Hungarian musical 'Nikola Tesla' opens 19th Daegu International Musical Festival
DAEGU — The 19th edition of the Daegu International Musical Festival, Korea's premier celebration of musical theater, opened Friday with the Hungarian production 'Nikola Tesla: Infinite Energy.'
At a press conference held before the musical's first of ten performances at the Daegu Opera House, running through June 28, communication required double translation: from Hungarian to English, and then from English to Korean.
It was a symbolic moment, highlighting the rarity and significance of such cross-cultural encounters and mutual exposure.
'This is precisely the role of DIMF, introducing well-made productions from unfamiliar territories,' said Bae Sung-hyuck, executive director of the DIMF.
Last year, DIMF opened with the French production 'Holiday' and 'Flying Apsaras,' a Chinese production took home the grand prize. This year's festival features a total of 30 productions from six countries, including Hungary, France, Japan, Taiwan and China.
Tibor Vona, executive director of TBG Production, introduced 'Nikola Tesla: Infinite Energy,' which was built upon more than 2,500 pages of research on the scientist. His groundbreaking contributions to modern electrical engineering are echoed in the names of two Nasdaq-listed companies: electric vehicle maker Tesla and electric truck manufacturer Nikola.
Gergo Mikola, who plays Tesla, said, 'The production both provokes thoughts and touch hearts. It isn't called infinite energy for no reason — we have amazing choreography.'
'I'm curious about how this production will be perceived by the Korean audiences,' said Nikolett Furedi, who takes dual roles as Duka Tesla in the first act, the scientist's mother, and Sarah Bernhardt in the second.
The two-hour musical uses state-of-the-art stage technology to immerse audiences in the pivotal chapters of Tesla's life — from his birthplace in Smiljan, a village in Croatia to cities like Prague, Budapest, Paris, New York and Niagara Falls.
This year's DIMF takes place across Daegu from Friday to July 7.
Launched in 2006 as part of Daegu City's initiative to establish itself as a hub for musical theater, DIMF has grown into Korea's only global musical festival. In particular, the festival's support program for original musicals has consistently led to tangible outcomes and successes.
This year, five new original musicals will be unveiled. Each was selected through DIMF's Original Musical Support Program, which evaluates scripts and music to support stage production. The program has discovered 82 new works over the past 18 years.
The festival also nurtures emerging talent through the DIMF College Musical Festival, offering student performers a chance to shine on stage. Now in its 10th year, the DIMF Musical Academy continues to cultivate the next generation of theater professionals through a monthslong intensive program, training aspiring playwrights, composers and actors for careers in musical theater.
The festival's closing production is the Chinese musical "Panda," a Korean-Chinese co-production by Songlei Musical Production. Since its premiere in 2022 at the Panda Theater, located within the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in Sichuan Province, China, the show has been performed over 1,000 times.
The festival will conclude July 7 with the DIMF Awards, celebrating the festival's best performances.
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