Curtains up for Christmas
Among the many ways to celebrate Christmas, few feel as magical as the theater.
As the holiday season arrives, venues across Korea are offering a rich lineup of performances that capture the warmth, spectacle and nostalgia of Christmas. From newly reimagined musicals and long-loved Broadway hits to star soprano concerts and sparkling ballet classics, this year’s festive offerings span genres and generations.
The Seoul Metropolitan Musical Theater presents its new original production, “A Christmas Carol.”
Positioned as a year-end musical that resonates across generations, the production has enjoyed a strong start, with performances selling out and signaling enthusiastic audience response.
Based on the classic novel by Charles Dickens, the musical is a newly created family production reimagined with a contemporary sensibility by the Seoul Metropolitan Musical Theater. Focusing on the life and personal evolution of the story’s famously ill-tempered miser, Ebenezer Scrooge, the work explores the emotional and psychological journey behind his transformation. Though set against a fairy-tale backdrop, the production aims to deliver a powerful, resonant message to adult audiences as well.
Opened on Dec. 5, the production runs until Dec. 28 at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts. Ticket prices range from 60,000 won to 80,000 won. There are no performances on Mondays. Performed in Korean with English subtitles.
The musical “Rent,” the story of young artists and musicians struggling to survive and create meaningful lives amid poverty, begins on Christmas Eve.
Inspired by Puccini’s La Boheme, the show depicts a diverse community in New York City during the height of the HIV/AIDS crisis, including those battling addiction, and portrays their intertwined lives with unflinching honesty.
Its original score blends pop, R&B and musical theater, filling the stage with music that lingers long after the curtain falls. The iconic number “Seasons of Love” remains a guaranteed goosebump moment.
The musical’s 10th Korean revival runs until Feb. 22 at Coex Artium in Seoul. Performed in Korean.
Ticket prices range from 70,000 won to 150,000 won.
Soprano Sumi Jo returns this year with her annual Christmas concert. Jo, who was awarded the Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture in 2015, delivers a festive program that spans classical repertoire, seasonal favorites and crossover selections.
She will be joined onstage by the Ditto Orchestra under the baton of Henry Kennedy, with guest appearances by bass-baritone Gil Byung-min and crossover singer Park Hyun-soo.
The main Christmas concert takes place Dec. 25 at the Concert Hall of the Seoul Arts Center. Ahead of the Seoul performance, Jo will meet audiences across the country, performing in Gangneung in Gangwon Province on Dec. 21, Uiseong in North Gyeongsang Province on Dec. 23 and Pyeongtaek in Gyeonggi Province on Dec. 24.
For many, the season starts when Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker score rings out in the theater. Major ballet companies once again bring back the timeless classic this year, offering a festive escape for anyone craving holiday magic.
From the family-friendly party scene to the snowfall that sweeps across the stage, the production delivers the familiar rituals audiences return to year after year: Twinkling sets, sugar-spun costumes and a score that still has the power to stir wonder.
Major productions run throughout December at venues across Seoul, each with its own cast and interpretation, but all promising a bright holiday centerpiece. The Korean National Ballet performs at the Seoul Arts Center from Saturday to Dec. 25, and Universal Ballet leads at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in Seoul, Dec. 17-28. Seoul Ballet Theatre takes the stage at Mapo Art Center from Dec. 18-21, followed by Wise Ballet Theater at Naru Art Center from Dec. 28-31.
This winter, the folk hero Hong Gil-dong returns to the stage as the National Theater of Korea revives him for its year-end madangnori series, a joyful Korean-style celebration to bid farewell to the old year and welcome the new.
Hong, the hero of the first Korean-language novel, defies a rigid class order, using wit and sudden feats of magic to outmaneuver corrupt elites. His exploits with his bandits unfold through high-wire entrances, aerial choreography, acrobatics, magic and dances inspired by the martial arts taekwondo and taekgyeon.
Traditional folk elements appear throughout: jisin balpgi, a ritual in which performers stomp the ground to ward off misfortune and invite good luck; New Year blessing ceremonies; and shamanic dance sequences. Together, they create a festive send-off to the year’s end and an auspicious welcome to the one ahead.
The show runs until Jan. 31 at the Haneul Round Theater. It is performed in Korean.
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