Another epic family musical on the stage of Brno City Theatre
Iva Bryndová 26. April 2023 zdroj www.i-divadlo.cz/blogy
(...) Brno City Theatre has prepared another epic musical for the whole family. Directed by Stanislav Moša a giant, a witch, a mermaid, a werewolf, all came to life in Alabama, a small town in America where other people live their ordinary lives. Not satisfied with this ordinary life, Edward decided to become a hero and has been telling his incredible stories to his son since his childhood, during which he was often away as a business traveller.
In Christoph Weyers’s imaginative set design, a kind of illustration of a family house in Alabama and Edward’s hometown (complete with its main landmarks) or a circus manege is created by using quite simple features, often just canvas walls, and these are then transformed into a cave or a forest, especially with the use of distinctive lights (lighting direction by David Kachlíř) and projections by Petr Hloušek. The costumes of Andrea and Adéla Kučerovy faithfully illustrate every situation.
The company, choreographed by Michal Matěj, dances and sings in the style of classic great musicals and the protagonists of the main roles give excellent, complex performances. – At least as far as the opening night cast is concerned. Its stars were clearly Lukáš Janota as Edward Bloom and Radka Coufalová as his wife Sandra.
Without a single hesitation, Lukáš Janota was able to portray on stage the character of an eternal dreamer, a hero, an adventurer who perhaps makes up some stories and makes them his own, but never stops enjoying them and his life to the fullest. He handled both the image of a teenager and a young man and the character of a young father enthusiastically telling his son all his stories, and equally well the aging man who, although dying of a serious illness, does not understand his now grown-up son and fails to see eye to eye with him.
Radka Coufalová portrayed a similarly extensive character in terms of time range. She appears on stage in the chronology of the plot, first as a college student, then as the greatest beauty of Edward’s narratives, and then as a loving mother, of a young boy and later of a grown-up son who is getting married and does not understand his father.
Both Janota and Coufalová were also in an excellent vocal form. Radka Coufalová’s solo I Don’t Need a Roof it in the second half was one of the biggest and strongest moments of the evening. Similarly, Daniel Ryme3 presented himself in excellent form as their son William, to whom, like the representatives of Edward and Sandra, the musical offered not only a lot of acting but also singing space.
The role of William’s fiancée and then newlywed Josephine is mostly dramatic, and the masterful performance of Eliška Skálová was convincing. (...)
Brno City Theatre has once again prepared a high-quality epic musical which, in addition to the distinctive artistic aspect, is adorned with rich choreography, many great classical musical numbers and excellent performances, both by the balanced company and in the leading and supporting roles. (...)
Big Fish: A successful musical about imagination and complicated relationships
Luboš Mareček 23. April 2023 zdroj www.mestohudby.cz
The Czech premiere of the Broadway musical Big Fish took place yesterday at the Music Theatre of the Brno City Theatre. (...)
The Big Fish musical is actually a three-hour musical theatre about the importance of imagination in human life. It highlights the fact that we can discover magic even in the most ordinary moments of our lives. What does it matter that we use exaggeration to do so... On top of that, this is also about the important budding of intergenerational relationships between sons and their fathers, about how we perceive and understand the complicated world around us. Everything in the musical is underlined by a large dose of absurdity. Big Fish is really quite an intricately constructed stage work comprising thirty-eight scenes and nearly two hundred characters. (...) The colourful theatrical story is also varied musically, and Lippa’s music goes to contrasts, using retro echoes of American music from Alabama of those years. And you can also hear variations on fiddle style, i.e. traditional folk music from the aforementioned American region with everything that goes with it. A more experienced listener will recognise, for example, the washboard or dobro, an instrument used mainly in country music and bluegrass (American folk music), but also in blues music, to which some of the nineteen musical numbers are also close. Of course, one will also hear a banjo or mandolin. However, it is not only about the songs, but also about a large area of purely scenic music, which sounds live in a very dynamic and flawless performance under the baton of Emma Mikešková. (...) Moša with set designer Christoph Weyers and costume designers Andrea and Adéla Kučerovy and in accordance with the theme of the text does not stage realistic illusionary theatre, but also tries to play with puppets and fantasy scenery, whether it is three dancing elephants, a four-metre cannon or projected shots from the water world. The over-sized desk of Karl the giant with a lively and equally huge secretary swinging her massive legs, or perhaps an animated campfire in the form of a luscious dancer, is a treat gratefully received by the audience. The abstract or suggestive backdrops of an Alabama town are resolved with components made of white wooden slats. The costumes logically use circus colours and also glitter.
The singing protagonists draw deserved attention to themselves. However, it is not only about the bravura of singing, but in the case of Lukáš Janota and Radka Coufalová as the central married couple Edward and Sandy, it is also about believable time travel. And both succeed in suggesting to the audience the youth and age of their heroes. The often lightning-fast changings of clothes suggesting these generational transitions, handled with dignity by both, also deserve appreciation. They are the ideal performers and give the musical that grown-up juice, mastering the frolicsome grimaces of the teenagers and the weighty sentiment of life at its end. The same goes for Daniel Rymeš as Bloom’s son Will. Excellent magical figures performed by Dušan Vitázek as hulk Karl (thundering through the port) and Jiří Ressler as principal Amos with a flair for grotesque abbreviation.
The Czech premiere of the mystical musical Big Fish succeeded precisely by successfully straddling both of the two suggested positions, as well as by the directorial and theatrical treatment of how intoxicating, challenging and beneficial it can be for others to perceive the world of an individual who builds a myth about himself and whose “truths” are sometimes difficult to know.
