Under the cobalt blue sky are yellow sunflowers. I am not talking about a painting by Vincent van Gogh. It’s the last scene from the musical Werther. Within the novel, the death was portrayed so beautifully that it even incited the “Werther Syndrome” (a term for media triggered suicide). Werther flung himself into the tragedy of the love he could not make a reality. The last scene plays a prominent role in this musical. I’m sorry I had to talk about the last scene first, but it’s what makes the two-hour performance worthwhile.
But to finally see this impressive last scene, one needs to go through a couple of things first. For 15 years this musical has been staged with chamber music played on stringed instruments. However, compared to large musicals and their grand orchestras, the music here is a bit bland. It is lyrical and beautiful but… Another thing is its literary lyrics. Yes, this musical is based on the novel published in 1774, but did they really have to show that in their lyrics? It made me scene, what grabbed my attention were the actors. I especially recommend the performance with Jo Seung-woo and Jeon Mi-do. They portray Werther and the woman he falls in love with, Lotte. Both of them are strong in drama and I liked the playfulness of Jo Seung-woo from Act One. Jeon Mi-do deserves a round of applause as she made Lotte a character that Werther can’t sunflowers once again. Werther scratch my head. Apart from the last help but fall in love with. I wish I could meet Werther standing in the field of