IL TENORE
lyrics by Hue Park
music by Will Aronson
book by Will Aronson & Hue Park
IL TENORE premiered on December 19, 2023 at the 1000-seat CJ Towol Theater in Seoul, and announced in February 2024 that it would be transferring to the 1700-seat Blue Square Theater. IL TENORE was awarded the Cha Beom-Seok Playwriting Award, and won Best Musical, Best Score and Best Leading Actor at the 2025 Korea Musical Awards.
** Listen to live audio from the 2024 production HERE **
** Listen to live audio from the first reading HERE **
SYNOPSIS:
A fictional story woven from the threads of many true events, IL TENORE is the sometimes hilarious, sometimes heart-rending story of the first opera performed in Korea.
April, 1936: Korea is under Japanese rule. The Japanese colonial government has banned the production of plays set in contemporary Korea. To evade the censors, one student theater club decides to stage an Italian opera decrying Austria’s colonization of Italy — unobjectionable on the surface, but carrying a pointed political message.
However, timid club member Isun Lee turns out to have a genuine, world-class talent as a tenor; he soon falls in love with this bizarre art form itself, and decides opera is his life’s calling. Isun’s voice teacher manages to invite a touring Metropolitan Opera vocal coach to the upcoming opera performance, giving Isun a shot at a real opera career.
But when the club learns that an opera-loving Japanese general will be attending their performance, the plan is changed from putting on a protest opera to carrying out an assassination — before Isun ever has a chance to sing. Not only will their lives be at stake, but if the assassination attempt takes place, the Japanese will surely forbid any subsequent opera in Korea.
Is Isun willing to sacrifice his dream for the cause?
