Musicals Slightly Down, Plays Up in Ticket Sales

The Korea Times

The Korea Times

Entertainment & Arts

Thu, November 30, 2023 | 20:31

Theater & Others

Musicals Slightly Down, Plays Up in Ticket Sales

Posted : 2008-07-21 19:07

Updated : 2008-07-21 19:07

The Play “A Story of Old Thieves,” part of the “Yeongeuk Yeoljeon 2” project, is the only play among the top 20 performances in ticket sales of the first half of the year. / Korea Times File

By Chung Ah-young
Staff Reporter

The musical industry boom appears to be letting up, while the sagging theater industry is rising in the first half of the year.

According to online ticket service Interpark, ticket sales of musicals, including non-verbal performances, staged from January to June, decreased by 0.98 percent to 41.3 billion won from 41.8 billion won in the same period last year.

Meanwhile, ticket sales of plays soared by 56 percent to 7.4 billion won from the same period.

Interpark said the strong growth of plays is attributed to the success of ``Yeongeuk Yeoljeon 2'' (A Series of the Best Plays) now showing in Daehangno. The number of plays increased from 460 last year to 490 this year.

In terms of genre, a total of 873 musicals were put on stage, making up the largest part of total performances, but sales were slightly down from the same period.

Interpark said last year, ``Quidam'' presented by Cirque du Soleil, was the best-selling performance of the year, representing the largest portion of musical ticket sales. However, during the same period this year, there was no such blockbuster performance, pushing down sales.

During the first half of the year, ``Mamma Mia!'' topped with the largest sales, followed by ``Notre Dame de Paris,'' ``Cats,'' and ``42nd Street'' among the total performance sales.

``A Story of Old Thieves,'' part of the ``Yeongeuk Yeoljeon 2'' project, joined the top 20 ranking as the only play among the total performances.

Five other plays of ``Yeongeuk Yeoljeon 2'' were also listed in the top 10 among the play rankings.

As for the age profile of ticket buyers, those in their 20s represented more than half, followed by those in their 30s with 34 percent, 40s with 11 percent and 50s with 3 percent. Teens took up 2 percent. Compared to last year, the proportion of ticket buyers in their 50s surpassed that of teens.

A total of 2,913 performances have taken to the stage for the first half of the year, up from the last year's 2,226.

Interpark forecasts the second half of the year will see an increase in musical ticket sales as large-scale musicals including ``My Fair Lady'' and the circus ``Alegria'' by Cirque Du Soleil are slated to debut.

chungay@koreatimes.co.kr