[News] Winter Sonata gets the musical treatment.

[News] Winter Sonata gets the musical treatment.
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It’s been just under ten years since one of Hallyu’s biggest all-time hits, Winter Sonata, first premiered — January 14, 2012, will mark a decade since the first airing of the quintessential Korean romance/melodrama. And to commemorate the event, a musical version is in the works.

This is a popular move for lots of successful dramas and movies in Korea; it almost seems like anything attaining a measure of success gets a musical these days. (Some screen-to-stage versions include 200 Pound Beauty, Goong, Hello Franceska, Attic Cat, La Dolce Vita, and My Name Is Kim Samsoon. Sometimes the musical is a spinoff of the series rather than a direct adaptation, such as in Hwarang, inspired by Queen Seon-deok.)

Unlike those other productions, however, Winter Sonata’s musical will have its original PD, Yoon Suk-ho, onboard as one of its chief producers. PD Yoon is famed for his quartet of “Season Dramas” (also: Autumn Fairy Tale, Summer Scent, Spring Waltz), whose upcoming project will star Jang Keun-suk is its main star. He’s brought onboard a musical director with a number of hit productions under his belt, while the writer will be the same one who penned the Dae Jang Geum musical adaptation, so there are some seasoned (har har) producers at work here.

PD Yoon said, “January 14, 2012, is a date with deep meaning, marking ten years since Winter Sonata’s broadcast. As the tenth-anniversary project, I’ve assembled the best staff and am pouring my passion and effort into this musical, to make it into a memorable production. I hope it will become a valued memory to the people who have loved Winter Sonata, which will also touch hearts of musical lovers with a purity and lyricism on par with Winter Sonata.”

Birth secrets, first loves, silently noble heroes, plucky heroines, and amnesia — Winter Sonata had them all. Now watch them dance and sing about it!

The musical is set to open on September 27.