Ryu Jung-han Sets 2028 Premiere Goal for New Musical Mac and Beth

Korean musical actor and producer Ryu Jung-han is moving ahead with a new original stage project, Mac and Beth, setting an early 2028 domestic premiere as the current goal. The production, announced by RG Company on July 14, is being positioned as both the company’s second musical after Cyrano and its first project designed from the start with a global stage in mind.

The musical takes Shakespeare’s Macbeth as its point of departure, but the new work will not be a conventional period adaptation. According to Korean reports, Mac and Beth shifts the story’s themes of ambition, collapse, desire, and possible redemption into the world of 1980s London, where fashion and pop music were rapidly reshaping youth culture and public identity.

That setting gives the project a distinct creative hook. The production is expected to draw inspiration from major fashion figures such as Alexander McQueen, Christian Dior, and Vivienne Westwood, while also channeling the musical atmosphere associated with British artists including David Bowie, Queen, and Duran Duran. The result, if the concept lands on stage, could be a Korean-created musical that treats design, sound, and character psychology as equally important storytelling tools.

A Shakespearean Story Rebuilt Through Fashion and Music

For RG Company, the project marks a larger bet on Korean creative musicals at a time when domestic productions are increasingly looking beyond local box-office runs. Rather than licensing an existing overseas title, Mac and Beth is being presented as an original work that can begin in Korea and later travel outward. That distinction matters: global ambitions often depend not only on casting and score, but on whether a production can offer a recognizable premise with a fresh visual and musical identity.

The creative team also gives the announcement weight. Ryu is producing the musical after his previous collaboration on Cyrano with composer Frank Wildhorn, whose international credits have made him one of the best-known Broadway-linked composers in the Korean musical market. Writer Kim Soo-bin is attached to the book, bringing experience associated with Korean-language adaptations of major stage titles including Kinky Boots, Beetlejuice, Moulin Rouge!, and Aladdin.

Those resumes suggest that Mac and Beth is being built with both scale and accessibility in mind. A Shakespeare-inspired plot gives the musical a durable dramatic spine, while the 1980s London frame creates room for bold costuming, stylized movement, and a score that can gesture toward rock, pop, and theatrical balladry without being locked into one genre.

Open Auditions Will Shape the Original Cast

RG Company also plans to begin the casting process through open auditions near the end of this year. The auditions will seek principal and supporting performers for the original cast, with detailed dates and application procedures to be announced later through official channels. The company has indicated that it wants actors who can handle music, acting, and sharply defined character expression within the production’s fashion-and-music-driven world.

That open-call approach is notable because the first cast of a new musical can become part of the work’s identity. For a project targeting future overseas competitiveness, the original performers will need to do more than execute polished numbers. They will likely be asked to help define the tone of a new stage universe, balancing Shakespearean intensity with contemporary theatrical style.

The timeline also points to a long development runway. With auditions planned months ahead of a 2028 premiere, Mac and Beth appears to be in a phase where creative development, casting, workshops, and production design can still evolve before the show meets a paying audience. That kind of lead time can be crucial for an original musical, especially one built around a heightened concept rather than a simple biographical or jukebox framework.

Ryu said through Korean media that the team is preparing the musical with a modern perspective and hopes to present an original Korean work capable of competing on the world stage. His remarks underline the project’s central promise: not merely to retell Macbeth, but to reframe its questions of power and consequence through a theatrical language rooted in style, music, and Korean production craft.

For now, the key details remain the confirmed production, the 2028 target, the creative lineup, and the upcoming audition process. More concrete information, including cast names, venue plans, and music previews, will determine how clearly Mac and Beth can separate itself from the many Shakespeare-inspired adaptations already familiar to theater audiences. Still, the announcement gives Korean musical fans a new long-range project to watch, especially those interested in original works with international ambitions.