As we are recovering from the aftermath of the devastating COVID-19 pandemic, many activities and projects in the field of culture and arts, which had to go back and forth between the in-person and contact-free settings, are now settling into the in-person setting and becoming revitalized. The performing arts is also expecting to see many people visiting venues to watch a wide range of works presented in 2023. Against this backdrop, the Performing Arts Planning Team of the Korea Arts Management Service is working with artists, organizations, and professionals in the performing arts sector to carry out its projects as follows.

Running Platforms for Global Presentation / Supporting Works for International Circulation

K-Musical Market
The K-Musical Market will be held at the Sejong Center and other venues at the end of June this year. K-Musical Market is an event that seeks to attract domestic and foreign investment and promote Korean creative musicals in the overseas market. The event will have a showcase, pitching, networking events, and sessions providing information on investment and overseas markets  for musicals. Works for Showcase and Pitching will be selected through an open call between February and March. The support for the Showcase selections will be provided in conjunction with 〈K-Musical Roadshow in Broadway〉 in October, and for the Pitching (completed works) selections in connection with 〈K-Musical Roadshow in Asia〉 in September.

[Timeline]

[Open Call] 
∙ Showcase: from 2nd to 28th February 2023 (Open Calls for Presenting K-Musicals on International Stages)
∙ Pitching: from 15th February to 9th March 2023

[Event]
∙ Time: from 27th June to 1st July 2023
∙ Venue: Sejong Center (other venues to be announced)
∙ Major Programs: Showcase, Pitching, networking events for investment, informative sessions, etc.

[Media coverage]
∙ Korea Arts Management Service held K-Musical Market Successfully
 

Opening Ceremony, 2022 K-Musical Market

Business Meeting, 2022 K-Musical Market 

K-Musical Roadshow in Broadway & Asia
K-Musical Roadshow aims for major-scale expansion of K-musicals on the international stage. After being held in London last year, K-Musical Roadshow will be held this year on Broadway and in several Asian countries during September and October while presenting showcases and hosting networking events and workshops for the experts in the sector. The final selections of the works to be presented at the K-Musical Roadshow will be selected during K-Musical Market. Completed works will be selected through Pitching and others will be selected through Showcase. The K-Musical Roadshow will provide support including mentoring in advance, interpretation and translation, funding for staged reading preparation, and local management support. 

[Timeline]

[Open Call]
∙ K-Musical Roadshow in Broadway: from 2nd to 29th February 2023 *Final selections will be made through Showcase at the K-Musical Market.
∙ K-Musical Roadshow in Asia: from 15th February to 9th March 2023 *Final selections will be made through Pitching at the K-Musical Market. 

[Event]
∙ K-Musical Roadshow in Broadway: October 2023 
∙ K-Musical Roadshow in Asia: September 2023
∙ Major Programs: Showcases and networking program with local musical experts

[Media coverage]
∙ Korean creative musicals set to take main stage of Broadway and West End
 

〈Marie Curie〉 Localization Showcase during
2022 K-Musical Roadshow in London

〈Vanishing〉 Video Showcase during
2021 K-Musical Roadshow in Shanghai

Mid-term (2 years) Support for K-Musicals Development for the Anglosphere & International Circulation Support for K-Musicals 
"Mid-term (2 years) Support for K-Musicals Development for the Anglosphere" is a project that provides systematic support for selected works for 2 years so that they can be developed for the Anglosphere. "International Circulation Support for K-Musicals" provides support to promote international circulation of full-length Korean musicals. Both of these projects are currently ongoing. Under the "Mid-term (2 years) Support for K-Musicals Development for the Anglosphere" project, KAMS and its international partners jointly select works that are currently being developed and localized in order to provide support for localization, local workshops, and staged readings. The "International Circulation Support for K-Musicals" project provides support for circulation of international invitations or co-productions and side events such as workshops. 

Capacity Building for K-Musical Producers: Developing Global Competence of Musical Producers & Discovering and Nurturing New Talents for Musicals
This project aims to provide producers who are dedicated to musicals opportunities to receive education and build networks with local professionals so that they can bring their Korean creative musicals to the international stage and gain experience in international cooperation. Producers selected through an open call are given an opportunity to receive training which is jointly designed with local experts from Broadway and the West End. The training will promote exchanges with local producers and creators. This project also supports a fellowship that discovers and nurtures prospective talents who wish to work in the musical field. For the fellowship, KAMS will select those who wish to enter the industry in partnership with musical production companies, and dispatch them to the field after prior training. Candidates will be those with less than 3 years of work experience. KAMS will subsidize the wages and some of the expenses for the trainees through the production companies. 

[Timeline]

[Open Call]
∙ Developing Global Competence of Musical Producers: April (TBC)
∙ Discovering and Nurturing New Talents for Musicals: 
  (Production companies) from 14th to 29th December 2022, (New Talents) from 11th to 25th January 2023

[Projects]
∙ Developing Global Competence of Musical Producers: July/October 2023(TBC) 
∙ Discovering and Nurturing New Talents for Musicals: from April to December 2023

[Media Coverage]
∙ K-Musicals set to take main stage around the world including US and UK
 

The networking session during 2022 Developing
Global Competence of Musical Producers in the US

The networking session during 2022 Developing
Global Competence of Musical Producers in the UK

Supporting Works for Domestic Circulation

2023 Support for Performing Arts Circulation Cooperation
The “Support for Performing Arts Circulation Cooperation” project is a project designed to promote circulation in the performing arts market and revitalize it through cooperation between performing groups and theaters, central and regional organizations, and private and national public institutions. A minimum of 100 million to a maximum of 1 billion will be supported on the condition that existing works be distributed by being performed at least 6 times in at least 2 regions within the year.  This year the project aims not only to provide experiences to the audience, but also to promote a mid to long-term cooperative circulation structure so that the performance market can grow sustainably. Project participants also emphasize the role of project managers and producers, and focus on strengthening marketing to develop audiences rather than merely presenting works.

[Timeline]

[Open Call] from 5th to 29th December 2022 (application and selection have all been completed by the 29th)

[Event] Presentation and Workshop
∙ Duration: from March to December 2023, shows to be presented in total of 484 times
∙ Venues: venues in 17 cities and town in Korea

[Media Coverage]
∙ Green Paper for revitalizing the performance market: 2022 Nation-wide Support for Performing Arts Circulation Cooperation
 

 

Selected Work in 2022
: Loud and Noisy Chattering Musical
〈Again, Spring〉,
the Seoul Metropolitan Musical Theatre

 

Selected Workshop in 2022
: Art Project BORA, 〈Somu〉
 
 

Providing Information on the Performing Arts Market 

TheApro: a platform that provides information about international markets  
TheApro is a website for individuals, groups, organizations in the performing arts sector around the world. It provides knowledge and information necessary for Korean performing arts groups to present their works on the international stages. TheApro provides international users with information on excellent Korean performing arts groups, and domestic users with information necessary to present works internationally. It sends newsletters to its subscribers every month. 

Korea Performing Arts Box Office Information System (KOPIS): Statistics Service of Korean Performing Arts Box Office
KOPIS is a statistical system that aggregates information on ticket sales and refunds in theaters all around the country. It provides integrated information that allows people to see market status. This year, it plans to reorganize its website and introduce membership service to provide an even wider range of market information. In particular, the “My Statistics” service will start so that performing arts groups, production companies, and venues can directly manage their own information of their works and use necessary statistical information in a way that is customized according to their needs. 
In addition it plans to organize and run the “KOPIS Big Data Contest” and the “Performing Arts Big Data Academy” in order to promote deeper understanding of the importance of performing arts data and how to use it and to bring more attention to the field. It also plans to analyze KOPIS data and publish the 'Quarterly Performing Arts Market Ticket Sales Report' on a regular basis.

Performing Arts Survey

The performing arts survey is designed to examine how the performing arts group and venues are operating and what public support they are receiving. The survey continues this year. 
The performing arts survey is designed to examine how the performing arts group and venues are operating and what public support they are receiving. The survey continues this year. The Performing Arts Survey was first conducted in 2005 to find out the current status of the performing arts sector in Korea in a reliable and objective manner in order to provide basic data for policy establishment to promote the performing arts. It obtained an approval for the production of statistics (approval No. 113015) from Statistics Korea in 2007, and has been publishing reports every year since then. The 2023 Performing Arts Survey (as of 2022) report is scheduled to be released at the end of 2023 after investigation and implementation within the year.

[Timeline]

[Contest] 
∙ 2023 KOPIS Big Data Contest: applications to be received in May (TBC)
∙ 2023 Performing Arts Big Data Academy: applications to be received in April (TBC)

[Event] Korean Performing Arts Data Forum (KODaF): June, August, October, December (TBC)

[Media Coverage]
∙ 2022 KOPIS Performing Arts Data Forum (KODaf)
∙ 2022 Performing Arts Survey (as of 2021) Report
 

2022 KOPIS Performing Arts Data Forum (KODaf) Issues Talk

2022 Performing Arts Survey Report