Blue Square 10th Anniversary... The Most Attended Performance is 'Jekyll and Hyde'

Blue Square

Bluesquare, a theater operated by Interpark Theater, celebrated its 10th anniversary in November. Over the past decade, Bluesquare has established itself as a cultural landmark with facilities including the Shinhan Card Hall, a musical-exclusive hall boasting a 100% utilization rate without a single day off, as well as the Mastercard Hall and Chaos Hall, which accommodate various types of performances and events such as concerts, showcases, and knowledge lectures. We reviewed the records accumulated together with the audience at Bluesquare.

A theater visited by over 10 million audience members, contributing to the revitalization of the commercial district around Hangangjin Station

The cumulative audience of the Shinhan Card Hall, the largest musical-exclusive hall in Korea, and the Mastercard Hall, a multipurpose venue optimized for concerts, has reached approximately 6 million since its opening. Adding visitors to the Chaos Hall, NEMO (which hosts art markets and exhibitions), and the F&B facilities operated directly, it is estimated that around 10 million people have visited Bluesquare. Annually, Bluesquare generates about one million new floating visitors, breathing life into the once quiet area around Hangangjin Station. It has also played a bridging role with the Itaewon Tourism and Culture Special Zone, contributing to the revitalization of the local alleyway commercial districts. The approximately ninefold increase in the official land price of Bluesquare and surrounding buildings compared to ten years ago attests to this impact.

The number of performances and events held at Bluesquare totals 1,031, with a cumulative 7,743 shows. The Shinhan Card Hall, a musical-exclusive theater, has staged 41 major musicals from its opening production 'Zorro' in 2011 to the recently closed 'Excalibur.' Looking at the lineup of productions that passed through Shinhan Card Hall, it contributed to the successful establishment of premieres of now blockbuster hits such as 'Elisabeth' (2012), 'Wicked' (2012), 'Les Mis?rables' (2013), and 'Mata Hari' (2016). Behind this success was the creation of optimal spaces by modifying the building structure to achieve realistic productions, such as the zip wire device in 'Zorro,' the turntable rotating stage in 'Elisabeth' and 'Dracula,' and the airplane takeoff scene in 'Mata Hari.' These scenes, which other theaters had to forgo, were realized here, enhancing quality and establishing Bluesquare as the most preferred theater among musical producers. Thanks to these efforts, Bluesquare earned a reputation as the fastest venue to schedule regular bookings, with two years of reservations always secured in advance.

The musical with the highest seat occupancy rate over the past decade was the 'Phantom of the Opera 25th Anniversary Korea Tour' in 2012, which achieved a 99% occupancy rate over 129 performances. Meanwhile, the musical with the largest cumulative audience was 'Jekyll & Hyde' (2014), with approximately 242,000 attendees, followed by the 'Wicked Original Korea Tour' (2012) with about 235,000, 'Les Mis?rables' (2013) with 203,000, 'Phantom of the Opera 25th Anniversary Korea Tour' (2012) with 202,000, and 'Mamma Mia Original Korea Musical' (2013) with 182,000 attendees.

Records created by domestic and international audiences and actors

Among the audiences who visited Bluesquare Theater, which operated without official closure days over the past decade, the most frequent attendees were identified. The top attendees were a 57-year-old woman and a 50-year-old man, each having visited Bluesquare 229 times. Besides them, there were 10 other attendees who watched performances at Bluesquare more than 100 times over the past ten years, ranging in age from their 20s to 50s, with a gender ratio of 8 women to 2 men.

Although the age range was diverse, the common traits among these 100+ attendance champions were that they were repeat viewers watching the same performance multiple times and often booked tickets one at a time.

Bluesquare frequently hosted original teams' Korea tours such as 'Phantom of the Opera,' 'Notre Dame de Paris,' 'Romeo and Juliet,' and 'Jersey Boys,' attracting a steady flow of foreign audiences. Thanks to the excellent skills of actors and the high dramatic quality of K-musicals, various foreigners also attended Korean-language original musicals. We also examined these foreign enthusiast audiences.

Among the tickets booked for performances at Bluesquare, approximately 56,000 were purchased by foreign audiences, with Japanese visitors accounting for the largest share at 53.5%, English-speaking audiences at 41.6%, and Chinese-speaking audiences at 4.9%. The foreign attendee who purchased the most tickets was a Japanese female audience member who booked 134 tickets. The second and third highest foreign ticket purchasers booked 108 and 101 tickets respectively. The top 10 foreign ticket purchasers were all Japanese women, with one in their 30s, two in their 40s, four in their 50s, and three in their 60s, highlighting the active participation of enthusiast audiences aged 50 and above.

The most popular performances varied by language booking channel. English site bookers favored 'Wicked,' 'Elisabeth,' and 'Catch Me If You Can,' along with high preferences for Korea tours like 'Phantom of the Opera - 25th Anniversary Korea Tour' and 'Mamma Mia Korea Tour.' Japanese audiences preferred 'Elisabeth,' 'Phantom,' and 'Jekyll & Hyde,' while Chinese audiences liked 'Elisabeth,' 'Geunaldeul,' and 'In the Heights.' Among domestic original musicals, Japanese audiences favored 'Frankenstein' and 'Mata Hari,' while Chinese audiences preferred 'Geunaldeul,' 'Mata Hari,' and 'The Man Who Laughs.' These preferences provide valuable insights for cultural strategies when K-musicals expand overseas.

For actors, who play a pivotal role in creating great performances, the theater is likely as familiar a space as their workplace and second only to their home. Accordingly, we tallied the actors who most frequently "commuted" to Bluesquare over the past decade.

As a result, the actor who frequented Bluesquare the most, as if it were their own home, was Ok Joo-hyun with 359 appearances. Following her were Jung Sung-hwa (352 appearances), Min Young-ki (269), Lee Ji-hye (246), Shin Young-sook (231), Jo Jung-eun (205), Park Eun-tae (203), Jeon Dong-seok (200), Jo Hwi (185), and Seo Ji-young (180). The number of appearances per actor was based on the database registered in the Casting Calendar, a casting search service provided by Interpark Ticket, and thus performances and roles not registered in the one-cast or casting calendar may have been excluded, which may cause some discrepancies.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.