[Highlights] Arts and entertainment calendar

Theater“Mr. Show”: Produced by renowned musical director Kolleen Park, the naughty male striptease “Mr. Show” is returning to the stage this year. The women-only variety show features strapping young men who dance and perform various themed acts geared toward tantalizing females. The live show, only for those 19 and above, will be staged from Saturday until Dec. 4 at the Shinhan Card Fan Square’s Live Hall in Seoul. Tickets are 52,000 won and 80,000 won. For more details, call (02) 547-5694. A s

Sept. 23, 2016

Black Pink continues to top charts

Even after wrapping up promotional activities for its debut releases, rookie K-pop girl group Black Pink continues to see success at home and abroad. 　The four-member act, which debuted last month with the singles album “Square One,” topped Amazon’s Best Sellers chart for top MP3 downloads for international rap with the track “Boombayah” on Wednesday, the group’s management agency YG Entertainment announced Thursday. The other debut track “Whistle” took the No. 5 spot. 　Since its release in Augu

Sept. 22, 2016

Tiger JK and Dok2 establish new record label

Two of the biggest names in Korean rap are joining forces in a new venture.　Tiger JK -- a member of hip-hop trio Drunken Tiger and founder of record label Jungle Entertainment -- and Dok2 -- rapper and co-founder of Illionaire Records -- have founded new hip-hop record label Ghood Life Crew, the company announced Thursday. 　Longtime friends and colleagues, Tiger JK and Dok2 were both founding members of Movement, a leading hip-hop crew in the early 2000s that was eventually phased out without a

Sept. 22, 2016

Ultra rocks Asia with radio-friendly groove

TOKYO (AFP) -- Once a modest beach party in Miami, the uber-hip Ultra Music Festival has bold plans to further expand the global juggernaut after another year of empire building.While techno-heads accuse Ultra of helping to “commercialize” electronic dance music, or EDM, in recent years, 120,000 rain-soaked revelers appeared to heartily disagree after being whipped into a frenzy in Tokyo this past weekend.“There’s a place for all genres of electronic music,” co-founder Russell Faibisch told AFP.

Sept. 22, 2016

Two foreign conductors tapped for Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra

Two foreign conductors have been named to lead the Seoul Philharmonic, the orchestra said in a press release Thursday.Thierry Fischer, music director of the Utah Symphony Orchestra, and Markus Stenz, chief conductor of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, will fill the position that has remained vacant since former conductor Chung Myung-whun stepped down in December.Fischer and Stenz will assume the titles, principal guest conductor and conductor-in-residence, respectively, according to

Sept. 22, 2016

NCCK to open with foreigner-friendly ‘L’Orfeo’

Greek mythologies will mesh with the sounds of modern pansori in the National Changgeuk Company of Korea’s upcoming 2016-2017 season opening production of “L’Orfeo.” Directed by Lee So-young, who was behind last year’s powerful pansori musical “Song of the Red Cliff,” the upcoming Korean rendition of the historical production is steering clear of classic operatic vocals. Instead, audiences can enjoy Lee’s changgeuk -- traditional Korean opera -- re-envisioned with the story’s contemporary twist

Sept. 21, 2016

Infinite tops global charts

K-pop boy band Infinite is sweeping charts at home and abroad with its sixth mini album “Infinite Only,” released Monday. The seven-member act has not only topped real-time and daily music charts on Hanteo and Synnara domestically, but also dominated global iTunes charts in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines and Singapore, according to Infinite’s management agency Woollim Entertainment on Wednesday. 　 Written by producer group Rphabet’s BEE, the album’s lead track “The Eye

Sept. 21, 2016

Park Hyo-shin to return with new album

Korean singer-songwriter Park Hyo-shin is gearing up for a return to the spotlight. 　Known for his 2014 hit singles “Wild Flower” and “Happy Together,” Park will be announcing a new album next month, according to the artist’s management agency Glove Entertainment on Wednesday. This will be his first full-length album in six years.　Created in collaboration with American mastering engineer Tom Coyne -- who has worked with global pop icons, including Adele and Sam Smith -- the upcoming album is bei

Sept. 21, 2016

Artday to hold September auction

Herald Artday, a subsidiary of Herald Corp., is holding an online auction from Sept. 23-27, presenting major works of art by contemporary Korean and international artists. 　The art auction will feature numerous works of renowned Korean artists. In addition to painter Hwang Yeom-soo’s “Roses,” the lot includes Lee Man-ik’s “Family” series that captures the spirit of the traditional Korean household with a modern twist, hanji (traditional Korean paper) artist Chun Kwang-young’s texture-inspired se

Sept. 21, 2016

Critics pick favorites at upcoming Met Opera season

NEW YORK (AP) -- Two tragedies of love and death, along with the inspiring story of a patriot who leads his people against foreign oppressors, top the critics’ picks for the upcoming Metropolitan Opera season.The Associated Press asked music reviewers and writers around the country which single production they were most looking forward to. Of the two dozen who responded, virtually all chose one of these three:Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde,” which opens the season on Sept. 26. Tim Smith of The Bal

Sept. 21, 2016

YG threatens legal action over G-Dragon Instagram hacking

YG Entertainment will take legal action against the hacker who leaked private photos of singer-rapper G-Dragon to the public, the agency said Wednesday. “G-Dragon’s private account was hacked and he became the target of privacy infringement,” the agency said in a statement. “We will take this issue to investigators to find those responsible for the hack and anyone who spreads malicious rumors about the incident.”The leader of the popular boy band Big Bang had started a private Instagram account

Sept. 21, 2016

On a journey with Clazziquai

With a 12-year music career under its belt, experimental band Clazziquai Project is done trying to label its music.“It’s hard to categorize our music into one genre,” said vocalist Horan at a press showcase held at Understage in Hannam-dong, Seoul on Monday. “Instead, we are now more focused on showing the different colors of our group.”But this doesn’t mean that the trio -- consisting of vocalists Alex and Horan, and DJ Clazzi -- will stop experimenting with different sounds.  Returning to the

Sept. 20, 2016

Offonoff to make official debut

Indie duo offonoff will be making its official debut this week.　Consisting of singer-songwriter Colde and producer 0channel, the group has gained a niche following with its previous digital mixtape releases. 　In line with its upcoming single “Bath,” the band released an introductory prologue by Korean poet Oh Eun and a teaser trailer on its official social media channels this week. 　“Offonoff aims to grow both musically and aesthetically,” said the group’s management agency HIGHGRND in a stateme

Sept. 20, 2016

Monsta X gears up for new release

K-pop boy band Monsta X is returning to the spotlight. 　The group released a teaser image for upcoming album “The Clan Part 2: Guilty” via its official social media channels Monday night. 　 The band debuted last year after participating on Mnet’s music competition show “No Mercy.” The seven-member act released its third mini album “The Clan Part 1: Lost,” featuring lead track “All In,” in May. The mini featured in the top five of Billboard’s World Albums chart for two weeks upon its release. 　Th

Sept. 20, 2016

Tom Waits, his wife, John Prine receive songwriting awards

BOSTON (AP) -- Luminaries from the film, music and writing worlds honored Tom Waits and folk singer John Prine for their songwriting at the Song Lyrics of Literary Excellence Awards on Monday.Waits’ wife, Kathleen Brennan, also was honored. John Mellencamp, Elvis Costello and Roseanne Cash took turns performing renditions of the artists’ songs before a crowd of more than 500 people at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum.Mellencamp opened the ceremony with an a cappella version of

Sept. 20, 2016

Big Bang’s T.O.P to take part in Sotheby’s charity auction

T.O.P of the popular K-pop boy band Big Bang said Monday he feels honored to curate a charity auction by one of the world’s largest brokers of collectibles. “I carefully chose each one of the items to be put on sale in this event together with Sotheby’s, keeping in close contact (with them) for more than one year,” the 29-year-old singer-rapper said during a news conference in Seoul to promote the event. “I feel really great and honored to be taking part in the event and for the confidence that

Sept. 19, 2016