Musical actor Hong Kwang-ho has won the Best Male Actor award.
The 9th Korea Musical Awards took place on the evening of the 13th at the Universal Art Center in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul. Musical actor Lee Gun-myung, who has been with the Korea Musical Awards since its inception, served as the MC, and The M.C Orchestra joined again this year.
The nominees for the 'Best Male Actor' category included Kim Junsu (Dracula), Michael Lee (Jesus Christ Superstar), Yoo Joon-sang (Swing Days: Codename A), Lim Kyuhyung (Dear Evan Hansen), Jo Jung-seok (Hedwig), and Hong Kwang-ho (Il Tenore).
Hong Kwang-ho, who won the Best Male Actor award for 'Il Tenore', said, “I am honored to receive an award for a work that I performed happily. I have lived thinking that awards do not explain everything, but I am very grateful for the comfort and blessings given through this award.”
He continued, “During the 9th awards ceremony, I was nominated six times. I want to express my gratitude. I won an award once in seven years, and at that time, I realized I hadn’t expressed my thanks to the judges. Since my last name is 'Hong', I am always at the end of the nominees, so thank you for checking me. If I am nominated again, I hope you will look at me from the back.”
Hong Kwang-ho said, “Last night, I thought about whose name I should call if I won an award. I stood up and wrote it down in my notebook. There were about 230 people. I have been doing musicals for 23 years, and there are so many people I need to be grateful to. I want to express my gratitude to everyone who thinks I am among those 230 people.”
He added, “I want to thank the seniors who made Korean musicals possible. I have always wanted to express this once. I promise to perform with the heart of a rookie.”
The 9th Korea Musical Awards is a musical awards ceremony organized by the Korea Musical Association and sponsored by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Arts Council. It evaluates and analyzes the trends of the musical market over the year and selects awardees through fair voting by expert and audience panels.
[Shin Young-eun, Star Today Reporter]
