Shin Youngsook


Shin Youngsook is a South Korean musical theatre actress. She majored in vocal performance at the university. For her musical debut she appeared in the musical The Last Empress as Lady Sontag. She was a member of Seoul Performing Arts Company from 2000 to 2007. The final level of education she has completed is a master's degree in Dankook University.

Early life

Shin was born in Seoul, South Korea, as the fifth youngest child. She began singing as a child, and played instruments such as piano, acoustic guitar, accordion, and harmonica. She became interested in Pansori. She won first place in a school choir competition several times. When she was in high school, she conducted the school choirs, and worked at the missionary choir. Thanks to her early musical activities, she started to learn voice performance at university.

Career

After university graduation, Shin prepared to study her major abroad and auditioned for The Last Empress by chance. She was cast as Lady Sontag. She then decided to become a musical actress. After her debut, she entered Seoul Performing Arts Company in order to learn acting performance.

2000-2007 (Seoul Performing Arts Company)

In 2002, Shin appeared as Nanny in musical Romeo and Juliet. She was nominated for the 7th Korean Musical Awards as best supporting actress. In 2004, she appeared as Kappuni in musical play The day to marry. She performed the character as an independent modern woman saying "I'll find my true love by myself." In 2005, she appeared as the title role Bari in the musical play Bari. Shin originated the role of Seryu in the musical The kingdom of the winds, and the role of Noksu in the musical Yi.

2008-present

Shin appeared as the major characters of musicals such as Grizabella in Cats', Baroness Waldstatten in Mozart!, Gertrude in Hamlet, Madame Therese Defarge in A Tale of Two Cities, Mrs. Danvers in Rebecca, Empress Myeongseong in The Last Empress and Donna in Mamma Mia!. When she sang the musical number 'Gold von den Sternen ' in Mozart! astonishingly well, she gained a nickname 'Ms. Gold star'. She was beloved for the role of Mrs. Danvers and Baroness Valdstatten, earning Golden Ticket Awards and Korea Musical Awards as the best supporting actress for these roles. In 2015, Shin came back as title role to her debut musical The Last Empress.

Stage performances