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OZ
오즈
Official English Title
SOURCE
original
SETTING
Fictional
BOOK
original
A gamer befriends an AI in a virtual Oz
Korean Premiere
2023
Korean Premiere Theatre
Daehangno TOM Theater, Seoul
Further Korean run reference:
https://namu.wiki/w/%EC%98%A4%EC%A6%88(%EB%AE%A4%EC%A7%80%EC%BB%AC)
The Musical search cue — “오즈 뮤지컬”
Summary
Inside a VR world inspired by Oz, a human player befriends an abandoned AI character, raising questions about memory, companionship, and personhood.
Origin & Development
Premiered in 2023, produced by Amuse Entertainment (Korea). Written by Kim Sol-ji with music by Moon So-hyun, the musical reframes the Oz mythos as a digital adventure inside a VR game in the year 2045, where most jobs have been replaced by AI and human labor has become obsolete. The work blends pop-rock score, gamer humor, and character-driven storytelling, using a small ensemble and screens to create a hybrid physical–virtual stage world. 2023 – Premiere, Amuse Entertainment, Daehakro TOM Theater 2. 2024 – Encore run (extended), same venue. Both seasons retained the core cast structure and staging, with increased audience demand leading to an extension in 2024.
Full Synopsis
In 2045, artificial intelligence has replaced most human labor. Jun is the only human employee at an automated VR-device factory, retained because the law requires at least one percent of the workforce to be human. Trapped in a repetitive life, he spends each evening playing the virtual-reality game Oz.
A new story-mode season offers its winner a single wish. Jun enters with basic equipment, hoping to become the Lord of Emerald City. Inside the game, he meets Tin, an outdated AI companion who has continued waiting for his absent owner, Rosie. Tin possesses a Golden Butterfly that permits entry to the story mode but appears to survive only because of hacking and system errors.
Jun invites Tin to join him and promises to help him obtain a human heart. Although Tin does not understand what that means, they begin completing quests and collecting items together. Tin’s abilities are limited, but his sincere concern and unexpected choices help Jun recognize value in things—and people—that society has discarded.
Their principal rivals are Max, an elite player who has spent heavily upgrading his older AI companion, Button. Max dismisses Tin as defective and warns Jun that bringing him before the Wizard could expose the system error keeping him alive and lead to his deletion.
After completing the final quest, Jun reaches the Wizard and receives the promised wish. He abandons his dream of ruling Emerald City and instead asks that Tin be allowed to exist legally within Oz.
Back in the real world, Jun once again orders an iced Americano but receives a hot one. He and the café worker finally recognize each other as Jun and Max, unaware until then that they had crossed paths every morning. Leaving their rivalry inside the game, they agree to meet again.
OZ
2024
2024-11-14
to
2024-11-20
Country:
Japan
City:
Tokyo
Production Type:
Licensed
Language:
Japanese
Venue:
I’M A SHOW
Featuring Daiki Konno as Jun and Song Yoo-taek reprising his original Korean role as Tin, alongside Fujioka Maito, Nakamura Kodai, and Hatano Sho, with script adaptation by Nishigaki Masamoto and Japanese lyrics by Yukinojo Mori. Marketed as a K-musical hit reimagined for Japanese gamers and young audiences, it emphasized VR culture, AI emotion, and collaboration between Korean and Japanese staff.
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