Xiah tapped as main character of "Musical Mozart"

Xiah Junsu of boy band TVXQ has been picked to lead the cast of 'Musical Mozart,' set to start in January next year, according to the musical's producer on Friday.

The original composer of the musical, Sylvester Levay, met with the director along with Xiah when he last visited Korea and said he looked forward to the singer's role as Mozart, representative Um Hong-hyun of EMK Musical Company was quoted as saying in the statement. "Levay was fascinated by Xiah's will to appear in the show as well as his passion for the musical and had high regards for his outstanding talent."

"Musical Mozart," by world-famous playwright Michael Kunze and Grammy award-winning composer Levay, will start its run January 20 at the Sejong Art Center.

This musical will be Xiah's first solo activity since being tied in a legal dispute with his agency SM Entertainment in July. Three members including Micky Yoochun and Hero Jaejoong of his five-member boy band applied for provisional disposition of their contract, questioning the fairness of their contract.

A court interim ruling later on granted the three the rights to carry out individual activities without intervention from their agency. SM has said they will file an appeal to the decision.

Reporter : Kang Seung-hun tarophine@asiae.co.kr
Editor : Jessica Kim jesskim@asiae.co.kr, Linda Kim lindakim@asiae.co.kr