Musicals, the stalwart of the Korean performing arts market, have hit a slump; Interpark accounts for more than 70 percent of ticket sales in the country
July 17, 2013 Leave a comment
2013-07-16 16:47
Musicals sing summer blues
By Baek Byung-yeul
Musicals, the stalwart of the Korean performing arts market, have hit a slump despite efforts to bolster summer ticket sales. As people tend to travel, summer is generally considered the offseason for musical companies. But in a market where some 400 productions are staged in a year, even the sticky months are seen as a time to promote musicals. The trend was validated last year, when the smash hit musical “Wicked” drew in more than 200,000 during the summer and early fall. Not so this summer.“To be listed as a top-seller on ticket charts, we only need to sell 600 tickets a day this year. Last year, the number was 1,400 tickets,” the head of a musical production company said, asking not to be named.
Shows without big-name stars are facing particular problems.
The musical “Elizabeth”featuring XIA, a member of K-pop boy band JYJ as the protagonist, sold out nine shows in less than five minutes. The production’s shows without XIA are still on sale, with weekday shows going for 20 percent off. The musical raises its curtain from July 26.
Some companies are ratcheting up their marketing strategies – meaning bargains abound.
Last week, the tickets for Korean version of the hit Broadway musical “Chicago” were available in a two-for-one deal. Other musicals are offering discounts of between 30 and 50 percent.
Another issue is there are not many fresh, profitable original works on stage.
While “The Days,” which adapted songs of late folk singer Kim Kwang-seok could break even, no other original works failed to reach that point in the first half of this year.
“It is true that we are offering a variety of sales promotions. But that is only a part of our marketing strategy and we are not experiencing that much hardship,” one industry insider said.
“As the number of musicals is increasing ever year, the boundary between peak season and off season is getting blurred.”
According to a report by Interpark (www.interpark.com), which accounts for more than 70 percent of ticket sales in the country, the performing arts market pulled in around 600 billion won last year.
Of this, musicals represented about half the total. Some 7 million theatergoers went to a musical last year.
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