Review: COOKIN' NANTA in Manila

By Jared Echevarria

Manila, Philippines--If one can taste a performance, COOKIN' NANTA is a delectable treat. As Korea's longest-running non-verbal musical, COOKIN' NANTA gives Manila a spectacular show to enjoy, which keeps the audience laughing and amazed at the same time.

Since its premiere in 1997, COOKIN' NANTA has been drawing perhaps the largest audience in the history of Korean theater, which paved the way for the production to play Off-Broadway and other parts of the world. With a story that revolves around a nephew of a restaurant manager joining three chefs to cook for a wedding banquet in just one hour, the show also gives its viewers an insight on Korean culture especially through its music, which is based on the Korean Samulnori Rhythms of Jajinmori, Utdari, and Puneori, among others.

Asian culture has been showcased in different forms, which allows the world to enjoy the importance of building the Asian identity. COOKIN' NANTA is exemplary and one of the pioneers in its genre as it simplifies Korean culture and expedites its awareness and understanding. Due to this, the production has had countless encores that add up to 8.7 million audiences from 27,500 performances in 48 countries and 285 cities.

What makes the show in Manila different are the actors' adaptations of distinguishable Filipino traits and fads such as the phenomenal "#AlDub's pabebe wave" and the occasional usage of expressions including "dito" and "halika na." To add more to the excitement, some of the audiences are invited onstage to join the "chefs" in cooking--making The Theatre at Solaire filled with laughter.

The preset is typical of a high-end kitchen as if nothing extraordinary will take place. However, the moment the actors enter onstage for the first time--in traditional Korean attire--the audience members become glued and simply in awe of how using ordinary kitchen tools in cutting vegetables and meatloaves can be a spectacular art form.

COOKIN' NANTA is a simple-to-watch humorous performance that will surely be memorable to all its viewers because of its innate ability to entertain and carry out high-energy acrobatic routines from the first to the very last scenes.

The show closes today at The Theatre at Solaire. For tickets, call TicketWorld at (632) 891-9999 or visit ticketworld.com.ph.

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