We opened last weekend to two sold out shows on May 29th and 30th. It was great fun, and we’ve gotten some great reviews from our opening weekend:

The Korea Herald (who gave me special mention!)

…The show, directed by expat Margaret Whittum, far exceeded my expectations, nearing professional quality. Held at Roofers, a bar in Itaewon, I could’ve easily been in any of the numerous well-respected community theater spaces that I had frequented in Chicago. Korean friends that I went with said it was better than musicals they had paid upwards of 100,000 won to see…

…Although the entire ensemble was talented, if I had to pick a favorite, Jessica Lofbomm delivers an excellent performance as Olive Ostrovsky, a lonely girl whose best friend is her dictionary. In the beginning of the show, it may have been easy to overlook Lofbomm as each member of the cast shone in their own right, but Lofbomm’s clear soprano and heartfelt delivery was spot-on…

Seoul Style

…Don’t expect to see any small performances on stage for Putnam County. Each character has been meticulously developed. I could not find any wooden expressions and for that I have to tip my hat to the director and cast for the special attention they paid to the details. You are going to find some great characters brought to life by superb performances…

The Three Wise Monkeys

…The six main contestants in  Spelling Bee are well delineated against themselves. And in spite of the usually very true conclusion that the performers of a local theater company spend too much time vamping with each other, this Seoul Players production is able to avoid that and all histrionics from the cast actually goes for telling the story…

We have two more weekends of performances on Friday and Saturday nights at 8pm and Sunday evenings at 5pm through June 13th. This weekend is already sold out, and tickets for closing weekend are going quickly. If you’d like to reserve tickets, email seoulspellingbee@gmail.com. More event details are here.

We have created some funny character sketch videos to promote the show. Click here to view them all on youtube.

-Jessica

Now a month later, Adam will be trying on a new role as VJ. He’s stoked. Kachisan will be playing twice tomorrow in Seoul as part of the HBC Fest. They’ll be at the VFW in Haebangchon at 3:00pm and then at Rocky Mountain Tavern in Itaewon at 10:00 pm. Adam will be VJ-ing at both events. If you’re in Seoul, stop by to hear some great rock music combined with cool, atmospheric film manipulation. Here’s the event info.

HBC Fest will have tons of live performances all day and into the night at every possible venue around Haebangchon, so it’ll be more than worth the trip. Here’s the schedule.

-Jessica

Addendum: So, the venues aren’t set up well for the VJ-ing that Adam and the guys envisioned, so Adam is going to join them in a couple of weeks for some gigs in Hongdae. Kachisan is still going to rock it at HBC fest, though, so stop by!

Dear Kid from Hannah Shin on Vimeo.

What would you say?

-Jessica

I’d seen and thoroughly enjoyed their videos before, but now I’m a bona fide fan. I really enjoyed the interview (listen here).

OK Go’s most recent video for This Too Shall Pass from their latest album Of the Blue Colour of the Sky. It’s crazy.

Here’s the video that put them on the map back in 2006.

Enjoy.

-Jessica

Hye Sook Jung at Badabie in Hongdae

I am helping Hye Sook record at our home studio and am really enjoying trying on the role of engineer. More songs coming soon.

-Jessica

I though you might enjoy them, too.

My favorite is their take on Beyonce’s Single Ladies:

I just downloaded their original album on iTunes, and it’s great.

-Jessica

A print from Mike Stewart's "The Hard Way" exhibition

Mike also teaches fine art classes in English in Myeong-dong in Seoul… interested?

-Jessica

The animation for the “Your Car” video is by Soojin Kwon.

-Jessica

For more info about 8mm, the weekly vintage film night that we host in the Hongdae neighborhood of Seoul, check out the Facebook group and Adam’s blog post about it from this January.

-Jessica

A story about an artist, told by a writer and a photographer, all boyhood friends of mine whom I am so happy to see are using their talents to bring beautiful things into the world. Through Kevin Bouldin’s vivid words and Daniel Collin’s communicative images, I was able to catch up with an old friend from boy scouts, Ethan Swiggart. His is a classic tale of lemons and lemonade. I feel so proud to know these guys. I hope you will head over to Nashville Public Radio‘s web site and check it out.

-Adam