[Reporter¡¯s view] Power of ¡®Nanta¡¯

The non-verbal musical similar to ¡°Stomp¡± that has enjoyed explosive popularity at home over the past few years finally did a great job on the international stage.

It has secured at least US$4 million (about 5.2 billion won) in guaranteed contracts for its 34-week tour of 55 North American cities with the first performance at Boston¡¯s Schubert Theater in September. Of course, the amount is the largest in the history of Korean exports of cultural goods.

What is more surprising is that the achievement is not the end but the beginning because the New York Broadway, the dream stage for actors, was excluded in the ¡°Nanta¡± U.S. tour. Comparing the status of ¡°Nanta¡± to pro baseball, it just managed to participate in the pennant race. Only after the quality of the work and the possibility for a box office run, it can join the post-season playoffs, namely the Broadway stage.

If ¡°Nanta¡± advances to the post-season as its production company hopes, how what is it¡¯s progress? At the moment, it is obvious that the guarantee will skyrocket only on the ground that it is being staged on Broadway. It has secured an earning of US$4 million in its U.S. tour, except for Broadway, and the revenue is expected to double or triple, according to experts.

It will be very nice if ¡°Nanta¡± makes a tremendous success on Broadway and becomes a representative cultural good of Korea, but it is not difficult to make a premature prediction of the result at present. However, what is crystal clear is that ¡°Nanta¡± has opened the possibility for the local performing arts circle, now in a slump, to advance abroad and has encouraged it.

The production companies of such famous foreign musicals as ¡°The Phantom of Opera¡± and ¡°Miss Saigon¡± have their own ways, demanding an exorbitant guarantee amounting to 5 billion to 7 billion won for their performances in Korea.

It is no more a wild dream now for our outstanding works such as ¡°Nanta¡± to receive spotlights on overseas stages for the coveted guarantee of several million dollars.

Kim Gab-Sik gskim@donga.com