Richard Jordan

https://www.thestage.co.uk/opinion/musicals-riding-the-korean-wave

It’s known as the Korean wave, a move which began in the 1990s and has seen South Korea become one of the most important countries in the world for shoring up the global musical theatre economy.

With productions of Jekyll and Hyde, Les Miserables, Phantom of the Opera, Rebecca, Assassins, Scarlett Pimpernel and Mozart all having current or recent productions in Seoul and on tour, it is understandable why producers are now looking into this lucrative Asian market which is taking Japan’s crown as the principle presenter in these territories.

One significant step in South Korea’s higher profile is its collaboration with the US theatre industry as a producing partner, notably with shows such as the 2010 revival of Dreamgirls, which OD Musicals, one of South Korea’s leading musical production companies, made with US partners and launched in Seoul before exporting internationally.

Cameron Mackintosh has long seen South Korea as a strong market for his musicals. With its 50 million population – one-fifth of it in the capital, Seoul – the country, like Japan, boasts some of the longest runs for Phantom of the Opera. Both nations have a long-standing interest in Western musicals. But the real reason South Korea is emerging as such a strong and attractive market is its geographical location. It sits conveniently between Australia and the US, making it a good transfer ground for European, US and Australian licenced productions.

Broadway producers have also recognised the significance of these growing markets, in particular leading producer the Nederlander Group which has formed a Broadway/Asia division and which in due course may well offer a potentially better future return than European markets as these economies continue to struggle.

South Korea is building a strong touring market thanks to the various government-supported municipal playhouses that need product, and with new ones being built – something also reflected across other Asian countries – the musicals industry is also presented with the potential of an expanding touring market.

Also attractive is the fact that South Korea is acquiring local performance licences for productions from Europe – German musical Rebecca and French musical Mozart have seen terrific success in South Korea. Neither of these shows has enjoyed significant UK interest, and last autumn’s planned premiere of Rebecca on Broadway collapsed before opening. South Korea is also looking at its own musical theatre development – its home-grown musical Hero has been well-received and continues to play in Seoul.

Meanwhile, play exports and licences continue to gain position: an open run of The Mousetrap began last year in Seoul’s lively theatre district, which offers a mix of small houses akin to Off-Broadway through to large performance stages. The profiles of plays by more contemporary writers, such as David Mamet and Arthur Miller, have grown considerably. South Korea has also built a strong and successful market for international touring; the National Theatre of Scotland’s Blackwatch was one of a number of successful international presentations last year at Seoul’s National Theatre.

With further developments for international festivals in the country and an annual international theatre conference, PAMS, the country is positioning itself to boast a potentially lucrative theatre industry with an infrastructure capable of co-production investment and the ability for the setting up, importing and exploitation of first-class work with labour and technology to deliver main-stage presentation successfully.

Potentially, in terms of international producers looking to South Korea, the ability to co-produce and launch work such as Dreamgirls demonstrates there is also the potential for considerable savings in production costs in contrast to the large-scale expenditure associated with first opening a large-scale production in the US.

It will remain to be seen over the next few years whether this country’s rapid expansion of its theatre industry can maintain an economy and an audience that is able to sustain the volume of work it is now generating, and indeed, if its own work is to become exportable for international transfer.

The pop phenomenon Psy, and his mega global hit Gangnam Style, is South Korea’s most high-profile cultural export – Barack Obama has referred to the song’s success as being an example of how the world is being “swept up by Korean culture” – and this has brought a renewed global focus on the country.

At the Edinburgh Festival Fringe this year, a Korean festival of work was presented. It included modern drama through to the more familiar off-the-wall Korean slap-stick-style comedy musical, Music Show-Wedding!. This style of show, as also seen in past works such as Cook’in, is what international markets have been most familiar with in terms of the Korean theatre industry.

Interestingly, the largest international media attendance at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe this year came from South Korea. This reflects nation’s hunger for this growth.

South Korea’s status in the world has risen in recent times, demonstrating that it now has the talent and economic resources to rival Japan, among other countries, and to be taken very seriously as a player in the global theatre industry.