A Nonverbal performance integrating Korean traditional "Samulnori" rhythm with comic and drama! Audiences of all ages and nationalities can enjoy! Everyone is welcome!
Since the first performance in October 1997, this world famous Non-verbal Performance made a record of 20% above full capacity at the theater driving the largest number of audience in Korean History.
Nanta made its international debut in 1999 at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, where it received an award for best performance. Since then, it has been staged in the U.K. , Germany , Austria , Italy , Japan , Taiwan , Singapore , the Netherlands , and Australia. With plenty of support from successful oversea performances, in February 2004, Nanta finally opened a long term performance in Broadway New York , being the first in Asia.
Voted to be one of " the 10 most famous tourist attractions in Seoul" by Korean Tourist Service (300,000 tourist every year)
Nonverbal Performance
Nanta is a totally universal nonverbal performance. Since it's presented through music and motions, there is no language barrier. Therefore, Nanta can be enjoyed by people from all around the world!
Traditional Korean Rhythms
Nanta combines rhythms from Korean folk music with modern musical forms to create an experience very unique but familiar to the international audience.
Drama
Many nonverbal performances seem to be dull because they consist of only rhythms and beats lacking in suspension. Nanta overcomes this drawback by combining a storyline with various comic scenes set in a kitchen as its background.
Audience Participation
To double the fun, all of the audience can participate in the show. Spectators can be the bride and groom in a traditional Korean wedding ceremony, compete in piling up dumplings, and interact with the performers. You become a part of the show!
Three cooks start their day.
While they are busy preparing the vegetables and organizing the kitchen, a bad tempered manager appears. He orders them to prepare the food for a wedding by 6 o'clock in the afternoon.
The cooks, who had not been told about this event, are caught completely off-guard.
Not only that, the manager also brings his young nephew with him and demands that the cooks teach him how to cook and prepare food.
The manager exits after barking these seemingly impossible orders.
At first, the cooks don't like this clueless boy, but have to get on with their work.
They start preparing the food, but things don't go on smoothly.
The boy and three cooks get closer, though, and the audience joins the show.
The cooks struggle to prepare the dishes as quickly as possible, and manage to set the table by 6pm.
The wedding banquet draws to a successful conclusion.
| • Birth of Nanta and its Goals |
From the planning stage, Nanta was designed to target the global audience. The goal of PMC was to produce a show not only for the domestic market but also for the global market which was like an unexplored land full of opportunities with no limits.
One of our most determined goals was going to Broadway where worldwide prestigious art performances including Cats, the Phantom of the Opera, Les Misérables, Miss Saigon etc. converged.
It was Broadway where both high-quality and commercially successful performances attracted a huge audience every day while they were performed 365 days a year on their own theaters.
Going to Broadway was a fervent desire for all concerned with the performance world. It was a stage of dreams and hopes.
So Nanta was planned, produced, and born with a goal to reach Broadway - the Mecca of world performances and dreams.
| • Long and Yet Intensive Preparation |
As Nanta was designed to target the world audience in the first place, it has gone through constant changing and upgrading as being the original framework as a non-verbal performance using the rhythms of Samul Nori.
Samul Nori refers to the performance of four musicians playing and dancing with different Korean traditional percussion instruments. The Korean word "samul" means "four things", and "nori" means "to play". Therefore it means "four things playing."
The story and concept was made based on the world's universal language, laughter.Five unique characters were perfectly created and the kitchen, familiar and friendly to everyone was reborn to be a totally new space filled with various rhythms and sounds.
In 1999, at the Edinburgh Festival, which is known as a must for debuting in the world stage, Nanta made a successful debut with its tickets sold out everyday. Upon the confidence since then, for five years in more than 20 countries, including the U.S. , Japan , Italy , Germany and Hong Kong , Nanta has become to fully experience what it means to be globally accepted.
| • In September 2003, to Broadway at Last! |
Broadway was a dream-come-true stage for all the staff members and performers of Nanta. After long waiting and preparation, Nanta at last debuted on Broadway in September 2003. Starting from Boston in 2001, Nanta was supposed to make a tour throughout the Northern American region for 11 months, but in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the stage tour had to end within four days. After two years from that incident, Nanta performance finally made its way to Broadway. Though it was a performance for only one month long, it was indeed something valuable and meaningful for us.
The New Victory Theater
A family theater located on the 42 nd Street on Broadway!
Theater Republic was built in 1900 being the first theater established on the 42 nd Street and it became to be an exclusive family theater off Broadway based on long history and strong membership.
September 25, 2003
Nanta, selected to be the opening show for the 2003 and 2004 season in the New Victory Theater, made its long yearned debut on Broadway for the first time since its inception in 1997. Not only the performers themselves, but also the director, Song Seung - whan, standing with other PMC members in the audience was so touched by watching it, wiping tears in silence.
The Local Audience Filling Every Seat
The past six years were full of consistent efforts to move on with the show, sometimes with faith in worldwide success, sometimes with obstinacy, and in other times with full devotion and passion. As if to compensate for all the hard work and efforts, the local audience applauded Nanta's Broadway debut with laughter and cheers, filling all the seats every day.
COOKIN' gives off good vibes!
The New York Times gave a succinct and clear review about Nanta's Broadway Show. At last Nanta had opened the door of Broadway with a joyful thrill.
• For the First Time in Asia :
Nanta Gets a Home off-Broadway |
Nanta was the first in Korea to successfully adopt the concept of an exclusive theater for a single show. In 2000, Nanta opened its Chungdong Kangbuk(the northern region from the Han River) Theater in Seoul with 300 seats, and in 2002, a similar-size theater of Nanta in Chungdamdong, Kangnam(the southern region from the Han River ). For the present, an ultramodern 500-seat theater, which was enlarged and relocated in July 2003, is another exclusive theater of Nanta in Jungdong.
And February 2004
In the heart of Broadway, there came to be Nanta's place. Starting from the preview on February 20, 2004, shows are to be performed for an unlimited duration. It is not only Korea 's first theater to hold performances in a home theater off-Broadway, but Asia 's first.
That it is Asia 's first is greatly significant, but the story does not end there. Because on Broadway, dozens of shows are held, but if neglected by the audience, the shows cannot be held any more. It is Broadway where only the fittest survive.
Good performances make legends and history in their own theaters for years thanks to the love and support of the audience. By contrast the opposite ones leave Broadway with their neglectful audience, harsh criticism from critics and huge economic loss. It is Broadway that sustains itself under the principle of the survival of the fittest and at the same time, that guarantees the world-renowned fame. It can be a graveyard where endless performances are doomed to be forgotten.
Nanta has now entered such a stage with unfettered competitions and double facets. It is up to Nanta to decide how much love and applaud it will receive from the audience that has already been familiar with the world's prestigious titles.
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