INFINITE’s Sunggyu Musical “Kinky Boots” Could Face Challenges Due To Coronavirus Suspicions Of A Cast Member

In June 2020, it was announced that Infinite‘s Sunggyu had been casted in the upcoming musical, Kinky Boots. The musical is a highly popular one in South Korea, with 2020’s being its fourth run after previous successes with the third run in 2018 having sold 92% of available seats over 73 shows.

However, it seems that this year may not be a lucky one for them, as the musical is facing casting changes and issues before its run. The original lineup as announced included musical actors Lee Seok Hoon, Park Eun Tae, Choi Jae Rim, Kang Hong Seok, Kim Ji Woo, Kim Hwan Hee, Go Chang Suk and Shim Jae Hyun as well as Sunggyu as a double-cast for the main role of Charlie Price.

However, on the 7th of July, posts on an online community began to surface, voicing their concerns for both the progression of Kinky Boots as well as Sunggyu’s health. As this is his first musical work after his discharge from the military, many fans are anticipating it highly.

The issue arose when musical-goers received text messages from organizers that informed them of casting changes for other musicals. The casting for the role of Collin in Rent was changed at the last minute on the day of the show itself, as it stated that actor Choi Jae Rim received news that someone related to practices for his next theatrical work had gone for self-voluntary testing for the coronavirus. Fans speculated that this next work in question was Kinky Boots.

These suspicions were further confirmed as actor Park Eun Tae’s casting for a showing of Mozart was changed as well due to similar reasons.

Threads started to unravel as fans confirmed that many actors under the cast of Kinky Boots were forced to be swapped out of their current shows including Kim Hwan Hee, Choi Jae Rim and Park Eun Tae. However, it does not mean that they have contracted the virus. As one of the members of the cast or crew was discovered to have a slight fever during a practice for Kinky Boots, until the results come out, the rest of the cast is forced to stay alert and cautious as a preventive measure.