi Ran (Black Dog-8.2, Reply 1988-8.6, The Good Bad Mother) is grown up Bok, whom we met in the opening. She now manages the theater. She explains to Nyeon that, since Moon brought her, she has to work from the bottom so that everyone can see that she made it by merit, not connections. She then asks what her mother's name was? Bok looks surprised when she doesn't recognize the name. Nyeon's singing had taken her right back to her friend from her youth. Nyeon seems like the ghost of Pansori past. The whole audition scene is mesmerizing.
Nyeon‘s presence, on the other hand, is disturbing to most of her classmates. She's a bumpkin. She's a fishmonger. She smells! Yet MOON brought her /personally/. They are disgusted AND jealous. Kim Tae Ri from Space Sweepers-7.6, Revenant-7.4, & Mr. Sunshine-9 plays Nyeon. She really shows her range here.
Shin Ye Eun (Revenge of Others-8.1, More Than Friends-8) portrays Heo Yeong “Seo”. She wouldn't admit to breathing the same air as Nyeon. Her background is OPERA. Her mother and sister are FAMOUS. Her family's RICH. Her acid reflux is in major flux: She is appalled by Nyeon ‘s presence. So, she pulls a stunt to try and set Nyeon up. The trainees are putting on a show in 10 days. One of the girls who had a lead part as the jokester, Banja, had to back out of the role, so they need a last-minute replacement. Seo offers it to Nyeon, hoping she'll crash and burn. This is not an easy part. Nylon doesn't mind a challenge, though. It doesn't look like things are going well, because Nyeon skips the last two practices. She's even late for the performance! But she goes out and knocks ‘em dead. She's been practicing with a street performer all week, and now she's got ~moves~. The audience loves her😍. Her enemies hate her all the more😬. The competition between these two is beginning to heat up, and it's one of the major drivers of the plot.
Kim Yoon Hye portrays Seo Hye “Rang.” She's ruthless as the star FL player in the troupe. I've seen this actress in My Sassy Girl-8.5, which I consider to be woefully underappreciated. In MSG she's haughty, cold, and not given to many words. It's not completely dissimilar to Rang, yet she keeps the personas thoroughly distinct. I've also seen her in Vincenzo-7.9 and never knew it was her! She plays someone geeky, quiet, and slightly goofy. For the record, e'erbody in Vincenzo is slightly goofy, at a minimum. Here, they never have her looking her best. Her makeup is always thick and garish while her hair is over-coiffed in 40's permed perfection. They don't put her in complementary colors, either. She's her most beautiful when she's broken down and crying; when she's not in neon makeup, her natural beauty shows. Her crying scene is exceptional.
With regularity, art imitates life in JTSiB. The play in ep10, along with the lines that Moon and Rang must deliver, mirror their current reality. “How could the heavens only gift him with this great talent, but curse me with only the eye to recognize such talent?” That's a line from the last play that they perform, and the dialogue mirrors Seo & Nyeon's situation. JTSiB is about competition, hard work, not giving up, and legacy. The rivalry between Nyeon and Seo is the primary vehicle. Jooran (Woo Da Vi from Poong, the Joseon Psychiatrist & Dear.M) gets caught in the middle. She and Nyeon are close, but after she co-stars in a play across from Seo, Seo starts to rely on her, too. Nyeon has the talent, it's harnessing it that is the challenge for her. She makes mistakes, and her enemies among the thespians instinctively know to capitalize on them.
Nyeon nearly goes off the rails in ep8. It's difficult to watch. I suppose if I have a complaint, it's that we see mostly struggle, while a bit more triumph would have lifted the weight. JTSiB is heavy. Nkw, I feel like a hypocrite since I frequently complain about shows dragging because they have too many episodes for the available content. JTSiB should have been 1 episode longer to allow it to breathe more. I guess I'm never happy, sigh.
As is, the show is superb. The acting is especially superb. The directing and editing support it crease-free. Does mid-century and 40's fashion get anybody else's heart racing? When they finally do the changing room scene and update Nyeon's look, it gave me a thrill. The color palette is soft and often borderline overexposed like an amateur snapshot. JTSiB, itself, deserves to be “overexposed.” It's is one of the best Kdramas on the Hulu stage.
QUOTES🗣
He's a… WOMAN!?
The path of an artist is very long. You'll be going through countless ups and downs in your life. As you endure all of that you'll find yourself at the highest summit looking out further than anyone.
I do not understand myself either.
IMHO〰🖍
📣8.4 📝8 🎭9 💓5 🦋6 🎨8.5 🎵/🔊8 🔚8 🤗7 ▪ 🌞6.5 ⚡4.5 😅2 😭3.5 😱2 😯4 🤢2 🤔5.3 💤0
Age 13+ Rated: PG
Re-📺? Would
In order of ~lite&trite~ to ~heavy&serious~ you may also like:
Dabbling in the Arts
My Only Love Song-8.7 ~ excellent comedy,
My Runway-7.5,
My Secret Romance-7 (if you ff thru overdone flashbacks);
99 days with the Superstar-7,
Her Private Life-8,
Touch your heart-8.2,
Oh My Ghost-10,
Run On-7,
Romance is a bonus book-7.9,
Be Melodramatic-8.7,
Hospital Playlist-9,
It's Okay Not To Be Okay-9,
More Than Friends-8,
Nevertheless-7.6,
Saimdang-8.5,
Anna-8.1,
Hymn of Death-8.4,
〰 Hulu Catalog 〰
A Shop for Killers-8.7
Big Mouth-7.4,
Blood Free-8.5,
Call It Love-8.4,
Crazy Love-7.8,
The First 1st Responders-7.8,
Flex X Cop-8.5,
Gangnam B-Side-7.2,
The Golden Spoon-8.1,
Han River Police-7.1,
High School Return of a Gangster-7,
The Judge from Hell-4.5
The Legend of the Blue Sea-7.2 (this show is marvelous except for taking a quality dip in eps 20-22)
Light Shop-8.6,
Link: Eat, Love, Kill-6.7,
Maestra: Strings of Truth-6.8,
Moving-8.5
Pandora: Beneath the Paradise-3.9,
Parasite-9,
Revenant-7.4,
Revenge of Others-8.1,
So I Married the Anti Fan-6.8,
Uncle Samsik-8.4,
What's Wrong With Secretary Kim-6.8,
Why Her?-8,
Wonderful World-7.8,
The Worst of Evil-7.7
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