Park Seo Jun's ”Itaewon Class” to be made into a musical starring Nozomu Kotaki

"Itaewon Class," based on a webtoon, will be released as a musical in Japan following the TV series. The musical, starring singer and actor Nozomu Kotaki, is a hit drama in Japan, Korea and Taiwan.
Following its release as a movie adaptation, it is also attracting a lot of attention as a secondary creative example. The lead role of Park Sae-ro-yi in the musical "Itaewon Class" that will open at the Brillia Hall in Tokyo in June will be played by
Nozomu Kotaki, a member of the idol group "WEST" who has demonstrated his excellent acting and singing talent in musicals such as "The Beautiful Game," will be giving a passionate performance.
"Itaewon Class" by author Kwang Jin, which was serialized on Kakao Webtoon from 2016 to 2020, is a timeless drama that follows Park Sae-ro-yi, a man who never compromises on his beliefs and principles.
It has been very popular, including various youth stories. The webtoon has a cumulative total of 430 million views in Korea (as of January 2025), and a Korean TV series based on the webtoon is also making a big impact.
The film's worldwide popularity has led to it being released as a TV series in Japan, and an HBO original in Taiwan.
The musical "Itaewon Class" has also attracted attention from leading creative staff from Japan, Korea, and the United States who participated in its production.
The lyrics and composition of "Kal" are by Lee Hee-Jun, the writer of many hits such as the musical "Darwin Young's Origin of Evil" and the screenplay is by Lee Hee-Jun, the writer of the play and the movie "The Tale of Princess Kaguya" (co-written).
The role was taken on by Riko Sakaguchi, who has written such works as "The Father of the Galaxy Railroad" and "The Father of the Galaxy Railroad".
The American Ren Park is in charge of the music, and the director is Yuna Koyama, who won the Outstanding Director Award at the Yomiuri Theater Awards. Nozomi Kotaki, who plays the central character Park Sae-ro-yi, is the musical director of this work.
The original author, Kwang Jin, said, "I was happy when I heard that 'Itaewon Class' was going to be adapted into a stage play.
"It's the first time that a musical will be made following the TV series, so I'm really looking forward to it," he said. "Nozomu Kotaki is famous, so I knew about him, but when I actually met him, I was really surprised at how good he was.
"I was convinced that he was a good fit for the role of Rak-ta," he said, "Park Sae-ro-yi is not a serious and righteous character, but a character who has flexibility and softness even in the face of adversity, and this is a new interpretation by Kotaki.
I'm looking forward to seeing something fresh come out of this."