‘Glee’ in the kitchen
Imagine "the chef from hell," Gordon Ramsay and his trainees on "Hell's Kitchen" singing and dancing while working on their culinary delicacies or the cast of "Glee" doing a musical number in a school for chefs.
That's basically the concept of a Pan Asian production of "The Kitchen Musical" which had its initial telecast last night on ABS-CBN Channel 2. Its regular run starts Oct. 8 on Studio 23. It will also be seen on NTV Malaysia, Metro TV Indonesia and AXN, which is available in 19 Asian countries.
Using the technique successfully employed by "Glee" and "Moulin Rouge", the creative team behind the show rearranged existing pop songs to move the story along. When the musical opens, the characters are introduced via a song "Boom, Boom, Pow" from a group with a name related to food, Black Eyed Peas. It's a bouncy number the cast can dance to as their names are superimposed on the screen. The kitchen is rather small but the choreographer, Jason Coleman, manages to come up with a visually exciting number.
The cast of characters is headed by Alex Marcus, played by Stephan Rahman-Hughes, as the perfectionist head chef of The Avilon. He's the equivalent of "Hell's Kitchen's" Ramsay. Alex is always at loggerheads with his sous chef, the restaurant owner's daughter, Maddie Avilon, played by our very own Karylle Tatlonghari. She has radical ideas about the resto, stuff she learned from Paris where she studied at the Le Cordon Bleu. When she has a problem, she turns to another chef, Daniel Ray, a childhood friend played by Christian Bautista. Theatergoers remember the two as tragic lovers Maria and Tony, in a staging of "West Side Story" in 2008.
Another Pinoy in the cast is Arthur Acuña, who plays the General Manager. He has a secret he's withholding from Maddie—her father's reason for letting her work in Avilon. For sex appeal, there's Rosemary Vandenbroucke, who plays the resto's sommelier, the one responsible for choosing which wine goes with what food. She and Alex have a history and she wants to rekindle their relationship.
For the initial episode, a food critic is coming to evaluate the resto and Alex is mad because Maddie deviated from his instructions and came up with her own creations. As expected, the critic liked the Maddie's creations despite Alex's objections. As with most musicals, the story line so far is rather thin and predictable...
The show is called "The Kitchen Musical" after all, so its main attractions are the songs and dance numbers, which are quite entertaining and fun to watch. Gerald Salonga is responsible for the musical arrangements and he has done a wonderful job.
The songs that were chosen for the first episode blended well with the situations. Credit goes to the director CheeK and his creative team.
As stated earlier, "Boom, Boom, Pow" introduced the characters and started the show on a high note. When Selena's character is introduced, she is branded as a man-eater. What better song to emphasize that than Nelly Furtado's "Maneater," complete with a sexy dance number?
As with many musicals, the director transports the viewer from the reality of the kitchen to a fantasy scene, where he can .go to town with his visualization.
When Maddie turns to Arthur the GM to pour out frustrations about her job, she sings Matchbox 20's "Unwell" ("Hold on, feeling like I'm heading for a breakdown and I dunno why") when she leaves the GM's office. Later in the song, the GM sings the same tune in his office and we hear a duet. In another scene, Alex is agitated because things are not proceeding as he wishes so he belts out Adam Lambert's "For Your Entertainment" with appropriate choreography.
I must congratulate the Pinoy performers for holding their own against fellow Asian artists. Karylle and Christian excelled in their musical numbers. Acuña was convincing as the general manager.
Stephan Rahman-Hughes did well as the master chef, not overdoing his nasty side. He's a good singer, too.
Rosemary Vandenbroucke is a certified vamp many male viewers will fantasize about.
I just have one beef against the show. There should be more scenes showing chefs working on their dishes from start to finish. Otherwise, "The Kitchen Musical" is an appetizing treat for television audiences.
