"Hwaboon Has More Followers Than I Do"... The Secret to Tony Winner Cheonhyu Park's Success [K, to Hollywood]

'No Other Choice' Rises Through Word of Mouth
Hollywood Live-Action Film in Development
"The Next Generation of K-Content Will..."

Musical 'No Other Choice' Writer Cheonhyu Park [Johanuel, QK Pictures Writer]

"Hwaboon has over 14,000 Instagram followers. That's more than I have myself."

Cheonhyu Park, the writer of the musical 'No Other Choice,' introduced the popularity of the character 'Hwaboon' from his work at 'U-KNOCK 2025 in USA,' hosted by the Korea Creative Content Agency in Los Angeles on the 5th (local time). Hwaboon is the only friend of the main character, the robot Oliver. Even in the New York production, the character is called 'Hwaboon,' just as in Korean.

'No Other Choice' is set in late 21st-century Seoul and depicts the story of robots Oliver and Claire falling in love. Park confessed that the musical was not a hit from the beginning. "Tickets sold slowly, and there were many who said it would close within a few months," he said. "But I believed in the show and waited for the audience to find it."

On Broadway, most productions are based on well-known movies or novels. Park recalled, "When a completely new original story appeared, people around me said, 'If this show fails, it will become even harder for new stories to make it to the stage in the future.'"

The musical grew through word of mouth. Passionate fans formed communities and called themselves 'Fireflies.' Fireflies are a symbol within the show. Some audience members came to see it multiple times and even bought tickets to give to others.

The New York Times praised it as "an overwhelming reflection on love, memory, and humanity," while The Guardian lauded it as "a musical that, while rooted in Korean sensibilities, resonates universally around the world."

The Korean elements in the production also drew attention. The stage curtain displays both the English and Korean titles. When Oliver receives a delivery, a message in Korean reading 'delivery' appears.

Park said, "Sales in the first week reached only about 30% of the operating costs," and added, "On Broadway, if you run a deficit for several weeks in a row, theater owners can ask you to vacate." Thanks to the producers' patience, weekly sales increased. Two months after opening, in December of last year, the show sold out for the first time. At that time, tickets were lowered to $40 (about 60,000 won), but now the most expensive ticket is $500 (about 720,000 won).

'No Other Choice' was nominated in nine categories at the 78th Tony Awards this year and won six, including Best Book, Best Original Score, and Best Orchestrations, receiving the most awards. Park became the first Korean writer to win in these categories.

He emphasized, "The next generation of K-content will not simply be about exporting Korean things, but will be stories rooted in Korean sentiment that anyone can relate to." He added, "'No Other Choice' is also being developed into a live-action Hollywood film," and said, "The true evolution is when a single intellectual property (IP) is not confined to one genre, but expands across many."