Lead large scale musicals, support creative musicals...musical industry that has taken off from pandemic

SEOUL, December 28 (Yonhap) -- The musical industry, which was directly hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, has entered a full growth beyond recovery this year. In particular, it was a year of qualitative growth as not only large-scale overseas licensed musicals but also various creative musicals were loved at inside and outside Korea.

◇ Annual sales are the highest ever for endemic retaliatory consumption...The box office success of the creative musical exceeded expectations

Sales in the musical industry, which had fallen to half of the previous year since the outbreak of COVID-19, are expected to rebound from last year and reach an all-time high this year.

The total sales of musical tickets for this year are expected to exceed 400 billion won by the end of this month to 398.4 billion won as of the 22nd of this month. This is not only well over 234.6 billion won in sales last year under the influence of the pandemic, but it is also the highest ever, according to KOPIS on December 24.

This phenomenon is seen as the result of the audiences suppressed consumerism during the pandemic, the opening of International large scale musicals, and the try out of creative musicals,

The top ten musicals in the first half of 2022 with most reservations are "Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde," "Rebecca." "Aida," which are well known international licensed musicals, "Lion King," musical in Korea, but also creative musicals produced in Korea such as, "The Man Who Laughs," "Matahari," "Excalibur," and more.

In particular, "The Man Who Laughs" and "Matahari" have become one of the biggest hits in the first half of the year, proving their work and popularity in the grand theater, which has been exclusive to overseas licensed performances.

"Seopyeonje," a representative creative musical using Korean materials, was also listed in the top 10 hits in the third quarter, and "Hero," which deals with Ahn's life, also premiered this month.

Various attempts were made to perform creative musicals in small and medium theaters. The creative musical "Frida," which was first premiered at the 2020 Daegu International Musical Festival, went on stage in earnest in the first half of this year through the process of developing the work and received favorable reviews from the audience and critics.

There were musicals that proved how well Korean production companies are doing with being the first non-English-speaking country in Korea even though those were international licensed musicals. "Mrs. Doubtfire," which opened in the second half of the year, was introduced for the first time in Korea as an overseas license after the Broadway performance. "Mrs. Doubtfire," which was created in a non-replica way that added an active adaptation to the original, received good reviews by appropriately adding Korean comedy differentiated from Broadway performances.

The recently opened "Moulin Rouge!" will be staged in Korea for the first time in Asian countries after the performance in the United States and Australia. This was a possible achievement as CJ ENM, the production company, co-produced beginning from the Broadway performance.

◇ K-musicals that have expanded in various ways, such as overseas expansion and cinematography

It was also a year when the musical genres were expanded to various channels, with domestic musicals created through a step-by-step development process being exported overseas and the first musical film based on domestic musicals being made.

The musical "Marie Curie," which started as a leading performance in the performing arts creation project of the Korea Culture and Arts Commission in 2018, successfully premiered and reenacted in Korea in 2020 and succeeded in exporting its license to Japan this year. Top Japanese musical actors, including Manaki Reika, will participate in the Tokyo and Osaka stages in March next year.

'Hero' was made into the first Korean creative musical to be adapted to a big screen. Many international musical works such as "Cats," "Chicago," and "Les Miserables" have been made into films, gaining attention.

Musical critic Won Jong-won, a professor at Soonchunhyang University said, "Producers who hesitated to try new things due to COVID-19 have revitalized by making various creative attempts this year," adding, "In the case of 'Frida,' it is a desirable example of creative drama being established through a step-by-step development and growth process."

"It was a year that raised expectations for the expansion of Korean musicals in the future as well as temporary sales growth, with overseas expansion, which had been limited to marketing investigations, being made into a concrete example and 'Hero' being made into a movie," he said.



(This article is translated from Korean to English by Dowon Kim.)

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