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And now it is time for our first Arts & Culture segment of the week with Lee Tae Ho, and today
Tae Ho takes a look at the musical theater industry that is currently booming here in
Korea. Good afternoon, Tae Ho.
Good afternoon, Conn-young.
So, you'll be telling us how the musical theater industry is looking today?
That's right Today we start the week off with a look at who in Korea watches the most musicals...
and where they go to watch them.
"December," "The Three Musketeers," "Man of La Mancha," "Ghost," and "Mama Mia."
These are the five hottest selling musicals in Korea this holiday season, according to
the online ticketing site PlayDB. And according to a recent New York Times article,
musicals are booming -- no, not on Broadway and not even off-Broadway, but right here
in Seoul. Statistics on musical theater audiences from
last year, provided by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, definitely back this up.
The data also shows who is watching and where in the country musicals are most popular.
Here in the Seoul metropolitan area, 16 residents in 100 said they saw a musical last year.
Of the 16, 10 said they saw at least one musical... and about six people in 100 said they saw
at least two or more musicals last year.
Seoulites were followed very closely by people who live in the Chungcheong provinces as the
people in Korea who watch the most musicals. In Chungcheong-do, 15 people in 100 say they
saw a musical last year, with roughly 8 in 15 saying they saw at least one musical.
But more Chungcheong residents than Seoulites saw two or more musicals last year, with roughly
seven of the 15 saying that they saw two or more productions during the year.
Looking at the rest of the country, people in the southeast and southwestern part of
the country saw the fewest musicals, with only about four in 100 having seen a musical
last year.
Looking at the demographics, it seems that more and more young people are seeing these
productions, with roughly 14 percent of teens and 17 percent
of twenty- and thirty-somethings saying that they saw at least one musical in 2012.
Now, more young people may be watching musicals, but that is not to say that middle-aged people
aren't. 12 percent of people in their forties and
8 percent of people in their fifties say that they saw at least one musical last year.
And more women saw musicals than men did last year,
with roughly 14 percent of women and 9 percent of men saying that they saw at least one musical
during the year.
Now, all of this bodes well for the roughly 300 theaters in Seoul, which happens to be
the same number of theaters in New York. Seoul has more venues than any other city
in Korea, which is perhaps one of the major reasons why Seoulites saw more musicals than
people in other parts of the country. Another reason probably has something to do
with the socioeconomic gap between the people in Seoul and the rest of Korea.
In any case, there's no doubt that musicals are gaining ground here -- indicating that
for all that Broadway has to offer Korea, Korea may just have something give in return.
Well, it certainly seems like musicals are in the spotlight these days, and I'd say that
one of the big draws for Korean productions is the casting.
That's right. Musicals are taking a page from Korean dramas by casting K-pop stars to draw
new fans to the theater. For instance, "Three Musketeers" features
Jun K of the group 2PM and "December" stars Kim Jun-su of the group JYJ -- ensuring that
lots of their fans will be lining up for tickets.
Well, that does seem like a very good way to draw fans from not just here in Korea,
but from visiting tourists who are also fans of K-pop.
Definitely a great way to target an international audience.
But a lot of the stories and subject matter of these productions seem very Western in
nature. Doesn't this make it more difficult for foreign productions to succeed here?
Well, most of these musicals have been re-imagined to fit a Korean audience... and they've done
such a good job that audiences in Korea seem to have no difficulty accepting the stories.
Also, the Korean performers do an excellent job of conveying the story.
I experienced that while watching "Man of La Mancha," which I previewed weeks ago during
this segment.
I suppose that says a great deal about Korean producers and their talent for catering to
Korean audiences.
It really does, but with so many licensed productions brought into Korea because of
their name recognition, it's unfortunate that there are not more homegrown productions,
because I think that they would do very well, too.
For instance, the number one musical in terms of ticket sales is "December," which was created
here in Korea.
Well, hopefully we'll start to see more and more Korean productions.
Thank you, Tae Ho, and we'll see you again tomorrow.
Alright. Have a wonderful afternoon.