“Xiahzart” Kim Junsu has once again proven this year that he is the leading man in the hallyu musical scene.
Interpark revealed that for the first half of this year, among the top 5 musicals in Korea that attracted the most foreign visitors, Kim Junsu’s “Mozart!” and “Tears Of Heaven” took 1st and 3rd place respectively.
In this ranking, the project that attracted the most attention was “Tears Of Heaven.”
Composed by world famous musician Frank Wildhorn, and directed by Gabriel Barre, who won numerous awards for “Memphis,” “Sweeny Todd” and others, “Tears of Heaven” was a hot topic before it even started its run. However, due to its simple storyline and unconvincing setting, it was criticised as having “limited creativity” and being “an imitation “Miss Saigon.”"
During then, there were critics that said “this musical is about a man who is looking for a pure love and humane “Korean Romance,” and although it has touching and emotional music as well as a creative stage, the weak plot is regrettable.”
A musical that seemed to lack a sense of completion and reality, “Tears Of Heaven” managed to take 3rd place in the foreign audience ranking. If not for “hallyu star” Kim Junsu, this would not have been possible.
Kim Junsu injected life into the simple storyline, and improved upon the sense of completion of the entire musical. His outstanding voice and mature acting skills enchanted the audiences. If not for him, this musical would have been normal, and not as spectacular as it had become.
The promotion for “Tears of Heaven” is especially meaningful because it is the only local (Korean) production that was recognised as having the highest foreign audience. In this reality where adapted musicals are the mainstream, it introduces the foreign audiences to an original Korean creative musical, which is a considerable gain.
To ensure the project’s quality and audience numbers, Kim Junsu is diligent when choosing projects to work on and participate in, and has earned praise for this. His choice to participate in a local creative production, and the energy he gradually injected into the musical is imaginable.
With Kim Junsu spearheading it, the growth of the musical hallyu wave looks positive. Musical production companies who are targeting the gradually growing crowd of foreign audiences have expressed that they will be expanding on the promotional efforts for the foreign crowd.
“There have always been audiences from countries like Japan, China and others that have come to watch hallyu stars, but that was before Kim Junsu showed his true power. And now he is the top sell-out guarantee in musicals.”
It is truly impressive that both of Kim Junsu’s projects were ranked as 1st and 3rd for the highest number of foreign audiences.
Source : [BaiduJYJ + EnterPost]
Translated & Shared by : dongbangdata.net
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