South Korean singers Luna from girl group f(x), Kim Dong-hyun from boy band Golden Child as well as Victon’s Kang Seung-sik and Lim Se-jun were in Singapore to perform the upcoming Dream High musical, and they spoke to AsiaOne about their experiences at the Korea Travel Fair 2026.
Based on the 2011 K-drama of the same name, the musical looks 10 years into the futures of Kirin Arts High School’s students, who aspired to be superstars.
“As idols, singing and dancing in Dream High feels like returning home for us,” said Luna, 32, through an interpreter. “Even if we aren’t the most skilled in musical theatre, we have accumulated enough muscle memory from being on stage in our careers as K-pop stars.”
Reprising the role she first portrayed in April 2025, Luna plays Baekhee — who loves dancing and singing and eventually becomes a teacher at Kirin Arts High School. Luna remarked that she was eager to take on the role as her fellow cast members are her juniors in showbiz, adding value to the opportunity.
Se-jun, 29, plays deuteragonist Song Sam-dong, who manages to break into stardom, but falls into despair after suffering an incident at the Grammy awards. He meets a teacher from his alma mater and learns to overcome his trauma, guiding fellow youths in reaching for their dreams.
Dong-hyun, 27, plays Jason, an America-born dancer who gains worldwide fame for his bursting talent.
Seung-sik, 30, plays Jin-guk, who also grows up to be a superstar. While he shares a rivalry with Sam-song, he is also childhood friends with Jason and Baekhee, giving rise to “interesting chemistry” on stage.
A star-studded cast
This star-studded cast was selected specially for the Korean tourism roadshow here, with the intention to help fans gain encouragement and inspiration. The quartet held three 20-minute live performances on March 6 to 8 at Plaza Singapura, where they sang and danced to songs from the musical’s official soundtrack.
Luna shared that she was previously in Singapore during a layover to Bintan, and it was an “unforgettable night” for her despite the short stay.
“I went out at 2am and had chicken rice at some random stall, and it’s one of the best dishes I’ve ever had — I really love it,” she reminisced. “And I also went to Gardens by the Bay, which was so great because it’s a scene you can’t really see in South Korea.”
Luna, whose showbiz career started in 2009 with girl group f(x), has more recently been active in the theatre scene with recent appearances in plays like Marli and Mamma Mia!.
However, she told AsiaOne she is currently in the process of writing her own songs and preparing for a new album.
When asked about her plans regarding her career, she said: “I find myself to be on the stage until the day I die, and I’m very excited to be with my friends till the end.”
As a triple threat who acts, sings and dances, Se-jun remarked that the former still came as a challenge for him. “I’m very used to singing and dancing and I have lots of experience,” he explained.
“But when it comes to acting, it’s as if I’m showing an unpolished side of me and I need to clean it up before I go on stage… It’s also difficult when I need to drop some of my own habits to immerse myself in the act.”
In the rehearsals that they’ve had over the course of two months, he noted that he unexpectedly built an on-stage chemistry with Luna, to the point of constantly engaging in “unexpected ad-lib wars” with their lines and movements.
“It helps us get rid of our anxiety while we’re on stage, and we hope that everyone has fun seeing it play out for the first time,” he said.
But don’t let his stage fright fool you — he has been in the theatre scene for a decade and is even in the process of writing his own musical.
“As someone who really loves theatre, I hope to explore its production side as well, like being a director, writer, or doing backstage roles,” revealed Se-jun.
“In my projects, I hope to work on a musical that shows a person’s life and tells their story.”
In 2022, Seung-sik made his musical theatre debut alongside Se-jun in the two-hander play Equal where they played the main characters.
He mentioned that he felt “more comfortable and relaxed” taking on the role of Jin-guk in Dream High, having worked together closely with Se-jun in Victon as bandmates and after “heavily relying on one another” during their run of Equal.
Between him and his stage counterpart, Seung-sik felt lacking in charisma, so he watched the Dream High K-drama to prepare for the musical. “I didn’t watch it when I was younger, and I’m not very similar to Jin-guk myself, so I had to watch Ok Taecyeon’s acting to better understand him,” he explained.
Similarly, Dong-hyun — who is more reserved by nature — struggles to play the energetic Jason as he must “keep on pulling out his energy and inner brightness”.
In 2023, he made his musical theatre debut in another run of Dream High, where he portrayed a young Song Sam-dong.
“Three years ago when playing Sam-dong, I was very nervous. Even now, I still carry that fear with me so that I don’t lose my initial love for the stage,” shared Dong-hyun.
“Since I’m taking on a new role, I have to get used to doing new things, so I was a little nervous, but thankfully the cast has been really supportive.”
He shared that he dreamt of becoming an idol as early as seven years old — a passion that was solidified once he watched K-pop boy group Infinite on KBS Music Bank.
From the age of 10, he attended multiple auditions over the span of a year, successfully becoming a K-pop trainee when he was 12. In August 2017, he debuted as a singer with Golden Child.
The third instalment of the musical — Dream High Reboot — will run from July 18 to Sept 27 in Seoul, followed by performances in Gongju in November.
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