The performance sector has embarked on a mission to expand foreign audiences due to the limited revenues brought by domestic audiences.
So far, the non-verbal performance "nanta" has drawn the most foreign viewers among domestic productions, with two nanta performance halls in Seoul set to record the show's millionth foreign viewer soon.
Since its debut in 1997, nanta has been staged in 25 countries worldwide, drawing 1.72 million foreign viewers, including those who saw the performance overseas. That is more than half of the total number of viewers who saw nanta.
Currently, the ratio of nanta's foreign viewers at nanta performance halls reaches 70 to 80 percent. The production firm ascribes that feat to proactive marketing efforts targeting foreign tourists in Korea since the opening of nanta performance halls in 2000.
Another non-verbal performance, "Jump", is also poised to expand its foreign audiences by opening an exclusive performance hall in downtown Seoul next month which accommodates 372 people. The production firm of "Jump" aims to increase the ratio of foreign viewers from the current 10 to 15 percent to more than 50 percent by the end of this year.
The firm has recently been stepping up its marketing efforts to draw foreign tourist groups from Japan, Hong Kong and other Southeast Asian countries and will soon introduce daytime "Jump" performances to draw 300,000 foreign tourists by 2008.
Since its debut in July 2003, "Jump" has been staged 1,400 times both in Korea and abroad. Next year, the performance will open for a ten-week run at the Peacock Theater in Britain, and later debut in North America. To that end, the production firm will expand the number of performance teams from the current four to six and hire four Chinese actors.
Meanwhile, the musical "Jekyll & Hyde", starring hallyu star Jo Seung-woo, is aggressively targeting Japanese audiences. Japanese viewers can watch the musical with Japanese subtitles on Wednesdays and Saturdays, and book tickets on a Japanese Web site. Since the launch of the subtitling service, the number of Japanese viewers has recorded 100 people per performance, and many Japanese viewers have come to Korea to see the musical.
Another musical, "Line 1", which has recorded the longest run in Korea so far, is also being provided with Japanese and English subtitles for foreign viewers.
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