The kids sing "It's a Hard Knock Life" (translated as "Dirty Life" in Korean) in Korean. Below, they sing "Tomorrow" in Korean.
Dahin's 'da munwha' (multicultural) teacher called Jack one day and encouraged him to let Dahin audition for a special 'multicultural kid' training camp in preparation for auditions for the musical Annie. 'Da munwha' programs are prevalent now, and in Dahin's school the da munwha program includes Korean as a second language classes as well as general education about other cultures in which moms or dads of 'multicultural kids' as well other teachers come in and instruct the kids. I did one class last year on 'American culture' (whatever that is). The flyer said something like "Multicultural kids can be musical stars in Korea, too." Well, I have to explain that 'multicultural' now appears to be the new pc term for 'foreign' in Korea. And, any kids for whom either one or both parents is not Korean is labeled 'multicultural.' The good thing for us is that there are loads of government programs dedicated to 'multicultural families,' which means that being 'multicultural' has its perks. We decided it would be a great chance for Dahin to get some training as well as a confidence boost. There was really no audition for the kids to do a 2-week training camp, they just wanted to make sure the kids could sing and would be able to participate without too much trouble. Still, I was wary as the whole things seemed a setup for an EBS program. The training and auditions would all be filmed for an EBS documentary. I think, in many ways, my suspitions were founded, but I still do think, as well, that this was a truly good opportunity for Dahin no matter what.
I was only able to make it to one day of work: the final performance day. Jack took Dahin to the Sejong Cultural Center in downtown Seoul everyday for two weeks. Rehearsals went from 5 pm to 8 pm daily, and, after dinner with some musical friends and their moms, Jack and Dahin usually returned home around 10:30 pm. It was incredibly gruelling, but I was very proud of how hard Dahin tried. Jack said she changed from a kid who was terrified to sing by herself in front of others let alone sing out to a kid who could do it very well. The teachers were very patient. The kids worked with the director, a dance coach, a vocal coach, and an acting coach. At least two of the people involved in teaching are well-known musical actors here in Korea. The final day included a performance for the families.
The day of the audition, I had a seminar out of town, so Jack went with Dahin and the boys by himself. I felt bad about not being there and worse about not being able to give Dahin pep talks in person rather than through the cell phone. On the day of the audition, the 'multicultural kids' auditioned along with 'regular Korean kids'--so you can see where my concerns come from. The assumption here is that the regular Korean kids would naturally be better than the multicultural kids. The truth of the matter is that no matter who you are you have the ability to be just as good as the next person. Still, a lot of the Korean kids there competing for a spot were already competing in dance and music, and their moms brought various costumes (such as top hats, bow ties, and canes) for their kids to change into when they did their choreographed dance routine. A lot of the 'multicultural' kids have not had access or their parents refuse to expose them to that whole cram school culture and training that is a norm for Korean kids. Most of these moms and their kids were from wealthy neighborhoods and had been actively training their kids for this or similar opportunities. Dahin, on the other hand, had informally rehearsed a dance she learned from a music video of one of her favorite girl groups and showed up at the audition wearing a tshirt and sweats. Jack said that Dahin did fine in the singing audition, but for the dance part she just gave up and did not do it. We both think she got intimidated by those kids with their professional stage moms. Well, the short version is that we never got a call, which means she didn't get it. When I met Dahin (Jack and the kids had driven down to Gurye--see fall travels post on Gurye--to meet me), I told her I was very proud of her for doing it and so glad she learned alot. However, I told her that next time she should do every component of an audition. She says she wants to be a musical actor, and if that is the case she needs to suck it up and finish the audition, even if she thinks the other kids are better. The director might have a different opinion. I mean, when we did the KBS show, we had no idea we would win. We had just decided before our final performance and official taping to have fun with it and not worry about winning. The idea is to do your best, no matter what and also to remember to have fun. At the same time, I told her not to feel bad since this was her first audition and other opportunities will come. She cried and said there would be no other opportunities, but I told her that is not true and that she'll never know what is around the corner. The point is to keep trying.
Dahin is now a member of the Rainbow Chorus. The Rainbow Chorus is a chorus made up of kids fitting the definition of 'multicultural' I wrote above. The chorus is managed by the Seoul Multicultural Center. She practices several times a week now and the chorus kids have shows at least twice a week. At a show today (Sunday--the day I am writing the post, although scheduling it to appear on Monday), celebrities like Rain and 2 AM will be there. The Rainbow Chorus has appeared in commercials and it gets a lot of media attention. Most important things are: she's learning about stage presence, practice discipline, and vocal techniques as well as having a great time. Below are some stills from Annie.
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