PRODUCED BY R&D WORKS

PRODUCER Oh, Hoon Sik
BOOK Noh, Woo Sung / Kim, Eun Jeong
DIRECTOR & LYRICS Noh, Woo Sung
MUSIC Choi, Jong Yoon
MUSIC DIRECTOR Shin, Eun kyung
CHOREOGRAPHER Park, Ji Sun
SCENIC DESIGNER Oh, Pil Young
LIGHTING DESIGNER Won, Yoo Sub
SOUND DESIGNER Kim, Pil Soo
PROJECTION DESIGNER Park, Jun
COSTUME DESIGNER Lee, Soo Won
PROPS DESIGNER the late Lim, Hui Jeong
WIG & MAKEUP DESIGNER Cho, Yong Sun

The musical ‘Sherlock Holmes: Secret of the Anderson Family’ is a musical inspired by the legendary private detective Sherlock Holmes created by British author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Since its premiere in 2011, the musical has drawn great attention thanks to its innovative form and themes that differentiate it from other musicals. The success of the premiere led to the production of its second episode ‘Sherlock Holmes: Bloody Game’ which was also loved by many.

‘Sherlock Holmes: Secret of the Anderson Family’ isn’t based on the original story by Conan Doyle but it is a creative musical with the author’s original characters: Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson and Inspector Lestrade. In the late 19th century in London, a stormy Christmas eve, two gunshots are heard from the house of the Andersons, one of London’s richest families. That night, a woman disappears. Fifteen days later, three men from the Andersons come to Sherlock’s office. Promising to reward him with a huge amount of money, they ask him to look for Lucy Jones, the woman who disappeared. Feeling intuitively that the incident is not simply about a missing person, Sherlock starts investigating the case in earnest. His investigation gradually reveals the Andersons’ secrets that have been hidden in the intricate relationships of one missing person and three clients. The story is intriguing in that it is comparable to finding a way out in a maze, starting from small clues. The musical’s timely and swift change of scenes and lighting also contributes to the speed of the plot.

In addition to its mysterious story, what is the most visible in ‘Sherlock Holmes: Secret of the Anderson Family’ is the unique attractiveness of the character Sherlock Holmes. Through the actor’s acting, the musical vividly decribes Sherlock’s eccentricity and seriousness. To be more specific, when he is bored, he shoots at a wall for nothing but once he starts investigating a case, he becomes a serious detector again. In particular, Sherlock’s songs hit home by showing how empathetic he is; although he identifies the culprit with keenness, he hesitates to tell his client the truth till the end, empathizing with him. Finally, the musical’s strong plot structure, which was refined by Noh Woo Sung for three years, and its music, which was composed by Choi Jong Yoon to tell the story in a rhythmical way, harmonize with each other to make an exemplary creative musical that combines drama and music seamlessly.

REVIEW

It was an unexpected hit. Armed with an elaborate plotline and strong script for a medium-sized theater, the musical played a leading role in expanding the creative realm of Korean musicals.
- Shin Jeong-seon, reporter of the Chosun Ilbo

A strong script, catchy tunes, actors’ appealing performance and proper lighting and sound are all here in this savory creative musical. Its quality is so high that it goes beyond the limits of musicals for small theaters. It thus has abundant potential to expand and develop into a musical for a large theater.
- Park Ju-yeon, reporter of the Kyunghyang Shinmun

The musical ‘Sherlock Holmes’ makes the audience so immersed in its lines and lyrics that it even leads them to forget that it is a musical they are watching. While telling the audience exactly what is happening, the performance makes use of music successfully to keep them from getting bored. This is a great example of efficiently using music in a musical.
- Jeong Ji-hye, reporter of Newstage

About the Production Company

Specializing in performance development, production and management, R&D Works was founded in 2014 with the puppet ballet ‘Swan Lake’. While presenting large-scale licensed musicals such as ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ and ‘Wicked’, the company also works on developing distinctive creative musicals like the Sherlock Holmes series and ‘The Devil’. The company’s performers include Song Yong-jin, Ko Hun-jeong, Lee Ye-eun and Lee Ji-su. R&D Works continues to discover new faces systematically to work with them in a sustainable manner. The company’s representative musicals are ‘Sherlock Holmes: Secret of the Anderson Family’ (2014), ‘The Devil’ (2014), ‘Mama, Don’t Cry’ (2016), ‘The Rocky Horror Show’ (2017) and ‘Hope’ (2019).