Leading entertainment agency plans to produce musicals

SM Entertainment, Korea’s largest entertainment agency that helped create the K-pop craze around the world, has entered the musical market.

As the first large Korean talent agency to make musicals, SM said Tuesday, “We will launch a musical production team including a musical producer and five writers this month. We will showcase the first musical in the second half of next year at the earliest.”

Under consideration is a musical about the success of H.O.T., a boy group popular in the 1990s.

If an agency creates a musical, it can take advantage of its own idol singers and music and can offer a musical with idol singers from the production stage. Choi Bo-gyu, former director of Aga Company and now an SM producer, said, “I’m thinking of a musical highlighting the strengths of idol stars like ‘Fame’ or ‘High School Musical.`”

Johnny’s Entertainment of Japan opened a new chapter in the Japanese show biz market through a concert featuring the characters of its group members and showy performances.

Won Jong-won, a musical critic and media professor at Soonchunhyang University of Korea in Asan, South Chungcheong Province, said, “Like Johnny’s, SM will combine its singers and music with the existing format of concerts as a test.”

The agency’s biggest competitive edge will be casting as idol singers guarantee success in the musical industry. "The Three Musketeers" starring Kyu-hyun, a member of the popular boy group Super Junior, ranked first in ticket reservations as soon as sales began Sept. 22.

All musicals starring SM idol singers, such as “Jack the Ripper” and “Temptation of Wolves,” have seen great success this year.

SM’s ultimate goal is to target overseas markets. The company will continue K-pop`s global popularity with K-musicals.

“Most performances go overseas after seeing success in Korea. We will make target overseas markets and could showcase our project outside Korea first,” said Jang Jun-won, team head of SM Management. “We’ll take advantage of idol stars in other countries.”

Critics have voiced caution over the idol singers’ foray into musical theater. Shin Chun-soo, head of the musical production company OD Musical Company, said, “Just depending on idol stars will make it harder to create quality performances.”

Another producer said, “We`ve had a hard time casting musical actors because many of them went to TV drama series. If the agency starts making musicals, it will be much tougher to cast actors.”

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