Dressed in colorful costumes, a female shaman with assistants offered an entertaining interlude. The sharply raked set employs concentric tilting turntables that provide clever entrances and exits. Rapidly changing backdrops and scenic elements keep up with the story's fast pass through key events in Korean history like the opening to Western business interests and a series of insurrections. Musically, The Last Empress reflects surprising cultural references in addition to Oriental-tinged numbers. Many of the full choruses have the ring of Soviet army numbers, while the queen's retinue offers what could pass for Polish folk tunes.
Varied orchestration features oriental percussion instruments and lots of brass.
Apart from a shaky Min Soo Kim, the men mostly acquitted themselves well vocally. In the cast, Koreans played the eastern oriental characters, while Western performers covered the roles of the Western countries' ambassadors. Ho Jin Yun's direction was especially effective for the ensembles, often the weakest link in a big production. Miking was good, and the English surtitles came thick and fast for those wishing to follow all the text. Because of the projection screen's high position of the, seating in the rear orchestra or the rings is preferable to front orchestra.