Stars align for 40th-anniversary run of 'The Phantom of the Opera'

"The Phantom of the Opera," marking its 40th anniversary this year, is returning to South Korea with some of the country's biggest musical theater stars.

Producer S&Co announced that Choi Jae-rim, Jeon Dong-seok and Park Gang-hyeon have been cast in the production, which opens Dec. 22 for a two-month run at Blue Square Woori Bank Hall in Seoul. The show marks both the global 40th anniversary and the 25th anniversary of its Korean premiere.

Choi, who first played the Phantom in 2023, returns to the role for the first time in three years. "It's a work where a fantastical world unfolds before your eyes and each moment stays imprinted in your mind like a photograph," he said. "It's already meaningful to be taking part as the Phantom a second time, but knowing this is the 40th-anniversary production makes the stage feel even more special."

Jeon is also back, reprising the role from last season. "It is such an honor to take part again in this landmark 40th-anniversary production," he said. "This show awakened me to the musical theater genre and brings me back to my roots. I will prepare with even greater care, as both I and the audience have been waiting for this."

The most notable addition this year is Park Gang-hyeon, one of Korean musical theater's marquee names. "I am thrilled and excited to be joining a work that has been loved for so long," he said. "Being part of such a special milestone as the 40th anniversary makes it all the more meaningful. I will prepare thoroughly and greet the audience with the best performance I can give as the new Phantom."

Lee Hae-won and Choi Seon-ho will share the role of Christine. "It is already an honor just to be part of a show whose very title fills me with excitement, and the 40th anniversary makes it even more anticipated," Lee said. "This is a work like a tree that grows more magnificent and deep with each passing year, offering shade to so many people. I will do my best to repay the audience's long wait."

Choi Seon-ho will make her Christine debut in this production. "I can hardly believe I get to step onto the stage in a role I have dreamed of and admired since the first time I saw it," she said. "'The Phantom of the Opera' is a world unto itself — the music, the sets, the costumes, all of it. Whatever you expect, the show will exceed it."

Song Won-geun and Kim Seong-sik will play Raoul. Song, returning to the role after playing it in 2023, said he was grateful to be part of such a special season. "This is a work that reveals more to me with every performance," he said. "I will bring together all the emotions I have carried from before and everything I feel anew, and pour them all into the show."

Kim Seong-sik, making his debut in the role of Raoul, said the opportunity itself was an honor. "It is a privilege just to be part of such a magnificent work that has maintained its reputation for 40 years," he said. "I feel both excited and nervous, and my expectations are high. I will give everything I have to the role of Raoul, in return for the love and patience the audience has shown."

"The Phantom of the Opera," by Andrew Lloyd Webber, has been performed in 52 countries and 217 cities in 23 languages, drawing more than 160 million audience members worldwide. The show has won more than 70 major awards, including the Tony Award and the Olivier Award. Its iconic numbers — among them "Music of the Night" — along with the one-ton chandelier crash, the masquerade ball and its sweeping production values have delivered timeless emotion across generations.

The story follows the Phantom, a disfigured musical genius who hides in the labyrinthine catacombs beneath a 19th-century Paris opera house. He secretly tutors Christine, a chorus singer, and transforms her into a new prima donna, while nurturing a twisted obsession and blind love for her. When Christine falls for the young nobleman Raoul, the Phantom plunges the theater into terror. The scene in which he escorts Christine by boat across an underground lake was paid homage to during the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics, when a masked torchbearer traveled by small boat through the subterranean waterways of the Seine to the show's signature melody.