“The path of an artist doesn’t always involve glory.” –The Host
“My voice is my earth and sky! It’s my everything.” – Yoon Jeongnyeon
“You have to take full responsibility for your choice, even if you regret it later.” – Moon Okgyeong
“I’m not here because I wanted to see you off. I had to see you leave with my own eyes to forget you completely.” – Yoon Jeongnyeon

I came in watching this drama knowing absolutely nothing and right away was hooked. The characters, music, production and design was breathtaking and every episode I felt like I was part of a live audience, watching the traditional Korean opera. This did feel like it should have been at least 16 episodes, towards the end the story felt rather rush and I couldn't feel the passion anymore. The ending itself left me wondering if that was really it and what did I just spend the past few days binge watching if this was gonna be the ending, which is why I cannot give this story 10 out of 10.

Story: This is one of the things that drew me in, the story of some country girl going to the big city with nothing but her voice and then we realize she's a very talented actress at that. Her stubborn yet bright personality along with Moon Okgyeong who is known as The Prince of traditional Korean Opera but have become bored with her position until she stumbles upon Yoon Jeongnyeon. I was also interested about an all female troupe during the 1950s, the society pressure that comes with it and how they were going to overcome it. Overall it was good, especially since we were given different performances to judge how much the characters have grown but what ruined the perfect score, once more, is how rush it got towards the end, leaving a rather unsatisfying feeling and I am not too happy with just how much they deviated from the Webtoon.I also wish we had more backstory about Jeongnyeon's family, they gave hints but sometimes it got confusing and overall it left me frustrated that there wasn't more.

Characters and Acting: This is one of the parts that made this drama a masterpiece in my opinion and this might be my longest part;
Kim Tae-Ri did such a phenomenal job playing our loveable 'prince' Yoon Jeongnyeon, everything from the micro expressions like lips trembling slightly, to those bright eyes that could easily turn sorrowful, slipping into different characters while still maintaining the essence of its YJN acting not Kim Tae-Ri and the singing, I truly hopes she wins the equivalent of a Grammy or Oscar in Korea for this role.
Jung Eun Chae who plays the role of Moon Okgyeong, our tragic 'Prince' thats bored of being on the top and comes back to life after meeting YJN deserves another award, I literally kept forgetting that she was a female and would only snap out of it when they'd refer to her character with female pronounces, I thought her portrayal of the tragic genius who seem weighted down by the role was perfect and honestly Moon Okgyeong became my favorite character even though she felt like a mystery to me even at the end.
Kim Yoon Hye played Seo Hye Rang, the 'Princess' of traditional Korean Opera and one who can't let go of her crown no matter what. I love the chemistry with Okgyeong and while I wanted to hate her character, all I could feel was pity. Her voice was beautiful to listen to.
Ra Mi-Ran played the director of the troupe, Kang So Bok who felt like a firm mother trying to handle all those girls, and while she could come off as rather strict, we also got to see what she was willing to sacrifice for her girls. This is my other favorite character.
Woo Da Vi played Hong Ju Ran who from the beginning was one of my least favorite character because she always felt wishy-washy. I think Da Vi did an amazing job portraying such a complex character that is weak yet strong in her own way, I just wish more had been done with this character.
Shin Ye Eun did an amazing job playing Yoon Jeongnyeon's rival, Heo Yeong-Seo who comes from a famous opera singer mother and sister, which leaves her feeling inferior even though she's actually quite talented. I thought her acting was really good but I can't say its one of my favorites, sometimes I wish she would put more emotions or expression instead of the open mouth, wide eyes that she'd do. I just wasn't able to get fully into this character but she's very talented singing.
My other favorite character was Park Cho Rok played by Hyung Seung Hee, at the beginning she was one of those characters that I would roll my eyes at and grumble over but I adore her character development and the singing was absolutely beautiful, I wish she would have gotten more spotlight, its another reason the ending felt so rush.

Music and Cinematography: I love the music in this drama and how everyone interpreted the same song in a different way, even how certain characters portrayed the same exact song in numerous way according to the emotion needed for the scene, it felt like I was watching it live and left me crying many times, I am looking forward to more traditional Korean Opera. Overall the scenery, costume designs, audio and stage was beautiful but there were some times that the lights felt too sharp and the make up a bit too heavy (especially the last episode where at one point Kim Tae-Ri looked like she had a double chin and bloated face due to the make up, but then it cuts, same scene, and her face looks really feminine.)

There was a lot of hint of girl-love, especially between Moon Okgyeong and Seo Hye Rang who honestly seemed like an old married couple, a kid and big house included but its so subtle that one might think they are imagining it, the other GL hints was with Juran x YJN, Juran x Heo Yeong-Seo, YJN x Chorok, YJN x Okgyeong, YJN x Heo Yeong-Seo, the webtoon is supposed to be GL and this is where the drama drop the ball, even deleting two very important characters from the webtoon, one was Yoon Jeongnyeon's love interest named Bu-yong and the other was Mr.Go who is a women that dresses like a men and is frustrated by the patriarchal and gender discrimination, she ends up teaching YJN the nuance of how to perform male roles, I suppose the closest we got to that character was Moon Okgyeong. The ending of the drama was also a massive letdown, it felt abrupt and like they just ran out of time. Many things felt unfinished, like the story of YJN mother.

Overall I'd give it an 8.5, I'll probably re-watch it in a few years for the beautiful music and amazing acting.