MADLENIANUM OPENS ITS 25th ANNIVERSARY SEASON WITH A NEW MUSICAL SPECTACTLE
Odštampaj
JACQUES OFFENBACH'S OPERETTA
When you say Paris, you immediately think of love, fashion, fun and La Vie Parisiénne, or the much-desired Parisian life, the atmosphere all of us are eager to feel at least for a while. The Parisian Life – a new musical jewel, the operetta of Jacques Offenbach, is coming to Belgrade, prepared by already proved team of authors when it comes to this musical genre: Robert Boskovic is responsible for directing and adaptation, Vesna Souc is a conductor, Milica Cerovic a choreographer, Vesna Rezic deals with the set design and Duska Nesic with the costume design. The dramaturgy, translation and adaptation are signed by Igor Weidlich, while Vesna Souc and Barbara Kajin help him with verses interpretation. Srdjan Jovanovic is works on light design, Dusan Arsikin on sound design, Drazen Matijasevic is the author of the puppets, while the other collaborators and assistants are: Isidora Goncic and Anja Orelj (directing), Nina Kuzmic (set design), Andjela Bajagic (costumes), Jovana Ikonic (stage movement).
The story is about two Parisian bon vivants fighting for the affection a the world famous actress, when an engaged, but mischievous Swedish baron, coming to France to taste hidden charms of Paris, interferes in all, with also a wealthy and passionate Brazilian man, an unavoidable one in this love tangle. The audience of the Opera & Theatre Madlenianum is getting the opportunity to see who wins this love battle on 1 October at the premiere performance and 8 October at its first rerun.
Musical, operetta, good and sincere humour fans will have a chance to enjoy in The Parisian Life, the operetta of a composer Jacques Offenbach, premiered for the first time in 1866 in Paris, achieving the world wide success. That time libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy. Due to the demanding contemporary audience, the director and the playwright reduced the operetta to three acts and two hours and 10 minutes running time, but also included the widely famous Offenbach’s Can-Can from his opera Orpheus in the Underworld, which made a number of French clubs famous.
A touch of Paris in this cheerful and playful piece of music is brought by a large performing ensemble led by: Vasa Stajkic, Dimitrije Cincar-Kostic, Arsenije Tubic, Djordje Viktor Vlajic, Branislava Podrumac, Jana Pogrmilovic, Anja Orelj, Milos Djordjevic, Srdjan Timarov, Vladimir Andric, Ana Cvetkovic, Dragana Popovic, Ivana Medic, Djordje Stojkovic and Zarko Stepanov. In this love merry-go-round they are wholeheartedly helped by: Vesna Djurkovic, Mina Gligoric, Nevena Djokovic, Ana Bartoli, Vanja Milacic, Sara Bojic, Petar Djurdjevic, Milan Milosavljevic, Djordje Kreca, Nemanja Bajic, Milena Moravcevic and Marija Pantin. Besides Vesna Souc, the accompanists Dragana Andjelic Bunjac and Barbara Kajin are engaged in musical preparations. The Opera & Theatre Madlenianum Orchestra is led by a concertmaster Vesna Janssens. The numerous choir and dance ensemble of this complex piece of music, as well as the soloists, had to go through several rounds of auditions in order to compete for participation in this project.
The rehearsals are already well underway, a part of the set design and costumes are being prepared. The director Robert Boskovic says that the most demanding part of this operetta preparation was, in addition to the creative part, preparing a set design, costumes and directing ideas, to create a really good acting ensemble.
"I have been taught, as an actor and director, that having a good division, means having a good 30 percent of the performance. The Madlenianum is one of the few theatres engaging actors in this way, and almost 300 actors, singers and dancers from Belgrade and other places in Serbia and the region applied for this project." With all of them, Boskovic and his collaborators are working on a new story and dynamics, with sharp humour coming out in musical numbers, almost each of them choreographed.
The operetta is sung in Serbian and surtitled in English.
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