Power Korean: Chan Hu Lee (이찬후)

In front of a very small theater in Daehangro, there was a beeline of young girls carrying presents waiting for the clock to tick to 7pm. One would wonder why almost all of them were girls. That was just one of the musicals of my friend Chan Hu, a friend I call the Prince of Hyehwa!*

Lee Chan Hu was born and raised in Uijeongbo, Gyeonggi Province. He is a homegrown talent of Uijeongbo and Kyeongmin ladder school. He graduated at Kyeongmin High School in 2004 and took B.A. in Theater Arts at Kyeongmin University in 2009 in Uijeongbo.    

The Making

Even before elementary school, Chan Hu already showed some interest in acting. So when he went to high school he already considered taking acting as his major in college. His decision was mainly influenced by the first musical he watched at Kyeongmin University by theater arts majors. He never knew that it would also make him decide to study Theater Arts at the same school. 

Despite his young age, he already has a lengthy list of musicals and plays both at school and at professional theaters. To mention some he was part of Macbeth in 2004 and before serving the military from 2005 to 2007, he acted in an opera called “This Masquarade La Boheme” in 2005 at Seoul Arts Center. Seoul Arts Center is a preferred location for big production musicals and plays. In 2009, he also had two big plays. He was part of Hamlet, which was shown at Uijeongbo Arts Center and The Good Woman of Setzuan, shown at Daehangro. Then in 2010 he played as Yuu in the musical that attracted and captured the hearts of many girls, Hwarang. This year, 2011, he took part of another musical called Paul, which is a Christian themed musical. He played different roles, which I think makes him a very versatile actor. Although Chan Hu wants to take roles that are quite closer to his character in real life, he is still amazed with actors who play different roles. He thinks it is a big challenge. After doing musicals and plays he said he would try to venture to the mainstream entertainment industry. So probably we could see him on TV dramas, movies and commercials next time.

 

More About Chan Hu

Chan Hu is the kind of friend who could always cheer you up. There are no dull moments if you are with him because of his cool and wacky character. His dimples already made many girls faint so if you don’t want this to happen you should not let him smile.

He also likes to travel. After military, in 2007, he visited the Philippines to study English for a short period and at the same time traveled the country. Then in 2008, he went to the US also to study English for a bit and work at the same time as a waiter in a coffee shop. When he was serving the military he already planned to go to New York to experience Broadway personally so it was like a dream come true for him.

   
Chan Hu is a gifted musician. He can play guitar and piano and he’s also into composition, lyrics and music. On the other hand, call it totally unrelated, he wants to manage a chicken store in the future because he likes chicken. Funny but he was very serious when he told me about this plan. 

So we'll see ^^! Please support him! 



*you get off at Hyehwa station to go to Daehangro, Korea's broadway.