solar grew so much from this first experience..she said she learned to project her voice and emotions even more. I noticed that her vocals and technique and breathing went to another level.. proud of solar. Even moonbyul said she could never do this and had respect for solar. I remember solar said the director told her in beginning not to sing like kpop idol style. Solar learned to sue her voice different style. bravo solar.

This was her first stage performance (debut) in a musical so she was very nervous. Heck, even us moomoos were very nervous and excited for her knowing that musical theatre critiques can be very brutal. I am very proud of her and looking forward to her next musical despite me not being able to see her perform ever. *cries in imoo.

I went to see Solar at that musical 5 times, and yes, the show indeed opens with that music box 😭😭😭😭😭😭 Thank you so very much for this unexpected reaction!!!! Much love to you, have a wonderful day ❤

At the press call, the early phase of the musical Mata Hari, she looked so nervous with anxiety. So her vocal and powers did not seem to be opened as 100%. As a audeience i am surely telling that she had performed better in the real show, and she had been growing up from the first to the last show definitely. I think she can grow up more next time. I am really expecting and waiting for her next musical show indeeeeeeeed.

Thank you so much for this. I'm not sure how much you know about the history that this is based on. Mata Hari was an exotic dancer in WWI. She used many asian themes hence the temple dance. She had both a German and a French lover and was accused of being a spy and executed by firing squad. Everyone in the To Catch a Spy number, is a veteran and this Solar's first and only musical. On the other hand her character is worried that she is going to be accused so any hesitation may be intended. This is the only actual musical that any Mamamoo member has been in (well Hwasa was in a school play in middle school). Where to go to from here? You may want to do a guide, I prefer Purple Hawk's but Moo YT's is more up to date. My personal favorites are Decalcomanie and Destiny. There is an MV for the first and Destiny is available and safe to react to as the final performance on Queendom.

Your guess for the beginning of the show was almost right. The first scene starts with the music box glass case being shown but it isn’t revealed what was in it yet haha. This was Solar’s first ever theater gig, this press call vid was recorded early on when the musical started showing. I had the honor of watching her last show and I can say that she definitely improved in all aspects. She was just so breathtaking during the last show. Thank you for reacting to this and i hope you continue to show interest to Mamamoo! 😊

Thanks for the reaction. This was the performance from Mata Hari press call at 220621 for media, not usual audience, where they performanced some highlight numbers with full customs. This was actually MAMAMOO Solar's debut and only musical, double-leading with SK musical empress Ock Joo-hyun. Solar was indeed nervous as it was only 4 weeks after the musical premiere 220528, roughly 1/3 of her total 48 performances until 220815, and she was still adapting her acting and singing. Many reviews said that she continued to make progress literally every performance as lots of fans (moomoos) and musical fans attended multiple stages to witness her growth. In the end, she got favorites reviews, even from hardcore musical fans and critics. I was hoping to see a VOD but it didn't happen. Other than these 3 press call performances, we only have a number The girl I used to be kzfaq.info/get/bejne/a8yCpLCWt8Ccfac.html and sitzprobe kzfaq.info/get/bejne/l9Sen5eAvKvJpoE.html. Now, I am hoping she will be in the upcoming SK adaption of musical Chicago next summer as she has been contacted to offer her roles or a role but nothing has settled yet. Fun fact: she was hand-picked by prestigious musical director Kim Moon-Jeong without audition.

it was her first musical and there was an audience

This was her first muscial experience ever. Also this was filmed at the beginning of the 3 month during which she performed so it's why might seem unsure of certain moves. Unfortunately there is no later recordings to compare her improvements over time (though they've been described by members of the public)

Fun fact: this musicals male lead is changsub of btob and him and solar are best friends for years they had kissing scene together and it was so weird to them 😂 they also have a song switch video on solars youtube channel where they sing eachothers songs (btob and mamamoo) you should see that and their scenes together in this musical (changsub is a musical actor for so long as you know 😂 he was amazing in this one too

Thank you so much for reacting to Solar’s MataHari video. This is her first ever musical performance and she was extremely nervous because MataHari is a very famous musical in South Korea and she worked extremely hard for this role. Up until now she’s only done Kpop music and many different English song covers on her KZfaq channel. If you want to know more about MamaMoo members you should check out Old Version kzfaq.info/get/bejne/jZyiYK10lsyseHU.html kzfaq.info/get/bejne/npuehcSU35zbaKs.html Recent Video kzfaq.info/get/bejne/mZuGo7Oj3NDemYE.html kzfaq.info/get/bejne/i7-CraajzZrFpqc.html

Solar and Changsub (BTOB) were in the same Mata Hari production together. Changsub played, Armand, the love interest of Solar's character. (Changsub has a performance clip as well) She was under the direction of a respectable musical director (who is known to be strict), so shes got that solid foundation from the start.

Thank you for reacting to this! This was Solar's musical theater debut. It was always a dream of hers to do a musical. Can you also check out the rehearsal video with BtoB's Changsub (Changsub Solar & Hongki Matahari practice)?

I realized with your theater interest I should have recomended the two MVs from Mamamoo+'s (Solar and Moonbyul subunit) minialbum Act 1 Scene 1. They are Chico Malo and GGBB. The first is a blend of Korean traditional theater and modern elements and the second is in vein of Grease.

Thank you for the reaction. She grew and improved so much during her musical run it's insane. Now she is in talks to be the lead for the musical "Chicago" but it's not confirmed yet. Sidenote, it's so cute that Moonbyul went to see her show at least 6 times including opening and closing night and gifted her 100 roses. These two and their bond are adorable.

Moonbyul cried after watching Young-Sun in the Premier perfomace of "Mata Hari". It's her Debut in Musical Theater. - Margaretha Geertruida MacLeod, better known by the stage name Mata Hari, was a Dutch exotic dancer and courtesan who was convicted of being a spy for Germany during World War I. She was executed by firing squad in France. As for the isolation, that IS something most Kpops groups do train for.

What a lovely reaction to one of my favorite videos! I love the way you described how she uses different techniques to convey rich emotions. It is something I always feel, but don't have the technical knowledge to understand fully. The emotiveness of her voice is something Solar has always done exceptionally well, notably in her cover series Solar Gamsung, but in so many other instances as well (for your own enjoymwnt, you might like her Song Cover playlist on her channel Solarsido), yet somehow elevated even further for her musical debut. Without understanding the language or knowing much about the story, I could feel the narrative through her voice. You might enjoy the Mamamoo+ songs 'Chico Malo' and 'GGBB' from 'Act 1 Scene 1'. Fun fact, in 'Chico Malo' there is a background sound that sounds like a traditional Korean instrument, but is actually vocalized by Solar.

I believe this specific performance/showcase was particularly for the press/media. :)

Fun facts, 1) the director invited Solar to star as the LEAD after Solar expressed interest in being in a musical theatre while they (both the director and Solar) were in another variety Show called Boss in the Mirror. There was no mention that Solar was ever in an audition for this at all. 2) The musical is called Mata Hari, premiered in SKorea back in 2016, 2nd production in 2017, and this was only the 3rd time Mata Hari was in South Korea (it was released twice in Japan). This whole musical was conceptualised by Frank Wildhorn FOR OCK JOOHYUN, the original Mata Hari (who is the Lead Actress for all 3 times it was opened in SKorea). So it was an incredible honour for Solar to be invited to act along side Ock Joohyun as the other lead actress in this musical. 3) Mata Hari is a Malay expression for the Sun (literally, "eye of the day"), and coincidentally, that is exactly what Solar is. Also, Solar's given name is Kim Yong Sun. :) So this musical is such a "heavenly made" musical for Solar.

Love watching people from the industry review Solar’s performance 🥰 it’s her first time dabbling in musical theatre after being used to pop/kpop style of singing. hopefully she’ll get used to this type of singing style.

Oh I’m really excited for this

Thank you for this reaction! I heard from the grapevine that she might be casted in Chicago next year, if her schedule allows it. Her playing Roxie would be so interesting but not far off from her role in Matahari.

You were so right about these 2 things (and probably more XD ) 1. The musical opened up with the musical box, where an old man was telling a story about the musical box and the dancer in it. It was a story of a exotic dancer named Mata Hari, who was allegedly accused of being a double spy, and ultimately executed (the last scene was the execution, and the scene was aptly named One Last Time), where we see Mata Hari and the musical box again. 2. You were so right about her being timid and holding back in the 2nd Scene here (8:00), it's because she was at that time still an inexperienced spy (double spy?) and the general (the tall big guy) was being suspicious of everyone around because it was rumoured that there's a spy around, so she was very nervous because she was a very successful and popular dancer while being a spy and so many people (suitors) wanted her signature while that General of suspicious of everyone going near her.(literally, "eye of the day") Edit to add: Mata Hari was a nickname of Margaretha Geertruida MacLeod, a Dutch exotic dancer and alleged spy during World War I. She was shot by the French on charges of spying for Germany. The nature and extent of her espionage activities remain uncertain, and her guilt is widely contested. According to the History Channel website, "There is some evidence that Mata Hari acted as a German spy, and for a time as a double agent for the French, but the Germans had written her off as an ineffective agent who produced little intelligence of value. Her military trial was riddled with bias and circumstantial evidence, and it is probable that French authorities trumped her up as “the greatest woman spy of the century” as a distraction for the huge losses the French army was suffering on the western front." 3. Thank you so much for reacting this because we get to see a musical theatre actress' background knowledge and thoughts when watching this, and letting us know what it's like behind the scenes and what goes on in their head, especially our multi-facet reaction actress Solar.

I don't think you should stress about pronouncing a perfectly normal English word normally. Some people say it should be pronounced Sola without the R because it comes from do re mi fa and it's spelled 솔라 (Sola) in Korean. However 솔라 is not a real Korean word and is simply how the English word Solar is written in hangul, the Korean alphabet. She could have spelled it Sola if she wanted us to drop the R in pronunciation. By spelling her stage name Solar she clearly intends the Sun to be the primary meaning. She and Moonbyul are nicknamed Moonsun as a duo and they often use Sun and Moon emojis in their duo subunit Mamamoo+. Imo pronouncing her name Sola sounds silly and affected. Mata Hari was her theatrical debut and I'm sure you're right that she was nervous. She could have done a secondary musical theatre role to get her feet wet but Solar has always been a deep end of the pool sink or swim kinda gal and took the lead role when it was offered. She was nominated for a rookie of the year award for her performance. I agree she could have played the spy scene better. A minor example is that you shouldn't clink glasses without drinking. I don't know exactly what's going on in that scene but she's apparently playing a double game. Some of the hesitancy you mentioned could be her character's way of covering but knowing how much of a team player Solar is I think she was also trying to make sure she didn't upstage the male singer.

Solar has always been great at pouring her emotions into her singing (her parts in I Miss you and her Solar Gamsung series are great examples.) If you want to listen to something musical-esque made after she finished her time in Mata Hari, I'd recommend "IMAGE (5:52am)", a song she performed as part of the music competition show, Listen Up. The show was a contest between a group of high profile music producers, and the producer Jungkey personally selected Solar to sing the song he wrote because he wanted someone with a Princess look and voice. The way the song builds is a fantastic showing of Solar's range, especially after how much she developed her voice through playing Mata Hari.

THANK YOU

Still sad that they didn't release a dvd version of this. Seeing the clips, reminds me of the Japanese all-female theater group, Takarazuka. She didn't audition for this. 😂 the director love her. They met in a show called Boss in the mirror. She wanted to do more musical, but her schedule is so tight. Chicago is the one she wants to try.

There’s one more clip from this musical that I love, it also gives some more insight into the music box lol. Thank you for reacting! kzfaq.info/get/bejne/a8yCpLCWt8Ccfac.html

Matahari was shot as a spy ww1.

This is her first and only performance but it is likely there will be more. It seems theatre in korea occasionally find a kpop idol, it isnt that often but with someone like Solar, who is a very good singer and performer, adding in acting is possible, plus she already can sing and make you feel whatever emotion she wants. The use of an Idol also helps with exposure of musicals, since an automatic audience comes with the idol, many likely enjoy the musical and continue coming. Since that was her debut performance, she was nervous. The story itself is also tragic, a woman in ww2 being used by men as a double agent spy and eventually being executed. Kpop idols dont usually deal with that kind of serious subject. I am a season ticket holder at Pantages in Hollywood, see every show for years, so I can see what you mean by her looking a bit reserved with her acting. Solar though is my absolute bias and favorite singer everywhere, not just mamamoo or korea so seeing this video was great for me. One more I would recommend is on Solar's Solarsido youtube. An end of year karaoke video she posted about dec 28 2022, it is her live, she does a franki valli cover and a couple sound but one is one of the songs she sung for Mata Hari. This is just her singing the song live, it is not the theatre performance. Worth watching because even without the theatre production happening around her, you can still feel that emotion.

I know I'm way late with this comment, but I scanned through the older comments and didn't see anyone give you this information. Mata Hari is an actual historical figure who was a young woman during WWI and supported herself as an exotic dancer and courtesan (read high end prostitute) in Paris. Her lover was a French pilot. A higher up in the French government became jealous and forced her to act as a spy against the Germans, acting as a lover to a German general. The general was suspicious and never gave her any information, so the French decided she was a spy for the Germans and Shot her at a firing squad. The pilot turned his back in her need. Very tragic.

Love watching people from the industry review Solar’s performance 🥰 it’s her first time dabbling in musical theatre after being used to pop/kpop style of singing. hopefully she’ll get used to this type of singing style.