Hong Kwang-ho

Hong Kwang-ho
Hong Kwang-ho
Born	April 6, 1982 (age 42); Seoul, South Korea
Occupation	Musical theater actor
Years active	2002–present
Korean name
Hangul	홍광호
Revised Romanization	Hong Gwangho
McCune–Reischauer	Hong Kwangho

Hong Kwang-ho is a South Korean actor mainly known for his works in musical theater. Hong is best known worldwide for his portrayal of Thuy in the 2014 West End revival of the musical Miss Saigon.

Life and career

Hong was born in Seoul on April 6, 1982. He was first introduced to musical theatre through his sister who was planning to be an actor, and with this in mind he entered Kaywon School of Art and Design after her. Later he graduated from Chung-Ang University with Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting. He made a debut on stage as an ensemble member of the musical The Last Empress. After travelling to London for the West End run of the show he was motivated to be a leading actor, but was unable to land a role for years after returning from the military service.

In 2006 Hong appeared on the Korean production of Miss Saigon as an understudy for Chris. With this experience he landed a role a year later as Haesoo, main character of the musical Cheotsarang (First Love), starring alongside Jo Jung-suk. In the same year he also starred in a Korean production of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street as Tobias.

Hong became the center of attention in 2009 for his portrayal of the title characters in the musical Jekyll & Hyde, one of the best-selling shows in Korean theatre. He was especially noted for being the youngest actor to portray the main character. After his run on Jekyll & Hyde, he starred in a new musical Bballae (The wash) as Solongo, the Mongolian immigrant worker.

The same year Hong appeared in The Phantom of the Opera as Viscount Raoul de Chagny. A year after he was chosen to portray the title character of the show, making him one of the youngest actors in the world to portray The Phantom. In 2012, Hong portrayed Yuri Zhivago in the Korean production of the show Doctor Zhivago after reprising his role as Doctor Jekyll. After Zhivago he played the main character (Miguel de Cervantes/Don Quixote) on The Man of La Mancha, and the male lead Bae Bijang on the show Saljjaki Opseoye (Sweet, Come to Me Stealthily). A year after he also starred in Notre-Dame de Paris as Quasimodo.

In 2014, it was revealed that Cameron Mackintosh had chosen Hong to portray Thuy in the new West End revival of Miss Saigon.^[1] During his year-long run as Thuy, he was critically acclaimed and lauded by audiences and critics alike, and was awarded WhatsOnStage award for Best Supporting Actor in a Musical.^[2] After Miss Saigon and his return to Korea, Hong starred as Light Yagami in the 2015 musical adaptation of Death Note along with Kim Junsu as L.

In 2016, he took part in the musical "Bballae" again. And after "Bballae", he starred as Quasimodo in Notre-Dame de Paris

In 2017, he took part in the musical "Mr. Mouse" as Inhoo. Afterwards he took part in the Musical Cyrano de Bergerac The Musical as Cyrano de Bergerac, and he was awarded with the Best Actor award at the Korea Musical Awards. Afterwards he took part in the Musical "Hamlet: Alive" as Hamlet.

In 2022, he reprised his role from 2015 as Light Yagami in "Death Note: The Musical". It ran from April 1 to June 26 at the Chungmu Art Center.

Theatre credits

Year	English title	Role	Ref.
2002	The Last Empress	ensemble
2006	Miss Saigon	ensemble, 1st cover of Chris&Thuy
2007	First Love	Haesoo
2007	Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street	Tobias Ragg
2008	See what I wanna see	robber, newsman
2009	Jekyll & Hyde	Jekyll, Hyde
	The wash	Solongo
	The Phantom of the Opera	Raoul, Vicomte de Chagny
2010	The Phantom of the Opera	Phantom
2011	Jekyll & Hyde	Dr. Henry Jekyll, Mr. Edward Hyde
2012	Doctor Zhivago	Yuri Zhivago
2012	The Man of La Mancha	Miguel de Cervantes/Don Quixote
2013	Sweet, Come to Me Stealthily	Bae Bijang
2013	Notre-Dame de Paris	Quasimodo
2014	Miss Saigon 25th Anniversary West End 2014 revival	Thuy
2015	Death Note	Light Yagami
2016	The wash	Solongo
2016	Notre-Dame de Paris	Quasimodo
2017	Mr. Mouse	Inhoo
	Cyrano de Bergerac The Musical	Cyrano de Bergerac
	Hamlet: Alive	Hamlet
2018	The Man of La Mancha	Miguel de Cervantes / Don Quixote
2019	Jekyll & Hyde	Dr. Henry Jekyll / Mr. Edward Hyde
2019-2020	Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street	Sweeney Todd
2021	The Man of La Mancha	Miguel de Cervantes / Don Quixote
2021	Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812	Pierre Bezukhov
2021-2022	Jekyll & Hyde	Jekyll/Hyde	^[3]
2022	Death Note	Light Yagami	^[4]
2023	Death Note	Light Yagami	^[5]

Filmography

2008 "Gogo70" - Junyeop
2016 "Miss Saigon : 25th Anniversary Performance" - Thuy

References

^ "Miss Saigon 2014 Cast - Kwang-Ho Hong as Thuy". YouTube. Archived from the original on 5 May 2015. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
^ Bannister, Rosie. "Full list: Winners of the 15th Annual WhatsOnStage Awards". WhatsOnStage. Archived from the original on 1 July 2015. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
^ Kang Min-kyung (August 24, 2021). "홍광호·신성록→조정은·아이비..'지킬앤하이드' 1차 캐스팅 라인업 [공식]" [Hong Kwang-ho, Shin Sung-ro → Adjustment, Ivy .. 'Jekyll & Hyde' Primary Casting Lineup [Official]]. StarNews (in Korean). Naver. Archived from the original on January 25, 2024. Retrieved August 24, 2021.
^ AKP Staff (January 23, 2022). "'Death Note' the musical reveals the full cast lineup including Kei and Junsu". Allkpop. Archived from the original on April 6, 2023. Retrieved July 24, 2022.
^ Kang Min-kyung (February 6, 2023). "[공식] 홍광호→김준수·김성철, '데스노트', 4월 1일 앙코르 공연 개막" [[Official] Hong Kwang-ho→Kim Jun-su·Kim Seong-cheol, 'Death Note', April 1 encore performance begins] (in Korean). Ten Asia. Archived from the original on February 6, 2023. Retrieved February 6, 2023 – via Naver.