[Opinion] Musicals Come of Age in Korea

The frontrunner among cultural industries in this country is, without a doubt, the movie industry. However, we need to take a closer look at musicals. While movies are low-cost cultural commodities, musicals are high-end. Musicals like “The Phantom of the Opera” and “Mama Mia” scored big although they opened in a time of economic downturn. Theater-goers gladly paid more than 100,000 won for tickets. As the news of the success of musicals have spread, interest in them began to heighten among entrepreneurs and investors. The picture is similar to the early stage of the movie boom a few years ago. Clearly, the musical industry has started an upward cycle.

Into summer, musical productions flooded into the country. Producers anticipate taking advantage of the musical boom and the new demand created by it during the vacation season. The stylish and lively nature of musicals sits well with the characteristics of Koreans. If the Koreans’ passion for singing and dancing runs its course, they may well conquer the global musical stage. Musicals can add as much value as do movies. The producers of “Cats” and “The Phantom of the Opera” are tycoons only comparable to Hollywood hotshots. Since musicals center on dancing and singing, it can lower the language barriers that Korean cultural industries need to overcome in order to make inroads into the world.

To further develop the musical industry, Korea needs at least one theater district like Broadway in New York, where a world-class production will come into being after numerous productions and experiments. However, the reality is that there is not a singe musical theater in Korea. Siki, one of Japan’s outstanding musical producers, said it plans to build a 1,200-seat musical theater in Seoul. Its plans appear to cater to a potential local demand for musicals. It is somewhat sad that a foreigner will end up having an upper hand in this burgeoning market.

Hong Chan-sik, Editorial Writer chansik@donga.com