By Beau Monde Magazine
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Korea is an incredible destination of ultra-modern cosmopolitan cities, beautiful natural sights, and a rich culture built on thousands of years of heritage from a  proud people. One other aspect of Korea that anyone who has ever been there will rave about is the food. It is, in a word, yum-tacular.  A thrilling evening that brings all of Korea’s wonderful aspects and culture together is, in fact, a theatre show about cooking. “Cookin’ Nanta!” is an outrageous, action-packed kitchen comedy where unbelievable technical dexterity meets traditional Korean drumming meets slapstick fun with uproarious characters!

To describe the show, one could imagine Stomp meets Hell’s Kitchen with a bit of Laurel and Hardy.  The musical debut made quite a splash—and won Best Performance—at the 1999 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Since then, it has been successfully staged in 57 countries around the world, including Off-Broadway in New York City 2004-2005. 2019 marks the iconic Korean show’s 20th anniversary year!

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"To describe the show, one could imagine Stomp meets Hell’s Kitchen with a bit of Laurel and Hardy.  "

Currently, Nanta is the longest-running show in Korea, with several crews of brilliant professional actors at each of the 3 locations: 1) Myeongdong district, Seoul, 2) Hongdae district, Seoul, 3) Jeju Island.

Nanta wows audiences, using knives and cutting boards to create a fascinating combination of traditional Korean samulnori (four instrument) drumming, poongmul farmer drumming, women’s samo-gu 3-drum dancing, and taekwondo martial arts—combined with acrobatics, magic, juggling, fire, audience participation, and Lucille Ball rubber-face humor on an inventive MacGyver set! This performance is a Must See.

The premise of the show focuses on a motley staff of four Korean chefs—with a cantankerous manager—who need to prepare a huge traditional Korean wedding banquet and a wedding cake, by 6 o’clock. Guaranteed laughs for all ages, with delightful subplots including a rom-com story between the pretty chef and the hunky one, and a revenge plot between the newbie chef and the handsome chef—in a race against time and disbelief!

After the show, guests can feast on the legendary Korean street food which is probably just beyond the theatre door.

Cooking Nanta is a show that brings Korea’s love of food and culture together in a show sure to please guests of all ages.

 

Article by Karen Lyu

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Beau Monde Magazine

Beau Monde is the platform where the next destination, hotel and haute experience is explored by the discerning traveler. Today’s travelers want to be inspired by content from highly regarded writers who have experienced their potential travel destination first hand. Beau Monde Traveler brings it all together.