Musical Stilyagi (Стиляги) at the Theater of Nations

The premiere of the theater season this year took place on the stage of the Theater of Nations, and this is the musical STILYAGI. Vivid images in the spirit of the 1950's, incendiary dances, favorite hits and rock and roll mood. Let's check it all out now!

The musical STILYAGI was staged by the two-time Golden Mask National Theater Prize winner, world-renowned director Alexey Frandetti. The play is based on the script by Yuri Korotkov— “Boogie on the bones”, a bright kaleidoscope of colors amid the realities of mundane everyday life.

They were called traitors, their clothes were torn, they were persecuted, but the STILYAGI (hipsters) ran out on their own Broadway— on Tverskaya Street. Moscow of the 1950's is drowning in the rhythms of boogie-woogie. The state of freedom, buzz, motivation, rock-n- roll and jazz.

On the stage, the eternal symbol of protest is the wall, it separates the young generations from those who are stuck in the past. But, one day, this youth carnival will end and everyone will have to make their own adult life choices. A neon jacket or a gray business suit? This is shown through the prism of music and choreography.

"Everyone else has a normal brother. But not me, mine is a hipster!"

Interview with Alexandr Babik (Stilyagi actor):

Interesting struggle… My character's name is Bob. The young people depicted in this play went through a terrible time. Behind this lightness, behind the bright suits, behind the endlessly rotating movements of this play, there's a terrible story hidden.

We keep on moving, looking and trying to improve the play, and hopefully some day we will grow to a level that we can make this serious story look funny, in such way that it would reveal its profound horror, in order to provoke empathy in the spectators.

In 2008, Valery Todorovsky made a movie of the same name which became very popular. For the musical, artists were invited for an open casting, a process that lasted almost six months. Over 2500 people took part. Many had to master various musical instruments—from saxophone to violin, and some had to learn to sing.

Interview with Emil Sales (Stilyagi actor):

My character's name is Mels. The most striking thing that I remember from the process is that… I could fully get into this wonderful character and image, since his character is very close to mine. And… in it, you can get things fully done. It's the kind of freedom that one rarely gets. [As with] the complexity of the role… I play both characters Mel and Mels. I’ve always been Mel inside, but Mels is more complicated. Because I have never been in such a situation in my life, very difficult circumstances.

But, it’s very interesting for me to dive into this, since this is the world that our parents lived in; it is a very interesting world. Specially when I talked about the play with my father. We talked on the Internet, and I saw his burning eyes. With pride and excitement, he recalled that all those years ago he was also a hipster himself!

Looking at the scenes from the musical, I want to draw your attention to the beautiful and bright costumes.

I also tend to pay special attention to the vocals. My impression was that in the musical repertoire, the vocal ranges were too low. The actors struggled to produce the right notes, and as a result the text did't always sound clear. They ended up swallowing some words, which was a major negative point. However, since everyone in the audience was familiar with the legendary songs, they didn't care that much and sang along with the soloists.

Transposing the musical material to slightly higher notes would make the vocals sound better and more dynamic, and the text would become more intelligible. This is my personal opinion.

Overall, I really enjoyed the musical.

Interview with a spectator:

I liked that the musical was incendiary, not slow or still. I loved the musical's costumes, they were spectacular. It was really worth going and having a nice evening. I would recommend it. As for its resemblance to the movie, there's really no need to compare! Just go and have fun.

We just came out of the theater feeling exhilarated after watching the musical. I was overcome by nostalgia for the songs of that era. Tickets can be purchased on the official website from 500 to 8,000 rubles. Age restriction for this play is 12+. The play is 2 hours and 30 minutes long with one intermission.

You may read the history of the Theatre of Nations by watching my earlier review of the play AUDIENCE.

This concludes another review from Theater Focus™. Don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel. See you soon…