The musical “Death Note,” based on the popular manga comics of the same name, has opened for its first-ever licensed production and the star of the show is world-class Korean actor Hong Kwang-ho.“The musical condenses 12 volumes of the comic into two hours and 25 minutes, including a 20-minute intermission.” The Korea Times reported.The new show with music by Frank Wildhorn (“Jekyll and Hyde”) premiered in Tokyo in April and will now be running until 9 August 2015 at the Opera House of Seongnam Arts Center in Gyeonggi Province, south of Seoul.Hong plays the lead role of Light Yagami, a high-school student who discovers a “"God of Death" notebook, which enables the user to kill anyone. As soon as he realizes the power of the “Death Note,” Light decides to build an ideal world by killing criminals based on his own justice.” As described by Kwon Mee-yoo for the Korea Times.Hong Kwang-ho is playing against K-pop star Kim Jun-su of JYJ who has been cast in the role of Detective L. The Detective is Light’s nemesis who works to stop Light’s misguided efforts.Hong has recently returned from playing the character of Thuy in London’s West End production of “Miss Saigon” where he was extremely well received by British audiences and critics. This was a defining point not just in Hong’s career but also for Korean musical history – Hong was the first Korean actor to ever play a lead role on either Broadway or the West End.BLOUIN ARTINFO have took a look back through Hong Kwang-ho’s career to date to discover which 5 productions that he performed in received the most critical acclaim, helping him on his way to international musical stardom. View the slideshow to find out what they are.For more information about “Death Note” the musical please visit www.musicaldeathnote.co.kr
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