The Daegu International Musical Festival (DIMF) has unveiled the lineup for its 20th edition.
This year’s festival will present 35 productions from seven countries — including 14 officially invited shows and six newly supported works — in a total of 122 performances. Events run from the 19th through July 6 at major venues across Daegu.
To mark its 20th anniversary, DIMF put together a layered program focused on staging major domestic and international productions, supporting new musical creations, cultivating emerging talent, expanding international exchange and offering programs that engage the public.
The festival’s official invited slate rests on four pillars: opening and closing productions, international offerings, expansion of K-musicals and anniversary highlights. The 14-title lineup balances DIMF’s signature original musicals, acclaimed overseas productions, screened performance films, the fruits of its talent-development initiatives and audience favorites returning by popular demand.
Notably, DIMF will present a new version of its own internationally successful production Turandot and will revive beloved past works as remembrance performances, underscoring the festival’s 20-year milestone.
One of the joint opening productions, Harbin in the Dark, is a suspenseful spy thriller set in early-20th-century Harbin, where Chinese, Western and Russian cultures converged. With precise choreography, dynamic lighting and expressive vocals, the show builds intense stage tension. The joint closing production, Into the Woods, remains a global classic admired for Stephen Sondheim’s intricate score, witty lyrics and subversive reimagining of familiar fairy tales.
Also closing the festival, Bo-ok reinterprets the Chinese classic Dream of the Red Chamber as an epic musical. Its staging blends Chinese-style gardens, lanterns, calligraphic lighting and traditional music to evoke an expansive, distinctly Eastern aesthetic.
Japan’s Shiki Theatre Company offers Ghost & Lady, an original musical performance film about the bond between a nightingale and the theater ghost Gray. The Legend of Shin Tsuruhime, created for the 20th anniversary of Japan’s Botchan Theatre and rooted in Seto Inland Sea history and legend, will screen as the world’s first performance film captured in 8K ultra‑high definition using the OSP format.
France’s Les Virtuoses, which blends piano, magic and comedy, and Britain’s a cappella comedy musical Barbershop Opera: Tony & the Guys!, praised at international festivals including Edinburgh, expand the festival’s appeal to broader audiences.
Frankenstein Concert reimagines the score and story of Korea’s flagship musical Frankenstein as a concert-format piece, featuring live orchestral performance.
Shakespeare returns in a reprise of the 19th DIMF New Musicals Award winner, demonstrating how DIMF-launched works reconnect with audiences after the festival. A Perfect Day is a one-person original musical developed at the DIMF Musical Academy.
Piano Forest: The Musical, a fantasy music drama that merges classical music with musical theater, benefited from a global creative team that includes a British director and composer to elevate the production’s quality.
You&It is a notable example of a DIMF-winning work that expanded overseas after taking the 13th New Musicals Award; it ran an English-localized program as part of the 2024 Edinburgh Fringe Festival’s Korean Season. Slapstick – Scherzo returns as a 20th‑anniversary remembrance after earning a 9.9 audience rating at the 18th DIMF.
The DIMF Creation Support Program marks its 20th year. Again, Romeo and Juliet reimagines Shakespeare’s classic through a contemporary lens, examining the aftermath of love. Tak Yeong‑geum begins when an old attic geomungo (a traditional Korean zither) begins to sound again; set in the era of court historian Kim Ilson and King Yeonsan, it explores records, resonance and enduring truths.
Baudelaire brings issues of artistic freedom, censorship and oppression to the stage through the life of the French poet Charles Baudelaire. Seongju — The Drifting Tale of a God Who Lost His Home in Seoul follows a guardian deity who, after protecting a home for 300 years, suddenly loses his place and is thrust into Seoul’s real estate market; the piece addresses urban housing and the search for meaning with both wit and edge.
Shururuka is a family musical that warmly reimagines the bestselling children’s book My Sweet Orange Tree. Heejae marks the return of the musical Scent of Chrysanthemums to the stage after a decade, supported by DIMF’s reprise program.
The festival also broadens its programming with two special performances, five readings from the Musical Incubating Project and eight productions from the University Musical Festival.
The DIMF opening ceremony and gala will take place on the 20th of next month at the Daegu Kolon Outdoor Music Hall. The festival’s finale, the 20th DIMF Awards, will be held on July 6 at the Keimyung Art Center and will include a red carpet, musical highlights and an awards ceremony.
A DIMF official said detailed schedules for each performance, ticket release dates, box office outlets and discount offers will be announced sequentially via DIMF’s official website and channels. The official cautioned that schedules and event details may change depending on operational circumstances during the festival and advised attendees to check the DIMF website for final information before attending.
Daegu — Song Ji‑na, reporter (sjna1114@viva100.com)
