This undated photo provided by Jeongdong Theater shows a scene from its original musical “Pan.”
SEOUL, Dec. 26 (Korea Bizwire) — The South Korean musical industry, once hit directly by the pandemic, has gone beyond full recovery to a stage of robust growth.
This year’s musical ticket sales had reached 398.4 billion won (US$311 million) as of Thursday, setting a new record after surpassing last year’s record of 234.6 billion won, according to the data from the Korea Performing Arts Box Office Information System (KOPIS).
This year’s top 10 musicals sorted by the number of ticket reservations not only included licensed foreign musicals and those by original casts, but also South Korean productions.
In particular, indigenously produced musicals “The Man Who Laughs” and “Mata Hari” proved that local productions can be as successful as licensed foreign musicals as they were two of the most successful musicals in the early half of this year.
The musical “The Hero” became the first South Korean musical to be adapted into a film.
“Production companies are engaging in robust creative activities with the end of the pandemic,” said Won Jong-won, a theater critic and professor of Seoul’s Soonchunhyang University.
Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
