Back in the late 90’s, a girl K-Pop group call Fin.K.L came into popularity. All four members were quite young, but one in particular, Ock Joo Hyun, had an amazing, powerful voice. Since the group disbanded, Lee Hyori has been most prominently, and most consistently, in the limelight. Given that I mostly keep up with the K-Pop scene through my students, I forgot about the rest of the group. Then, a couple of years ago, I saw an advertisement for the musical Chicago, starring, among others, Ock Joo Hyun.

I had already seen one Korean production of Chicago, back in 2002, but I thought it would be interesting to see Ock perform, given that I loved her voice. What I didn’t realize is that she had already been performing in Aida and Cats, two musicals I had thought about seeing, but, as usual, never got around to. Since I saw that ad in 2007, the same production of Chicago has had two one-month runs per year. Each time, I considered going to see it but never did. Last year, Ock also starred in 42nd Street (here’s an article about it) , another musical I thought I’d like to see. And didn’t.

Given that I quit smoking nearly seven years ago, that I drink very rarely these days, and that I’ve lost a good deal of weight and regularly exercise, my New Year’s Resolution for 2010 was not one of self-improvement, but one for more varied entertainment. I’m resolved to see more concerts and musicals. Since the end of December, I’ve seen two concerts (Lenka and Green Day) and, as of last Saturday, one musical. Chicago is playing once again with Ock Joo Hyun as Roxie.

She has certainly come a long way since her Fin.K.L. days. Now 29 years old (31 by Korean reckoning) she has matured as an entertainer. These days, it’s not just her voice that is spectacular. Her overall performance was enchanting. Her version of Roxie is a combination of silly, sexy and funny. I particularly enjoyed the ventriloquist scene. Unfortunately, their weren’t many opportunities for her to bring the house down with her full vocal power, but her voice was great, nonetheless. I don’t want to slight the other performers. The whole production was well done and quite polished. But I went specifically to see Ock Joo Hyun, so she’s the one I focused on through the show.

Aida is opening again in April. I don’t know yet if Ock will be in this production. I’ll go see it, regardless, but I’m hoping she is. If you haven’t seen her in Chicago yet, this run lasts for another week, I believe. I expect it will open again in the summer, but I recommend seeing it while you can.