— Overview
The notes follow a long-running Daehangno original whose joke, they write, is that the tie you want is already close at hand.
— Contents and key concepts
A company that finds first loves, and three actors
Finding Kim Jong-wook, the notes write, is the story of a man who runs First Love Finding Co. and a woman who, seven years after an India trip, asks him to find Kim Jong-wook, the first love she met there. Three actors carry the show: the man, the woman, and a multi-man. The man also plays Kim — one actor, two roles — moving between the shy partner who helps her look and the first love she is still chasing.
The woman, they write, failed to meet that first love from fear, not because she could not find him. The show’s message is that the tie is already close at hand, a structure they liken to The Blue Bird. First love, memory, and a happy ending, they say, are why the piece has lasted, and why a second viewing can feel new when the cast changes.
Twenty-two roles, and a part that became a gateway
The most striking part, they write, was the multi-man: twenty-two roles, from fortune-teller and taxi driver to landlady, the lead’s father, teahouse staff, an old man, a stewardess, and an India guide. A multi-man, they explain, began as a way to ease money, space, and casting problems at once; here it proves that the actor can drop into a part on the instant, and sometimes wins a warmer response than the leads. The India guide, the first date, and the landlady stayed with them most.
They had first known the film — they name Gong Yoo and Im Soo-jung — and worried those images might keep them from sinking into the stage version. The worry, they write, was unnecessary: the woman’s bright voice fitted a lively, tomboyish part, and the man’s double role was finely played. Over about ten years, they add, actors who have taken Kim include Oh Man-seok, Um Ki-joon, and Shin Sung-rok, enough that the part is joked about as a musical-world “star gateway.” They do not name the leads from the night they saw.
2006 on Daehangno, Shanghai in 2013, Japan still in preparation in 2016
The show opened in 2006 and had become, they write, a representative long-running work, well supported on Daehangno from the start, with a tenth anniversary approaching — left as they then dated it. Daehangno plays usually turn over every three months, so a long run itself, they say, proves recognition. The film, which they call secondary content, also worked as marketing and sent audiences back to the original; the story was extended into a novel as well.
In 2013, they write, it became the first Korean original musical licensed for export, staged in Shanghai, adapted and upgraded for the local audience and well received. In 2016 a Japan licence was still in preparation, as then written, and the Korean production was being refreshed each season. They close by arguing that original musicals can add force to a Korean Wave, and that the wider cultural-content trade, with its knock-on work in film, drama, and recordings, is worth building with better services and marketing so more people can enjoy it.
The same Korean report, at fuller length, is on CampusDown.
Sources
- The notes, a student account of the musical Finding Kim Jong-wook: three actors and a multi-man in twenty-two roles, a 2006 Daehangno opening, a 2013 Shanghai licence export, and a 2016 Japan run then still in preparation.
Last updated: 15 November 2026
Frequently asked questions
What story do the notes tell, and how is it cast?
A man who runs First Love Finding Co. is asked by a woman, seven years after an India trip, to find Kim Jong-wook, the first love she met there. Three actors carry the show: the man, who also plays Kim (one actor, two roles); the woman; and a multi-man in twenty-two parts. The woman, they write, failed to meet that first love from fear, not because she could not find him. The message is that the tie is close at hand, like The Blue Bird.
What do they say about the multi-man, and which actors who have played Kim do they name?
The multi-man, they write, draws the biggest laughs: fortune-teller, taxi driver, landlady, the lead’s father, teahouse staff, an old man, a stewardess, an India guide, a first date, and more. A multi-man began as a way to ease money, space, and casting problems; here it proves a gift for slipping from role to role, sometimes winning a warmer response than the leads. Actors who have played Kim include Oh Man-seok, Um Ki-joon, and Shin Sung-rok, a “star gateway,” as the notes joke. They first knew the film (Gong Yoo, Im Soo-jung) and worried they might not sink into the stage version; they write that the worry was unnecessary. They do not name the musical’s own leads from the night they saw.
Which dates and extensions do they record?
The show opened in 2006 and had become, they write, a long-running Daehangno original with a tenth anniversary approaching — left in that window. Daehangno plays usually turn over every three months, so a long run itself proves recognition. It was also made as a film, which they call secondary content that sent audiences back to the original, and extended into a novel. In 2013 it became, they write, the first Korean original musical licensed for export, on a Shanghai stage, adapted for the local audience; in 2016 a Japan licence was still in preparation, as then written.
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