I'm a Journalist in Korea 11: BEN-HUR; The Battle for Jerusalem; The Musical

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BEN-HUR; The Battle for Jerusalem; The Musical

By Kim Miso aka Rahel Limor

First things first – everyone should see this musical. I mean EVERYONE! It is the musical of musicals. I simple don’t have the words to describe how absolutely incredible it is. From the first to the final act and everything in between, you will not be disappointed. That said, let me get to my review.

Call me ignorant but until now I had no idea that the fictional story, “Ben-Hur”, a novel written by author Lew Wallace in 1880, is a Jewish story. To this day I thought that “Ben” was the first name of the leading character and “Hur” was his family name. The fact is that his full Hebrew name is “Yehuda ben Hur’ or in English, Judah son of Hur. Perhaps I was too young when the Hollywood version was released to fully understand. One single visual sticks out in my mind, that of the infamous actor Charlton Heston dressed in ancient Roman garb riding on a chariot.

The chariot race from 1959's 'Ben-Hur' with Charlton Heston in his Oscar-winning role. (Everett Collection)

The author, Lew Wallace, was a lawyer by profession who served in the military and fought in numerous battles in America’s early civil wars between the North and the South. He wrote books as a distraction actually from practicing law. “Ben Hur” became a major bestseller in 1890 and was recognized as one of the most influential books in the 19^th century Christian world. The original book title is,”Ben-Hur; A Tale of the Christ”. However, at least in the theater version here in Korea, Yehuda’s encounter with Jesus, a fellow Jew who was subjected to Roman tyranny and died on the cross, the method of the era (before the Christian era aka BCE), is minor. Yet these meetings seemed to have a profound affect on Yehuda. Nevertheless what stands out very clearly is the unjust and terrible treatment of the Jews in Roman-occupied Israel, then, as today, known as “Judea and Samaria”. The musical mentions the King Herod, whose various relics can still be viewed in Israel today, Caesar and Nero.

This musical version of “Ben-Hur” proves to be one of the most ambitious theater productions in Korea. The cast boasts some of the country’s finest talents including Kai, Han Ji-sang, Min Woo-hyuk as “Ben-Hur”, Park Min-sung and Moon Jong-won as Ben-Hur’s friend “Messala”, Kim Ji-woo and Lin A as “Esther” and so many more. They certainly live up to their well-deserved reputations.

The action scenes are successfully choreographed to blend martial arts with dancing and singing. Wow. What powerful singing voices. Costume choices are typical for the era and some are magnificently beautiful. We are treated to the occasional glimpse at a few eye-catching “six-packs”, not to mention an absolutely jaw-dropping all-male harem dance.

The stage is filled with large and very elaborate sets that clearly require a skilled backstage crew with strong hands. Probably the most impressive scene is the chariot race which uses eight life-sized robotic horses attached to chariots, a totally not-to-be-missed sight to behold on a theater stage.

As a Jew I was delighted to see a backdrop with the Ten Commandments actually written in Hebrew, a tribal flag showing a menorah with the word, “Yisrael” (Israel) in Hebrew on it. and to hear the correct Hebrew pronunciation of the characters names. The influence of Eastern European Jewish and Middle Eastern scales can be heard in a beautiful song sung by “Esther”.

I was curious to know if the actors had any personal feelings about portraying the story of the Jewish nation or of Jewish characters. So I posed the question. Speaking on his own behalf actor Han Ji-sang, who plays the lead role of Yehuda ben Hur, stated that he feels there are many similarities between the two nations, Korea and Jewish people. He holds the Jews in high regard. The opportunity to portray a Jewish character and his story is one reason why he accepted the role.

“Ben-Hur”, a production of New Contents Company (NCC), is playing at the Blue Square Theater, 294 Itaewon-ro, Hannam-dong, Yongsan-gu in Seoul until October. Produced in combination by musical director Wang Yong-beom and composer Lee Sung-joon it has already won awards in a number of categories.