Associate Director of PHANTOM in South Korea Discusses the Show's Success

Rainer Fried, the associate director of The Phantom of the Opera in Seoul, South Korea, recently chatted with The Korea Herald about the production, which wraps up this weekend to move on to Daegu.

"Sometimes, it is a little surreal to be here in Seoul with the company performing and knowing that we are on an almost different planet here," Fried said. "We are very proud but at the same time very humbled as well."

He talked about the ways in which the production is being cautious, and adhering to safety guidelines.

"We try to be cautious, socially distancing as much as possible. It is not always possible, when you put makeup, wig or costume on a person," he said. "There is great trust in the company that everyone is doing the right thing. I call it the circle of trust."

Fried went on to say that each costume and prop gets disinfected after each performance, as well as set pieces.

"We know it was controversial at times that we were still performing," he said. "We have proven that the guidelines and the process we have in place have been working. We hope to have the trust of Korean people and the audience numbers have been going up over the past few weeks again."

The Phantom of the Opera heads to Daegu next, with performances from August 19 to September 27 at Keimyung Art Center. The show is set to stop in Taiwan later this year.

"After all this, we can now go to Daegu and help relaunch the city," Fried said. "We cannot wait to get to Daegu and help lift the spirits of the Daegu people."

Read the original story on The Korea Herald.