Singer Park Hyo-shin will star as the Phantom, a mysterious, disfigured musical genius living in the dark cellars of a Paris opera house, in an upcoming production of a musical based on Gaston Leroux’s 1910 novel “Phantom of the Opera.”

A Seoul-based EMK Musical Company production, the American musical “Phantom” will premiere in Korea on April 28, with Park sharing the lead role with veteran musical actor Ryu Jung-han and pop-opera singer and musical actor KAI.

Park became one of the most sought-after stars in the local musical scene after his role as the legendary composer in the Austrian musical “Mozart” last year bolstered ticket sales and helped make it the highest-grossing show of the year. 

“Phantom” will be his fourth theater musical. Before “Mozart,” Park played the male supporting role, Death, in the musical “Elisabeth” in 2013. In 2000, as a rookie singer, he appeared in the original Korean musical “Rock Hamlet.”

The upcoming musical premiered in 1991 in the U.S. with music and lyrics by Maury Yeston and a script by Arthur Kopit, but has long been overshadowed by the success of the 1986 Andrew Lloyd Webber musical “Phantom of the Opera.”

Like the Webber show, its plot revolves around the Phantom, who lurks in the shadows and manipulates, desires and finally kidnaps a talented young soprano, Christine Daae.

The Korean rendition, directed by Robert Johanson, will be unveiled at Chungmu Art Hall. The casting for the female lead has not yet been announced.

By Lee Sun-young (milaya@heraldcorp.com)