As K-musicals, which began in 1966 with the original musical <Saljjagi Opseoye>, turn sixty this year, the 62nd Baeksang Arts Awards on the 8th will present prizes in a musical category. Since its launch in 1965, Baeksang has selected winners mainly in television, film, and theater; this is the first time it has created a musical category.

The newly established musical category at the Baeksang Arts Awards will confer three trophies in total: Best Production, Performance, and Creative. For Performance, just one actor will receive a trophy regardless of gender. Top-tier actors leading Korea’s musical scene, including Kim Junsu of <Beetlejuice>, Min Kyung-ah of <Red Book>, Park Eun-tae of <A Man in Hanbok>, Yuria of <Evita>, and Hong Kwang-ho of <Moulin Rouge>, have been nominated, setting up a fierce race.

The Best Production nominees comprise five original and licensed musicals: <A Long, Long Night> <Laika> <Dream of the Peach Blossom Garden> <Jeokto_The History of Reins and Saddles> <The Man in Hanbok>. The Creative award is to be presented to behind-the-scenes creators such as writers, composers, directors, and choreographers.

This change at the Baeksang Arts Awards reflects the elevated stature and market growth of musicals within popular culture. Long regarded as a subgenre of theater, musicals have recently established themselves as an independent performing-arts genre on the back of strengthened creative capacity and expanded overseas forays.

While numerous musical award ceremonies abroad raise the curtain each year, domestic musical awards have experienced ups and downs. From the mid-1990s through the 2010s, there were ceremonies hosted by major domestic media outlets, including the ‘Korean Musical Awards’ and ‘The Musical Awards’, as well as the creation-focused ‘Yegreen Awards’, but they did not continue on a sustained basis.

At present, the ‘Korean Musical Awards’ stands as the country’s only dedicated musical awards ceremony. Organized by the Korea Musical Association since 2017, it honors original and licensed musicals staged over the year, subdividing prizes into production, acting, and creative categories, and has served as a benchmark for evaluation within the genre.

The performing-arts industry hopes the Baeksang Arts Awards will serve as an opportunity for the performing arts to expand into a broader realm of popular culture. One industry insider said, “With a musical category included in a ceremony that carries popular influence and prestige, the genre’s public recognition may rise another notch.”

In the United Kingdom and the United States, often called the birthplaces of the musical, award ceremonies with more than half a century of tradition and authority have long driven the performing-arts industry.

The most representative ceremony is the United States’s ‘Tony Awards’ (Tony Awards). Known as the Academy Awards of theater and musicals, it was created in 1947 to honor Antoinette Perry, a Broadway actor and director.

Held every June in New York, about 800 selected committee members participate to present major categories such as Best Production, Performance, and Direction. Last year, the Korean original musical <Maybe Happy Ending> achieved the remarkable feat of winning six awards, imprinting the stature of K-musicals on the world stage.

In London’s West End, there is the ‘Laurence Olivier Awards’ (Laurence Olivier Awards). Established in 1976 and named after the actor Laurence Olivier, it encompasses theater, musical, and dance across the performing arts and is called the pride of the U.K. performing-arts community. If the Tony Awards showcase the essence of glamorous show business, the Olivier Awards tend to delve deeply into theatrical tradition and artistry.

In addition, the United States has the ‘Drama Desk Awards (Drama Desk Awards)’ for Off-Broadway, and France has the ‘Moliere Award (Moliere Award)’, both regarded as prestigious ceremonies that support each country’s performing arts.