Waltz-Rostov: Alexander Rosenbaum's songs turned into a musical
Yesaul molodenky, violinist Rostov Monya, old Hertz, brave Samen, Kuban Cossacks and "convict" — the heroes of Alexander Rosenbaum's famous songs have now settled in the Moscow Variety Theater. In the play, through the misadventures of Alexander Yatsko, they tell about the difficult fate of a simple medical student. How the musical "Waltz-Boston" turned out and whether it corresponds to the status of the main musical hit of the season is described in the Izvestia material.
From idea to implementation — 20 years
For the next two months, the Variety Theater will transform into the port city of Rostov-on-Don, where, under the strict guidance of Alexander Rosenbaum, a team of professionals will present a jukebox musical based on his songs to the audience. It is based on 23 famous compositions of the master: from "Hop-stop" and "Au" to "Kuban Cossack" and "Waltz-Boston".
A scene from the musical "Don't be afraid of anything, I'm with you"
This is not the first time that a musical based on already existing popular compositions has been staged in the capital. It is enough to recall the 2022 hit "Don't be afraid of Anything, I'm with you" based on the songs of the Secret group. Now the same team has clothed the work of one of the most chamber poets of our time, Alexander Rosenbaum, in a motley form of the genre. His songs are called a revelation, his poems are broken down into aphorisms, and the characters seem to have been living their own lives for a long time.
The idea of the musical has been around for a long time. Once upon a time, Alexander Rosenbaum's friend, writer Arkady Weiner, suggested writing a script based on Babel's "Odessa Stories" and arranging it with the musician's songs, which were already beloved by the people. But in 2005, the playwright passed away. It was only 20 years later that the idea found a stage embodiment with the assistance of the Red Square and Yandex.
"We didn't just take the finished songs, but tried to weave them into a single dramatic canvas, where the music becomes the voice of the characters. Each arrangement, each mise—en-scene is an attempt to find the exact sound and gesture of that era, so that the story would sound in a new way and touch the hearts of the modern audience," said Mikhail Mironov, director of the musical.
Rostov — Dad
Kostya Romashin, a student at the Medical institute, is at the center of the story. Together with his mother, who lost her husband in the heat of the Civil War, he moves to the historical district of Rostov-on-Don on Bogatyanovka. Why Rostov, and not Odessa, which Rosenbaum sings about and which, of course, is one of his main chronotopes? The viewer will have to answer this question himself. Or you can laugh it off that Odessa is mom and Rostov is dad, so that's fine.
Kostya is a diligent boy. A real doctor at five minutes to five. All that remains is to take the last exam. But he has to pass the aptitude test earlier. The day before, he urgently "stitches up" a local bigwig after an ordinary shootout. Bandits don't like to go into debt, so they invite a student to a pub opposite. This is how Kostya Romashin gets a chase of Romash, followed by a brief overview of local customs.
"The scale of a person's personality determines the amount of cash," Kamil, a card sharper, instructs a friend.
— Be healthy, don't cough. Burst, but keep the style," boasts Fedka the hare.
The hero instantly falls under the charm of new friends, forgets about exams and his mother. But the real blow to the fragile heart is inflicted by the beautiful Dina. "Oh, Mom, what a clever girl she is!" sings Romash in love. But crime does not slumber: while the couple coos on the Don shore, a gangly quartet — Kamil, Fedka the hare, Lyova and Omar - robs the girl's father, who turned out to be the new head of the city's UGRO.
The raid turns into a trial, the verdict is a reference to Kolyma, and the once promising medical student becomes an ordinary "convict." Rosenbaum's music here is not a soundtrack to a story, but a full-fledged dramatic voice. He sometimes comments on the inner monologue of the main character — the most powerful number "Chetvertinochka" performed by Alexander Yatsko and Alexander Skrypnikov, then becomes a heart-rending female cry, as in the choral performance of "Yesaula".
Genre experiment or successful synthesis
The musical director of the project, Evgeny Zagot, made unexpected arrangements for Rosenbaum's hits, but was able to maintain the piercing honesty of the lyrics. He carefully translated guitar melodies into an orchestral texture without destroying the original's intimacy, a rare stroke of luck for such adaptations.
Natalia Terekhova's choreography and the work of the entire ensemble deserve special attention. It's one thing to move to jazz compositions, and quite another to perform the most complex elements of folk dance. The actors of the musical do it no worse than Igor Moiseev's ensemble. The crowd scenes are a real hit.
An important role is played by set design, for which Maxim Obrezkov, almost the main production designer of our time, was responsible. The uneven, harsh texture of the province can be felt in its scenery — broken wrought—iron grilles, broken paving stones, scuffed walls - and the sentimental feelings of the main characters, which are projected onto giant screens through magnified photographic film.
An important point for the viewer: the text is always audible. Directing does not sacrifice for the sake of a beautiful picture, and this is especially valuable when working with poetic material.
Actors' finds are a key resource of the play. The whole story is accompanied by the story of the wanderer Alexander Yatsko. He is Kostya Romashin, but many years later. It is his husky voice that leads the viewer through the happiest and most tragic episodes of the biography of Rosenbaum's lyrical hero. For almost the entire performance, he walks through the "fields" of history and only closer to the finale brings down a stream of accumulated feelings on the viewer.
The professional victory is the work of Anna Guchenkova, who played the mother of the main character. Fans of the genre perfectly remember the actress for her roles in the musicals Cats, Mamma Mia!, Chess, First Date, and Girls, but it was here that she showed that she has not only outstanding vocals, but also serious dramatic talent.
In some places, the transitions from intimate scenes to broad episodes look hasty, and some minor lines require more psychological depth. Perhaps it will get better when the play "gets overgrown with meat," as they say in the theater. Namely— when the band will play 20, 30, 40 performances.
The main question is whether Rosenbaum's songs will lose their piercing intonation due to the peculiarities of the genre. Won't the audience, and especially fans of the musician's work, find a lurid illustration of his lyrics?
The answer was given by the author himself. "It seems to me that your life has happened," Alexander told the actors after the performance. If Waltz Boston maintains a balance between poetry and theatrical power, it will quietly become not only a long-lived genre, but also a full-fledged hit this season.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
