As a longtime musical fan, I naturally got listening to Korean musicals when I started learning the language, and I wanted to offer you a bit of an overview of Korean musicals in this post. My knowledge is based on my experiences and what I have learned so far, so if I make any errors, please let me know in the comments and I will correct them.
Now, let’s get started!
History
From what I’ve discovered so far, Korean musicals seem to have begun life as film musicals in the 1960s before moving onto the stage in the late 70s/early 80s. Initially, homegrown musicals were presented, but as the 1990s moved into the 2000s more licensed productions were also established, for example the first Korean-language production of The Phantom of the Opera was in 2001.
These days the Korean musical scene is a mix of original and licensed productions, and the popularity of musicals in Korea continues to grow year by year, to the extent that even dedicated new venues have been built to present musical theatre productions.
The performing arts are generally popular in Korea, with regional cities such as Busan and Daegu also hosting regular shows covering classical music, K-pop, drama, dance and musicals. In Seoul in particular there are a large number of venues of varying sizes from large concert halls to small, fringe theatres. Notably, there is a collection of over 100 small venues centred around the university area of Daehakro.
Western versus Korean Productions
Star Casting
There are a few differences between the musical theatre of the West End and Broadway and that of Korea, the most obvious of which is casting.
While star casting occurs in the UK and US, this tends to happen more for plays than musicals. The latter are generally performed by musical-exclusive actors. Some of these may go on to become big names, but musical theatre remains their principal artistic medium. Also, while there may be an understudy or (on rare occasions) and alternate, there is usually only one cast member per role.
In Korean, most of the main roles are double-, triple- or even quadruple-cast, with each performer acting in just 2-3 shows per week. There are some dedicated musical theatre performers in these main roles (such as my personal favourite, Jeon Dong-seok), but just as often these roles are filled by famous TV/film actors or K-pop idols (both past and present).
This idol casting draws an audience, so getting tickets to popular shows with big-name stars can be tough. Musicals in Korea generally employ social media a lot in ticketing. Seats are released in blocks of four weeks at a time, and just before they go on sale a post on the production company’s social media sites will set out the casting schedule for those weeks and the ticket allocation across the different ticketing platforms, including an seats reserved for VIP clients of credit card companies etc.
When the day tickets release arrives, you have to be ready to go. I logged in right on the dot to buy tickets to see Jeon Dong-seok in The Phantom of the Opera in 2023 and was still 9500 in the queue! Luckily I managed to get seats, but it was quite nerve-wracking! For major productions competition is fierce.
Merchandise
While major musicals in the UK and US will have various merchandise available, smaller productions generally only offer a programme, and perhaps a T-shirt. In Korea, on the other hand, even small fringe-theatre shows with short runs will offer memorabilia like postcards and keyrings.
The jewel in the crown of Korean musical theatre merchandising though is the programmes. These costs around 15,000 won (about $16-20 AUD equivalent, depending on the exchange rate at the time) and are huge, thick books packed with information and tons of colour photos from the production. I recently paid over that for a programme for a musical here in Australia which was barely 20 pages and a quarter of that was ads! The Korean programmes really put the English-language ones to shame; the latter are a rip-off in comparison these days.
Runs
While UK and US shows may have set run dates, it is not unusual for them to be extended, even if it means a move to another theatre, and popular shows can keep running for over 20 years, supported by the tourist industry.
In Korean this generally doesn’t happen. A standard run for a small production is about 3 months, or up to 6 months for a bigger, popular show. The only exceptions I know off are a couple of small shows based in Daehakro.
The way Korea works instead is to keep reviving shows. Larger popular shows like Dracula, Jekyll & Hyde and Phantom (the Yeston version) will get new runs every few years. Meanwhile, some small shows even come back for three months every year. For example, Thrill Me first had a Korean production in 2007 and has played nearly every year since then except for four years (no productions in 2012, 2018, 2020 and 2023).
Shows More Popular in Korea
Thrill Me is actually also a good example of a musical that is more popular and better known in Korea than in its origin country. Dracula and Phantom (Yeston version) are other examples. I think in part this comes down to casting, as the Korean productions tend to cast younger and more handsome male leads compared to the original-language casting, attracting a young female audience. When my husband and I went to see Rimbaud in 2024 (a production starring three handsome young men), he was the only man in the audience as far as we could tell!
Naturally, the idol casting of main roles for the bigger productions also plays a part in the increased popularity of certain shows, but so too, to my mind, does the LGBT+ tones (sometimes subtle, sometimes more overt) that flow through a fair number of the smaller productions. In 2025, for example, we have a show called Starcrossed, which is a take on Romeo and Juliet but focused on Tybalt and Mercutio.
Sometimes, though, licensing plays a part too, I am sure, as it would be cheaper, I imagine, to keep buying regular licences to put on productions of the Yeston Phantom compared to the Lloyd-Webber The Phantom of the Opera. These shows are cheaper and easier to produce, the audience becomes used to them and grows to love them, and so they keep coming back.
Buying Tickets
If you are planning a trip to Seoul and wish to go and see a musical (or two, or three) there, you have various options for accessing tickets.
If you want a particular show with a particular cast on a set day, it is possible to book in advance from overseas using one of the global versions of popular booking sites like Yes24 and Interpark. Be aware, though, that to prevent ticket scams, many of these sites now require international users to upload their passport etc. for ID checks. This can take a while to process, so you may want to consider getting all that sign-up rigmarole out of the way before the day you want to purchase the tickets. I have only used Interpark Global myself so far, and my experience of that site has been okay, but obviously I can’t endorse all these sites myself, so you will have to see how you feel personally about sharing so much of your confidential information on there in order to book tickets before you decide whether to go ahead.
The other option is to book tickets on the day once you are there. But with this option, you have to just hope there are still seats available and you may not get much choice in seat location.
For those going this route, the box office at each theatre tends to open an hour before the show, and you can queue up then to try to buy day-seats. This can be done for any shows, but you may have more success at the smaller shows than the bigger, popular productions. In either case, be there queuing just before the opening time for a better chance of grabbing tickets.
In Daehakro, you can also visit the information centre in Marronier Park, where staff can at least provide information and, in the case of some shows, assist with buying tickets.
Generally, though, the best way to get information on which shows are playing where and when is to look on the global booking sites. If you want more detailed information on casting etc. for the bigger shows, follow the major production companies like EMK Musical and OD Company on their social media channels to see all the latest ticket release dates and casting announcements.
On my first trip to Seoul, I booked the tickets to The Phantom of the Opera online in advance, but then also got tickets to a small Daehakro show on the day via the Marronier Park information centre. On my second trip, I booked two lots of tickets online advanced, but then got seats for two more shows (in Daehakro) by queuing at the box office on the day. So, it really can work either way.
Theatre Etiquette
In Korea, my experience so far has been that theatre etiquette is followed much better than it is in the West these days. To observe this yourself you should: arrive on time, put your phone on silent (or off ) and don’t play with it during the performance, don’t talk during the performance, and don’t lean forward or shift around in your seat too much, as this obstructs the view of the person behind you.
Most bigger theatre will give the safety announcements in both Korean and English, but that is always the standard emergency stuff in any case.
Watching Online
You may not be able to see full productions, but it is easy to find plenty of clips and other footage (much of it officially released) on YouTube. These can include music videos showcasing particular songs and performers, rehearsal (sitzprobe) footage, showcase mini concerts, and even fully staged and costumes highlights from press calls.
You will have better luck finding these if you search in Korean, so try some of the terms below:
- 뮤지컬 시츠 프로브 (musical sitzprobe)
- 뮤지컬 프레스콜 (musical press call)
- 뮤지컬 쇼케이스 (musical showcase)
If you come to like a particular performer, or wish to look for a particular musical, trying typing their names in Korean to search.
During COVID-19 years, the Welcome Daehakro festival (an event each October promoting the small theatres and productions in Daehakro) even streamed some full performances on YouTube, for one-time only viewing. This was wonderful, but it didn’t happen in 2024, so they may be discontinuing that now the pandemic is over, which is a shame. If you are in Seoul during the festival, check out the programme as there will be opportunities to view some live performance excerpts for free!
Occasionally, though, professionally filmed productions are available for limited-time online streaming (paid), and the best way to hear about this is to follow the major musical production companies on social media. The posts will be in Korean, of course, but if you can’t read the original language, you can always drop the text into an online translator to get the gist of it.
So, that was a brief overview of musicals in Korea based on my experiences so far. I hope you found it interesting.
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