The Beauty Of Gukgeuk & Pansori In "Jeongyeon The Star Is Born": K-Drama Review

I've only been a fan of kdrama and all the beautiful things they have to show, from their language to their foods and their dressing. I also love their songs, I have quite a lot of them which I play when I'm not seeing a drama. What I was yet to experience in kdrama is what I found in this series I saw recently... Life after the Korean War.

From the first episode, I found myself wanting more even after the last episode. It's definitely one of the short series that I wish was longer but the story was well told in that short time it had. I was surprised to see bad reviews on this series but I figured not everyone is actually interested in the traditional or cultural lifestyle of other tribes.

"A Journey To stardom" or "A Star's Rise To Fame" would also perfectly fit in for this series as it's about a star who went from being a poor girl from Mokpo to a star in acting, singing and dancing at the national theatre. I actually thought it'd be like the American "A Star Is Born" version I've seen before but this one was totally different.

"Jeongyeon The Star Is Born" is a 2024 released TV series set in the 1950s, shortly after the Korean War. The cast features Kim Tae-ri, Shin Ye-eun, Jung Eun-chae, Ra Mi-ran and Kim Yoon-hye as the main characters. The series takes us on the journey of Pansori singer, Jeongyeon who overcomes hardship to stardom.

This series is the first of it's kind that I've seen and I've become very interested to learn more about the type of music displayed in the story. It introduces me to Gukgeuk (an all-female Korean theatrical art form that combines singing, acting and dancing) and Pansori (ancient vocal art form of storytelling performed by a singer & drummer).

I actually saw this series with my little cousins and I couldn't stop smiling whenever they try to sing like the characters did in the story, it's so beautiful and different to listen to. I'll say Kim Tae-ri taking up the role of Jeongyeon and learning to sing Pansori for her role is very admirable because she totally nailed her singing.

For every Gukgeuk show they planned for and performed, I felt this overwhelming excitement especially for the female lead who have to go through so many challenges from those who hate or don't want her to overshadow them. There is also Jung Eun-chae who played Ok-gyeong and acted as the biggest support to her.

The story goes like "Jeongyeon, a poor girl from Mokpo goes against her mother's wish not to sing pansori and travels to explore the world of national theater performance with the hope of becoming a star someday and make money for her family. Even though she faced countless downs, she experienced real support and growth.

I think her mother being so against her singing didn't make any sense for the first few episodes until it was revealed that she could sing very well too until her downfall years ago. It was a memorable scene to see the mother sing Pansori to her daughter as she tries to encourage her back to Gukgeuk, her new and greatest passion.

The other main characters did great in their roles especially the two ladies closest to Jeongyeon as they went from enemies to friends, supported each other in finding their strengths and saving the space they have their performances. The auditions to make them compete among themselves made it to being my favourite parts.

_{Images are from Imdb.}