Theatre Denton is set to perform its production of Singin’ in the Rain at the Daegu International Musical Festival in South Korea in July.
The annual festival held in Daegu features various musical performances.
The cast will perform five times over the last three days of the three-week festival, which closes with its final performance on July 6. Theatre Denton’s production will also participate in the festival’s red-carpet gala and awards event on July 7.
The directorial team; including directors Aileene Stark, Pete Kelly and Jett Cheek; flew out on June 27 to get things set up. The rest of the company, accompanied by governing board member Pete Kamp, will follow on July 1.
Kelly and Stark said they were originally going to perform four days at the festival, but organizers added an additional performance day.
“It’s a huge adventure for a lot of them,” Kelly said. “It’s very exciting for Aileene [Stark] and I. We’re going to be working with a professional theater team in a foreign country.”
Last year, Singin’ in the Rain was a local success and a favorite of one of the orchestra members, Hank Chang.
Chang contacted organizers of the Daegu International Musical Festival during last year’s festival.
Kelly said that while there, the festival coordinators mentioned to Chang that they were looking for musical productions for their festival. That’s when Chang proposed bringing Theatre Denton to perform, and the organizers told him to send an audition link.
Chang sent a link to a video of the production, and organizers assured Chang they would invite the entire cast and orchestra to perform at their 2024 festival.
The official invite took until December 2023. The festival will provide airfare and lodging for the 46 people who comprise the cast, orchestra and directorial team. It is also providing sets and other technical support for the show.
The entire production has worked to raise funds to take care of extra expenses, organize costume shipping and other details while keeping up with rehearsals to adjust the show to the needs of a traveling show.
The production at the Daegu Opera House has a 1500-seat venue with a stage much larger than the Campus Theatre.
The production has been rehearsing at various available locations for the past few months, including Ryan High School to prepare for the festival.
Kelly and Stark said they believed they got invited to the festival due to the talented cast and because the musical is a timeless, fun classic.
“I think because it’s so energetic,” Kelly said. “It’s a timeless love story. And it’s fun and it has lots of great toe-tapping music to it.”
According to Kelly and Stark, the production is the only American act scheduled to perform at the festival.
“It is an honor and a privilege to be able to not only represent theater in general, [but also] American theater in the state of Texas and the United States of America,” Kelly said.