Singer Sean spreads holiday spirit through musical

The musical, “Oh! While You Were Sleeping,” set in a charity hospital operated by a Catholic church, delves into the inner pains of patients who believe they have been “abandoned by the world.” Provided by the production

Christmas spirit is all about giving. And singer Sean, who is known to be very active in charities and who sponsors dozens of children through relief organizations, decided to spread the holiday joy early with musical-goers last week.

The Hallyu star paid a surprise visit to a theater in Daehagno, central Seoul, during the musical “Oh! While You Were Sleeping.” Sean has been taking part in a fund-raising campaign called “Miracle $10,” which has volunteers donate 10,000 won or $10 a day for one year to build a rehabilitation hospital for disabled children through the Purme Foundation, a nonprofit organization.

“Did you know there’s no rehabilitation hospital in Korea for disabled children?” Sean said, explaining why he had turned up at the musical.

“I got to know this one disabled child and he told me that he had to visit three different hospitals a day to undergo rehabilitation. It was shocking to hear that patients with physical disabilities had to move around hospitals.

“As soon as I found out about the Purme Foundation, I called the executive director and asked him how much it costs to construct a rehabilitation hospital. He said around 8 billion won.”

Sean had a reason for showing up for this specific musical.

The plot itself tells the story of three patients who are hospitalized at a free hospital run by a Catholic church. Each patient speaks of being “abandoned by the world” with no one visiting for years.

For the Christmas season, a priest named Peter, who gets positioned as the new director of the hospital, decides to broadcast a “heart-warming” story of the challenged patients at his hospital by portraying them as “patients with a positive mentality who have a strong will to recover but are hindered due to financial difficulties” in hopes to receive donations from the public.

A patient named Choi Byeong-ho strongly resists the idea, saying that he’s not “an animal in a zoo for people to watch and pity.” Then the story goes on as Choi goes missing a day before the shoot.

“I really enjoyed watching this musical and I hope in this season of cold weather, many people look after and think of those who are in need,” Sean said.

“Oh! While You Were Sleeping” is running at Daehagno Art Madang until March 31. Performances are held at 8 p.m. on weekdays; 4 and 7 p.m. on Saturdays; and at 3 and 6 p.m. on Sundays. There are no performances on Mondays. All seats are priced at 40,000 won.

By Yim Seung-hye [sharon@joongang.co.kr]