SYNOPSIS

In 1886, in Green Valley City, Arizona, twenty-year-old Jane runs the Diamond Saloon, a theater and bar she inherited from her grandmother. Jane wants to leave the West and move to New York, but all she has is the saloon and her two friends and employees, Bud and Harry.

Jane spreads a false rumor that a railroad will be built near the saloon and puts the building up for sale at a very low price. Her plan is to lure three traveling actors who are impersonating legendary Western figures Wyatt Earp, Josephine Marcus, and Johnny Ringo. She hopes to collect the rewards offered for their capture. However, a gunslinger named Billy Hooker arrives first. He is looking for the three people to avenge his father. Afraid that he will ruin her plan, Jane pretends that she also has a grudge against them. She suggests that she and Billy pose as a married couple running the saloon.

Wyatt Earp is the first to arrive. Billy immediately wants to kill him, but Jane stops him, saying they must wait for the other two. The man posing as Wyatt is actually Freddie Simpson, a third-rate actor who stole money from a traveling theater company and ran away. Jane offers him a contract to buy the Diamond Saloon for just one dollar.

Just as Freddie is about to sign, Kate Corbett arrives, posing as Josephine Marcus. At first, each fears that the other may be the real Wyatt or Josephine, so they try to avoid meeting. Eventually, they recognize each other. They also discover that both have lost all the stolen money and are now broke. They agree to work together and add Josephine's name and signature to the contract.

Just as they celebrate taking ownership of the saloon, Johnny Ringo arrives. He is also an actor, named Jack Marsh. Billy believes Jack is his father's killer. He ties him up and prepares to shoot him. At that moment, the real Johnny Ringo's men appear outside the saloon. Billy leaves the three actors tied up and goes outside to fight them. He is shot and barely manages to return to the saloon before collapsing.

Jack says he served as a medic at the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863. He removes the bullet from Billy's body and saves his life. Jack tells them that he saved many lives during the war. Billy then realizes that Jack is the man known as "Orange Jack," who once saved his father's life. The man he believed was his father's enemy was actually his father's rescuer.

Jane struggles with whether to turn in the three actors and collect the rewards. Just then, the manager of the theater company they robbed arrives outside the saloon. Jane goes out alone and lies that she has not seen them. She sends him away.

Jane realizes that the Diamond Saloon is already equipped for performances. She suggests that the three actors put on shows there to earn money. They continue performing at the saloon and eventually pay off all their remaining debts. Along the way, the three actors and Billy Hooker discover what they truly want in life. They leave the Diamond Saloon to pursue their dreams.

Jane also leaves the saloon in the care of Harry and Bud and finally heads for New York. After everyone has gone, Harry and Bud find a newspaper article announcing that a railroad really will be built near the Diamond Saloon.


REVIEW

I saw Western Story twice. I laughed so much the first time that I wanted to see it again. My son told me that many Shorts clips from the show were appearing online and suggested we see it during the Chuseok holiday. I booked tickets again right away.

After the second performance, my son said:

"It's not even about the songs. The ad-libs are completely different from the Shorts. Do they change them on the spot every time?"

"But the songs were good, and everyone sang well. The actors would probably feel unfairly treated if people couldn't remember the songs because they were laughing too much. It was very different from the last time I saw it, too."

My son said Josephine Marcus seemed completely crazy. He thought it would be frightening to have someone who talked like that nearby. I explained that Han Bo-ra, who played Josephine at the first performance, had been playful, cheeky, and rather cute. Joo Da-on, on the other hand, brought a touch of madness to the character. Both were strange and funny. Weird and funny.

After the first performance, I simply wanted to see the show again because it was so entertaining. After the second, I was confused about how to write the review. Song Won-geun played Wyatt Earp both times, but Josephine Marcus seemed like a completely different person.

Han Bo-ra's Josephine was a clever schemer who tried to turn every crisis into an opportunity through her charm. Joo Da-on's Josephine seemed slightly unhinged, even in the way she spoke and moved. I was surprised that the same script could produce such different characters. What interested me even more was that both interpretations were funny.

The constant ad-libs and slapstick were also different. Many lines sounded as though the actors had made them up on the spot. Jung Wook-jin, who played Billy Hooker, was tall and handsome, but the others kept making jokes about his short legs. Park Gyu-won looked young, but they kept calling him an old man. I do not think jokes about physical appearance or age are a healthy form of humor. Just because an audience laughs does not mean every joke is a good one.

I spent most of Act I laughing. My son laughed as though he could hardly believe a show like this existed. He said the ad-libs seemed more important than the songs. I insisted that the music was good and that all the actors sang well, but I think he had been laughing too hard to pay much attention to the music. Come to think of it, when I recall the performance, the dialogue and physical comedy come to mind before the songs.

The scene in Act II where Johnny Ringo treats Billy Hooker's gunshot wound also changed considerably depending on the actor. Choi Ho-jung delivered his lines slowly and scanned Hooker's body while holding a plank-like position on his knees, saying he was performing an MRI scan. It was extremely funny. Jung Sang-yoon used a toy snake like a stethoscope to examine Billy. His version was slower, and the scene dragged a little.

Act I moves at a fast and almost chaotic pace. In contrast, the Johnny Ringo scene early in Act II slows down quite suddenly. I thought this section could benefit from a faster pace. The show picks up speed again afterward and moves toward a warm and cheerful ending. The characters, brought together by rewards, revenge, fraud, and escape, eventually discover what they truly want and go their separate ways.

The musical uses the setting and style of a Western, but I thought the story could work just as well in another setting. It might even be adapted into a story about righteous outlaws or Hong Gildong in the Joseon period. Of course, the theatrical saloon might have to become a traditional tavern in a madangnori, a Korean folk theater performance. The boasting, deception, characters tricking one another, exaggerated physical comedy, and dialogue designed to make the audience laugh would all fit that style well.

I did not post my review right away because I kept thinking about the show. Even after seeing it twice, I was still asking myself, "What exactly is this musical?" Was it a carefully constructed comedy, or did the actors' wit carry the show? How much of the ad-libbing was actually planned?

But one thing is certain. I laughed a great deal at both performances. I laughed so hard that tears came to my eyes. I cannot remember many musicals that have made me laugh this much for so long.