The story of female singers in the 1950s is causing a syndrome.

While the tvN drama ‘Retirement’, starring Kim Tae-ri, Shin Ye-in, Jung Eun-chae, and Ra Mi-ran, is breaking all the records for viewership ratings and buzz with every episode, ‘Women‘s Gugak’, which the drama is based on, is also getting a chance to be reexamined.

‘Retirement’, based on a webtoon of the same name, depicts the process of natural-born genius singer Yoon Jeong-nyeon becoming the most popular star of women’s gugak at the time, and soared to its highest viewership rating of 14.1%.

The fact that the original webtoon was already popular played a part, but the high synchronization of the actors, who seem to have come to life as their webtoon characters, is also cited as a reason for its popularity.

In particular, the ‘frame child’ structure in the drama maximized the immersion by presenting ‘Ja Myung Go’, ‘Chun Hyang Jeon’, ‘The Fool and the Princess’. In the final broadcast on the 17th, Kim Tae-ri and Shin Ye-eun caught attention by increasing the perfection by performing the new national musical ‘Ssangtap Legend’.

Thanks to this, ‘Women‘s National Theater’, which had disappeared from the public eye for a while, has recently become the center of attention and even captured the MZ generation.

tvN stated, “Usually, the viewership of dramas is high among those in their 30s and 40s, but ‘Retirement’ has the highest viewership among women in their 20s.”

Unlike changgeuk, which focuses on singing, ‘Women’s Gukgeuk’ is an interesting performance that incorporates dance and acting, in which all the roles are played by female performers.

In the drama, Kim Tae-ri and Shin Ye-eun practiced their singing for between one and three years to create a realistic performance that feels like watching a concert.

Viewers are responding, saying, “It‘s like watching a pansori musical”, “It’s more surprising because it‘s real, not dubbed or lip-synced”, “The first K-musical”, and are experiencing ‘the fun of watching and listening’.

Thanks to this, the video of the gukgeuk performance they presented was re-edited and released, and it surpassed 10 million cumulative views in just two weeks.

Meanwhile, thanks to the popularity of ‘Retirement’, the National Heritage Promotion Agency is preparing the women’s national opera ‘Princess Seonhwa’ at the Gangnam Folk Theater in Seoul on the 12th of next month.



Reporter Lee Jeong-yeon annjoy@donga.com