Dance musical 'Dream High' gathers K-pop stars to continue story of hit drama

Actors perform a scene from dance musical "Dream High" during a press conference on Wednesday at Kwanglim Arts Center in Gangnam District in Seoul. (Yonhap)

Twelve years after TV drama "Dream High," featuring Kim Soo-hyun and Bae Suzy, gained enormous popularity with the story of six high school students aspiring to be superstars, a new musical attempts to continue their story.

Musical "Dream High" is based on the TV series and used some songs from the original soundtrack, but the story shows the story of the main characters 10 years later.

Song Sam-song (played by Kim in the TV series) returns to Kiran Arts High School to find his teacher after his career as a K-pop star ends due to buzzing in his ears.

"While Song Sam-dong may appear successful, he is filled with inner fears. I wanted to convey the message to the audience, 'Life may be unstable, but it is going well.'"

The musical version focuses on dance performances.

“We have seen many musicals that work through songs. However, in our work, we are striving to find resolutions for the fears and desires of the characters in our story through primal gestures, which are even more fundamental than singing,” director Lee Jong-seok told reporters on Thursday.

For the role of Song Sam-dong, the three singers Eum Moon-suk, Winner’s Lee Seung-hoon and SF9’s Yoo Tae-yang alternate to play the failed K-pop star.

K-pop boy band Astro member Jinjin, Teen Top’s Niel and rapper MC Gree alternate to portray Jason.

“The student characters who are 17 and 18 years old in the musical reminded of my own time. It’s a meaningful production,” Jinjin, who made his debut as a musical actor, said, adding, “I originally took the role because I was ok with dancing, but there was more singing than I expected, which was challenging. But I worked hard to overcome it, just like breaking down a wall to create a path. I feel like I did well in taking on the challenge."

The musical kicked off on May 13 and runs until July 23 at Kwanglim Arts Center in Gangnam District in Seoul. Ticket prices range from 70,000 won to 150,000 won.

By Park Ga-young(gypark@heraldcorp.com)