The Korea Herald

Radical theater in Belarus performs under pressure

MINSK, Belarus (AP) ― Two emotions course through spectators at the Belarus Free Theater ― excitement at watching avant-garde drama and fear that police will haul them away.The theater, in a cramped and run-down house, is a rare crucible of dissent and experimentation in the country known as Europe’s last dictatorship, taking on topics such as political oppression and homosexuality.Abroad, performing in such renowned settings as the Edinburgh Fringe festival in Scotland, the troupe has earned ra

PerformanceAug. 8, 2013

Haruki Murakami most-read foreign novelist in Korea: poll

Japanese writer Haruki Murakami is the most-read foreign novelist in South Korea, according to a recent poll. Reflecting the Murakami boom here, Korea Gallup said that 24 percent of 1,230 people aged 19 and over surveyed said they had read a book by the popular Japanese author.Forty-five percent of the respondents said they were aware of Murakami, but had not read any of his novels. Another 31 percent said they did not know who he was.The Japanese novelist was more popular with female readers, w

BooksAug. 8, 2013

Countertenor Andreas Scholl set for three recitals in Sept.

Prominent German countertenor Andreas Scholl will have a recital on Sept. 23 at Seoul Arts Center’s Concert Hall, three years since his last performance in Korea.A specialist in Baroque music who performs worldwide, Scholl is known for having a singing voice equivalent to that of a female contralto or mezzo-soprano. Countertenors were first introduced to the stage in the 16th century when women were restricted from performing, resulting in men with higher vocal ranges playing the female roles.

PerformanceAug. 8, 2013

Countertenor Andreas Scholl set for three recitals in Sept.

‘Learning to be bilingual can be fun’

English teacher and author Bella Chung remembers a memorable encounter with one of her young students. The middle school student walked into Chung’s English class at Korea Herald English Institutes in central Seoul, looking rather miserable and uninterested. The girl attended an English immersion kindergarten in Korea as a kid, and apparently lost her interest in the language as she enrolled in elementary school. “She was very pretty but her face was stiff,” Chung said during an interview with T

BooksAug. 8, 2013

Culture Ministry acts against music chart manipulation

A day after major record labels YG Entertainment, S.M. Entertainment, JYP Entertainment and Star Empire Entertainment filed a complaint with Seoul Supreme Prosecutors’ Office claiming local digital music charts were being illegally manipulated, the Culture Ministry announced related countermeasures on Thursday.According to the complainants, the number of cases where firms were paid to illegally manipulate music chart rankings has been on the rise. The manipulators boost song rankings by playing

PerformanceAug. 8, 2013

Culture Ministry acts against music chart manipulation

S.M. Entertainment to open hallyu museum in L.A.

Entertainment agency S.M. Entertainment, home to Girls’ Generation, Super Junior, TVXQ, SHINee, f(x) and others, announced on Thursday that it would establish a museum-entertainment complex tentatively named SMTOWN Museum. In collaboration with S.M. Entertainment USA, the SMTOWN Museum, which will be located on Oxford Avenue in L.A.’s Koreatown, will feature an entertainment space, a Korean restaurant as well as other content related to K-pop stars including hologram displays. “Through the remod

PerformanceAug. 8, 2013

S.M. Entertainment to open hallyu museum in L.A.

Long-lost Orson Welles film turns up in Italy

NEW YORK (AFP) ― A long-lost silent film directed by Orson Welles in 1938 has been recovered from a warehouse in northeastern Italy, where it will be screened in public for the first time in October.“Too Much Johnson” was originally intended to be shown as a prologue to a slapstick comedy at the Mercury repertory theatre in New York, but it was never finished.Until staff at the Cinemazero art house cinema in Pordenone, Italy found the work print in a warehouse earlier this year, it was thought t

FilmAug. 8, 2013

‘The Terror Live’ to get North American release

After marking 2 million viewers within just six days of release, “The Terror Live” will be released in seven cities in North America starting on Aug. 9, the movie’s investment distribution company Lotte Entertainment announced Thursday. The North American premiere will take place at CGV theater in Los Angeles on Friday, followed by New York, Atlanta, Seattle, Las Vegas, Vancouver and Toronto. More screens may be added depending on the film’s performance. Meanwhile, nearly 3 million people have s

FilmAug. 8, 2013

‘The Terror Live’ to get North American release

Richie Havens tribute set at Woodstock 1969 site

BETHEL, New York (AP) ― The ashes of Richie Havens will be scattered across the site of the 1969 Woodstock Festival on the anniversary of the final day of the concert he opened with a nearly three-hour performance.Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, the music venue built on the Woodstock site in New York state, announced Tuesday that a musical tribute to the folk singer and guitarist will be held Aug. 18. That’s the 44th anniversary of the final day of the landmark three-day concert that drew more

PerformanceAug. 8, 2013

Leotta returns with new legal thriller

Speak of the DevilBy Allison Leotta (Touchstone)Allison Leotta’s latest novel, “Speak of the Devil,” pits prosecutor Anna Curtis against Diablo, a villain believed to be the devil himself.Diablo and his gang attack a brothel, and a doorman ends up missing his head. Curtis soon discovers evidence of a human trafficking ring, with Diablo’s gang at its heart. Witnesses are too terrified to testify, and people who own businesses in the area controlled by the gang refuse to talk.Although Curtis has h

BooksAug. 8, 2013

Book explores the lives of paramedics

Paramedico: Around the World by AmbulanceBy Benjamin Gilmour (The Friday Project, an imprint of HarperCollins)Benjamin Gilmour’s book “Paramedico” explores the lives of emergency responders in a variety of countries, an intriguing, blood-soaked concept with plenty of drama and a dash of wait-and-see boredom.Gilmour, an author and filmmaker from Australia who also is a trained paramedic, hopped from South Africa to the Philippines, to Thailand, Mexico and several other nations, where he spent tim

BooksAug. 8, 2013

Travel guidebooks ride digital wave

The world of travel guidebooks keeps spinning, although it must weather changes in format and distribution in order to spread the word about vacation destinations.A trend toward electronic books and the demise of bookstores ― including retail giant Borders ― have been part of a sea change for travel books, said Julie Neal, who produces “The Complete Guide to Walt Disney World” with her husband, Mike, from their home in Celebration, Florida. They published their first print edition in 2007.“We ha

BooksAug. 8, 2013

Modern mating rituals in new fiction by Waldman, Roth

Like a contemporary Jane Austen, Adelle Waldman unpacks every nuance of modern mating mores in her debut novel, “The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P.” (Henry Holt). The setting is literary Brooklyn, and her protagonist is Nate Piven, whose think-pieces for highbrow magazines and six-figure book contract make him a fellow to watch on the scene. These credentials, along with the crimson T-shirt peeking out of his unbuttoned Oxford to reveal the A-R-V of Harvard, are finally getting him some chicks.Eac

BooksAug. 8, 2013

Monroe hoped to marry JFK

LOS ANGELES (AFP) ― Marilyn Monroe, who notoriously had an affair with John F. Kennedy, apparently believed she was going to marry the president, even phoning the White House to tell his wife.The story, reported in a new book out Tuesday by journalist Christopher Andersen, asserts that Jackie Kennedy even told Monroe that the screen siren was welcome to take over her role as first lady.“And you’ll move into the White House and you’ll assume the responsibilities of first lady, and I’ll move out a

PeopleAug. 8, 2013

Korean-American diplomat to start work in Foreign Ministry

A Korean-American diplomat will start her one-year stint at the Foreign Ministry this month as part of a Seoul-Washington diplomat exchange program, officials said Thursday.The 37-year-old diplomat, Booyeon Lee Allen, will replace Dewey Moore, who was dispatched to the Seoul ministry a year ago as the first U.S. diplomat working in the local Foreign Ministry under the joint program. “It has yet to be determined which department she will be placed in,” a ministry official said. Allen previously s

PeopleAug. 8, 2013

Korean-American diplomat to start work in Foreign Ministry

Former U.S. 8th Army chief improperly accepted gifts in South Korea: report

Joseph F. Fil Jr., the former commander of the U.S. Eighth Army in South Korea, was found to have improperly accepted gifts while commanding U.S. troops here, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday, citing a confidential investigative report by the Pentagon’s Office of Inspector General. According to a redacted version of the undated report, obtained by the Washington Post under the Freedom of Information Act, he improperly accepted a $1,500 gift of Montblanc Meisterstuck Classique roller-bal

PeopleAug. 8, 2013

Former U.S. 8th Army chief improperly accepted gifts in South Korea: report

‘Just Juice Cleanse’ chefs talk healthy, tasty liquid detox

Christine Cho, a Korea-American raw cook chef from New York City, and Kim Yong-hui, an internationally trained pastry chef, have joined forces with Herald Ecofarm, a sister company of The Korea Herald, to create “Just Juice Cleanse.” “Just Juice Cleanse” is Korea’s very first brand of detox juices created to promote a healthier lifestyle by naturally ridding the body of unwanted chemicals and waste. “Detox programs get rid of toxins in your body very quickly,” said Kim. “Compared to just eating

PeopleAug. 8, 2013

‘Just Juice Cleanse’ chefs talk healthy, tasty liquid detox

Crayon Pop's comic code captivates fans

A motorcycle helmet, a polo shirt buttoned up to the neck and loose jogging pants under a skirt: These are the costumes that members of girl group Crayon Pop decided to wear while hitting the stage with their latest single “Bar Bar Bar.”When South Korea’s music industry is flocked by girl groups competing with each other to show who can be sexier or sweeter, Crayon Pop’s tactics to distinguish itself from others with a comic concept seems to be working well. Hwang Hyun-chang, the chief executive

PerformanceAug. 8, 2013

Former Deux member denies quarrel with bandmate

Lee Hyun-do, a former member of iconic hip-hop duo Deux, denied on Monday rumors that he and his former bandmate, the late Kim Sung Jae, were involved in a violent quarrel over a woman. The supposed dispute has been rumored to be the main reason for the premature break-up of Deux.“The break-up was strictly ‘strategic,’” Lee said on “Golden Fishery-Radio Star,” a popular talk show on broadcasting network MBC. “I wanted to be a music producer and Kim wanted to become a solo artist.”Lee said that i

PerformanceAug. 8, 2013

Cellist-conductor Chang continues sharing music through orchestra

Now dedicating the majority of her time to conducting, cellist and conductor Chang Han-na is one of the brightest conducting talents of her generation as she takes up the roles of music director of the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra and principal guest conductor of the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra. Both appointments immediately followed her debut appearances with the orchestras. QPO is one of only two professional orchestras in the Gulf region and TSO is a Norwegian professional orchestra that per

PerformanceAug. 7, 2013

Cellist-conductor Chang continues sharing music through orchestra