Yumi's Cells Becomes a Musical: Girls' Generation Star Tiffany Young to Star!
One of South Korea's most beloved digital comics, Yumi's Cells, is now preparing to conquer the theater stage. According to the official announcement, the popular webtoon series created by Lee Dong-gun will be adapted into a stage musical for the first time. The biggest news exciting fans is that Tiffany Young, the world-famous member of the group Girls' Generation, will play the lead character Yumi. Tiffany Young will share this role in rotation with other talented actresses.
Yumi's Cells was published on Naver Webtoon between 2015 and 2020, becoming a phenomenon by reaching a total of over 3.4 billion views. The series tells the life of Yumi, an ordinary office worker, through the eyes of the small cells in her brain that represent her emotions (such as the Love Cell, Logic Cell, and Anxiety Cell). This unique narrative style transformed the series from just a romantic comedy into a deep psychological journey, helping it gain a massive fan base.
The musical announcement follows other successful adaptations of the series. Yumi's Cells, which previously inspired a popular K-drama series starring Kim Go-eun that ran for two seasons, was also brought to the big screen in April 2024 under the title Yumi's Cells: The Movie. Now, the musical, prepared in collaboration with SEM Company and Studio N, will bring this beloved universe to the audience through live performance. To bring the imagination of the original webtoon to the stage, the producers have also released a striking poster in collaboration with world-renowned visual artist Yoshida Yuni.
Having proven her talent in major productions such as Chicago (in the role of Roxie Hart) and Rent during her musical career, Tiffany Young will bring the complexity and emotional development of Yumi's inner world to the stage. The musical will also feature a mysterious cell character named 109, who does not appear in the original webtoon; this character will be played by Leo from the group VIXX and Jeong Jinwoon from 2AM. The performances are scheduled to begin on June 30 at the CJ Towol Theater in Seoul and continue until the end of August.
This musical adaptation is seen as the latest proof of how much the boundaries of the webtoon world can be expanded. Fans are eagerly waiting to see how the colorful and chaotic world of the cells will be visualized on stage and how Tiffany will bring Yumi to life with her powerful vocals. While ticket sales are expected to begin at the end of April, it is certain that this production will bring both musical lovers and webtoon fans together.
