Ko Eun-sung

Ko was born in Daejeon, South Korea,^[2] on September 11, 1990.^[1] He has a younger brother.^[2]

In his second year of high school, Ko dropped out of school because he felt that he would not find his life path through studying alone, and started attending a practical music academy since he liked singing. He wanted to become a singer first and almost debuted in a band, but switched to musical acting after watching a performance of Notre-Dame de Paris he had been forcibly taken to.^{[5][6][4][7][8]} He therefore entered the Musical Theater department of Daekyeung University, which he quit after one semester because he had become intrigued by the world of musicals in Seoul after attending a lesson by Professor Cho Seung-yong, a musical actor; this decision almost had him kicked out of the family house. Unable to afford the move to the capital alone right away and not knowing anyone there, Ko temporarily stayed with a friend living in Incheon and attended an acting school while preparing for the entrance exam for Dankook University's Department of Performing Arts and Film.^[6][4]

Ko debuted in 2011 in Spring Awakening while attending college, and later performed in Fame, Grease and Spamalot, among others.^[3][9] Finding himself unemployed after Fame ended, he returned to his hometown in Daejeon and worked part-time as a courier for a while.^[10] His financial struggles prompted him to decide to temporarily quit musicals and move to the United States with the help of one of his middle school classmates who already lived there to find a different job, earn money, and try again with musical acting in the future.^[11] At the same time, Yang Joo-in, who directed him the previous year in Goddess Is Watching, recommended he auditioned for the South Korean production of Wicked because she thought his voice tone would fit it: originally, Ko had no intention of trying for the musical, lacking the desire to play a "cool character" and having a preference for non-mainstream roles, but Yang's words convinced him to change his mind.^[12] He took the audition without aiming for a specific character, since he liked the Wicked numbers but had only heard of Elphaba's and Glinda's before, and was ultimately cast as Fiyero. Even though he struggled to resonate with the character's reasons at first, the role brought him further recognition as a musical actor thanks to his stable acting and singing skills, and he abandoned the plan to emigrate.^[11][12][13]

Ko's career took off after appearing in the first season of JTBC's audition program Phantom Singer from late 2016 to early 2017, where he won third place as part of vocal quartet Hpresso.^[14][15] While on the show, he starred as mutant Romeo in Romeo and Juliet, a new interpretation of Shakespeare's tragedy set in a world shaken by a nuclear war.^[16] At the end of 2017, he was double-cast with Hong Kwang-ho as the titular character in Hamlet: Alive.^[17]

Having stayed close to fellow Phantom Singer contestant and Hpresso member Kwon Seo-kyung for two years, in June 2018 Ko collaborated with him to release a duet extended play, Musica, which included their eponymous cover of Paolo Meneguzzi's song first seen on the show.^[18] To commemorate the release of the album, they held a joint concert at Lotte Concert Hall on September 2.^[19] Later that month, Ko applied for the army band to fulfill his mandatory military service and enlisted the following November.^[20] While serving he starred in the army's original musicals Shinheung Military Academy and Return.^[21][22] He was discharged on June 23, 2020, and chose the musical Murder Ballad, which would open in August, as his comeback work.^[23] At the same time, he was cast as Anatole Kuragin in Great Comet, the Korean version of Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812 by Dave Malloy.^[24]

In January 2021, Ko reunited with Hpresso and returned to Phantom Singer after four years for a special "All Stars" edition which gathered the top 3 groups of all previous editions.^[25] He was then able to perform in Great Comet, which premiered on March 21 after being postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea.^[26][27]

Celebrating his 10th debut anniversary, Ko released his first solo album, an EP titled Start Over, on April 13, 2021.^[28] He also held his first solo concert at the Blue Square Mastercard Hall in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, on the 12th and 13th of June.^[29] Later in July, he performed as the titular character in Hedwig: he was hesitant to accept the role at first, fearing that he might ruin the show if his performance was poor, but was praised by the audience for his powerful vocals, diction, and natural stage presence.^[14] Having to portray a transvestite and wear high heels and a wig, he watched videos of Brazilian drag queen and singer Pabllo Vittar, imitated his facial expressions, and practiced walking on tiptoe at home to prepare for the role.^[30] While starring in Hedwig, Ko joined TV Chosun's K-pop audition program Tomorrow's National Singer and ranked 6th overall, embarking in a nationwide concert tour with the other members of the top 10 as part of group KKD.^[31][32][33] In April 2022, he was cast as Light Yagami in Death Note, a musical based on the best-selling manga of the same name.^[34][35] It was followed by a starring role as Tony in West Side Story, which ran from November 2022 to February 2023 in Seoul.^[36][37] Ko then released an EP in French, Les Chansons, which included covers of Hymne à l'amour by Edith Piaf and Le Festin from the original soundtrack of Ratatouille; he held a commemorative concert for it at Lotte Concert Hall on March 4, 2023.^[38]

Ko received an offer to appear in Memphis, a musical based on the true story of DJ Dewey Phillips, at the same time he was performing in West Side Story. Despite not being impressed by main character's Huey solo, "Memphis Lives in Me", that they played for him, he did some more research and found the other songs to be upbeat and good. Since the production was not a replica of the original musical, which deals with racial discrimination in 1950s America, he felt that there was room to adapt it to Korean sensibilities and that he could make it entertaining, so he accepted the role.^[39][11] It was followed by the sixth South Korean production of Monte Cristo, in which he acted as the titular character.^[9][40]

Ko began 2024 by reprising his role of Anatole in Great Comet,^[41] which earned him the Best Supporting Actor award at the 9th Korea Musical Awards.^[42] He then appeared simultaneously in the fifth season and 10th anniversary performance of Frankenstein,^[43][44] and in The Rose of Versailles, from the same name manga series by Riyoko Ikeda.^[45] In December, he was cast as the titular character in the musical Cyrano, an adaptation of the play Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand, based on the true story of Savinien de Cyrano de Bergerac.^[46] In the meantime, he voiced Fiyero in the Korean dub of the American musical film Wicked by Jon M. Chu.^[47]

In 2025, Ko held the Les Chansons concert at Lotte Concert Hall, performing again the songs from his 2023 eponymous extended play.^[48] He also returned to Memphis as Huey after two years,^[49] and joined the musical Man in Hanbok, which blended European stage aesthetics to Korean sentiments with a double setting in Renaissance Italy and Joseon Korea, in the dual role of genius scientist Yeong-sil and modern scholar Kang Bae.^[50] At the same time, he reprised his part as Fiyero in the Korean dubbing of Wicked: For Good, while also providing the voice to the Cowardly Lion and Chistery.^[51]

Ko is known for his accurate pronunciation of lyrics in foreign languages, which he studies autonomously in his free time.^[14] He was first drawn to French after listening to The Age of the Cathedrals from Notre-Dame de Paris, and wanting to sing it in the original language, he attended a French school.^[6] He chose it as his audition song for Phantom Singer, leaving a lasting impression on Yoon Sang, who stated that his criterion for judging subsequent contestants would be to find singing partners for Ko.^[52][53] His French repertoire also includes Reste by Gims and Sting, for which he received the former's praise, and L'envie d'aimer by Daniel Lévi.^[10][54] In 2023, he released an extended play of chansons.^[38]

The first thing Ko does when approaching a character in a play is to write down his first impression on it.^[11] While he analyses his role, he does not decide details beforehand and instead acts on instinct on stage, following the principle that "when people deal with people [in real life], they do not decide what they will do or say".^[55]