Brno City Theatre steps into the same river for a second time
Jan Trojan 30. October 2024 zdroj www.brnozurnal.cz
(…) In this case, the proverbial river is the musical The Witches of Eastwick which is returning to the stage after a gap of seventeen years.
The three original witches are still playing the same parts today. Ivana Vaňková, Johana Gazdíková and Radka Coufalová have matured professionally and personally, and it goes without saying that the same is also true of Petr Gazdík and Petr Štěpán in the role of the irresistibly attractive Darryl van Horne, which they played then and are now playing again today. The passing of time has done none of them any harm. It turns out that age has only given the aforementioned seducer Darryl even greater influence over more mature women, while he is still just as successful with younger women. Damn it!
(…) I saw the second premiere with the younger set of witches. They are simply amazing. The viewer gets the feeling that Svetlana Janotová, Tereza Navrátilová and Andrea Zelová have simply belonged together forever. Their dialogue and movement, rapidly alternating with long melodic songs, are simply enormously entertaining. (…)
Petr Štěpán, who won a Thalia Award in 2008 for the role as the mysterious Darryl who proves enchanting for women, has a good chance of repeating this success as the role suits him better at a slightly more advanced age and he is more genuine. (…) At the second premiere, the no less admired actress and singer Lucie Bergerová shone in the role of Felicia, and Viktória Matušovová, another of the alternates, was also praised after the first premiere. (…) Words of appreciation also belong to others who have not been named, to the company as a whole for its singing and dancing, to the four swingers and, it goes without saying, the orchestra conducted by Ema Javorová or Dan Kalousek which performs the lively and soothing music of Dana P. Rowe with lyrics by John Dempsey, who also wrote the libretto. (…)
The successful and sexy return of a musical comedy
Luboš Mareček 24. October 2024 zdroj www.mestohudby.cz
In reprising the popular musical The Witches of Eastwick, Brno City Theatre has decided to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of the opening of its large Music Theatre. The re-run of this title is a delightful birthday present from the theatre to its audiences, which have devoured 149 performances of this musical production from director Stanislav Moša since its premiere in 2007. The new staging is to feature familiar faces from the original cast, as well as new actors and actresses. And this theatrical comeback is certain to be a welcome treat for audiences for seasons to come, even seventeen years after the first Czech performance which took place right here in Brno. There are to be 24 sold-out performances of The Witches of Eastwick in the space of just half a month following its current premiere. What else needs to be said?
Many theatre-goers will remember Petr Štěpán in particular in the central role of the demonic Darryl van Horne, for which he received a Thalia Award in 2007. The principal attraction of the piece is the fact that the musical serves a great story rather than a shallow one and flows successfully between the genres of magical comedy, romantic story, a modern story about the war of the sexes and a drama of emancipation, all accompanied by excellent music. The music for The Witches of Eastwick was composed by Dana P. Rowe and the lyrics written by John Dempsey. The musical contains a number of distinctive and catchy songs that combine various musical styles from rock and pop to traditional musical melodies.
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The musical combines social criticism with emancipatory humour and magic with dramatic twists culminating in a double death, all keeping the audience in a state of suspense right up to the very end. Moša stages the piece as an entertaining story about the power of friendship, self-discovery and the consequences of letting oneself get carried away by one’s desires or manipulated by a charismatic envoy of hell. It is not about morality, but rather an entertaining and often ironic show, for which reason the director sees the musical in part as a satire on prim and starchy small-town values, which is reflected in particular in the sarcastic stereotypes of the uptight Felicia and her hen-pecked husband Clyde. The experienced Moša is, however, well aware of the fact that entertainment is also expected from this musical genre and this specific title, and the director therefore lavishes pyrotechnical effects, blossoming trees and a cello playing without the aid of a musician on the audience. The first half ends with an attraction for the audience in the form of the levitation of the three female protagonists who rise almost to the ceiling of the high stage. It is interesting that no one in this country is able to perform these flying magic tricks and trickery of this kind to a sufficiently high standard, so the production team has again had to use the extremely expensive patented “flying systems” from the British Flying By Foy. Fortunately, these impressive theatrical tricks do not overshadow the principal idea of the work, which is not concerned with the immortality of the soul, but rather the free self.
Moša’s production is enhanced by Jiří Josek’s excellent translation, Igor Barberič’s bravura choreography, the exceptionally lush and energetic musical staging by Ema Javorová and Dan Kalousek, the solo performances and the performance of the large company in the crowd scenes. The sound of the truly sizable orchestra is beautifully rich and in places the swinging music gets more than just the performers’ feet moving. Moreover, the sound of the current musical is clear evidence of the progress made in sound technology in the seventeen years since the title’s first performance in this country.
The actors repeating their roles from the original production logically draw attention to themselves. Petr Štěpán and Petr Gazdík both remain in the lead role of Darryl Van Horne. For me – as someone who remembers the original production – it is interesting to see how both of these once young men have matured into the central role. Age has only added to their charisma as actors. While Gazdík is a more amiable and persuasive devil and seducer, Štěpán is not afraid of greater and more uncomplicated sexism. They both exploit the humour in their roles according to their nature: Gazdík is a more polished joker and tempter, while Štěpán gets straight to the point and sometimes literally into the front rows of the audience. He is not afraid to leave the stage and make overtures to the audience. Both acting strategies have their charm and provide the female members of the audience in particular with that coveted satanic spark for which the three principal female protagonists on stage yearn and initially crave. The two Petrs (Štěpán and Gazdík) portray their Darryl with humorous obscenity and great stage magnetism. They say you cannot step into the same river twice, but in this case the original immersion is now embellished with the certainty and joy of ridiculously overblown masculinity and the compulsive persistence of the womaniser and diabolical hormonal reprobate (they both always take their shoes off quickly before the sexual assault).
The role of Sukie is now being shared by Radka Coufalová from the original cast and new addition Andrea Zelová, the role of Alexandra is being shared by Ivana Vaňková from the original cast and Svetlana Janotová, and the character of Jane by Johana Gazdíková from the original cast and newcomer Tereza Navrátilová. Coufalová moves the audience to outright applause in the perfectly performed song Words, Words, Words, which is actually a brilliantly sung and acrobatic vocal word juggling. It would not be fair to compare the original cast with the new one, but the fact is that the “older trio” in the musical play middle-aged women who know how to recover both their lost self-confidence and an infectious and unbridled passion for life and its earthly, physical joys. The younger trio, on the other hand, handle the incendiary subject matter in the musical enchantingly: a young woman with no self-confidence, aware of life’s traumas and troubles, erupts easily and ravenously in contact with a charismatic man for whom age is not such a big deal. I saw both versions and enjoyed studying the implied difference in interpretation and how the actresses accentuate the themes close to their real age. It goes without saying that none of them lacks singing bravura.
Moša has created a musical comedy that will be appreciated by the audience. All of the given components of the production fit together and complement one another perfectly. A well-written and well-made musical and intelligent entertainment once again await those interested.
P.S.: The technical facilities at the Music Theatre at Brno City Theatre allow a pool with almost five tons of water, in which both actors playing the role of Darryl Van Horne have rollicking fun, to be revealed on stage. Also a kind of magic in its own way...
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The Witches of Eastwick as a total musical (…)
Jana Soukupová 18. October 2024 zdroj MF Dnes - Brno a Jižní Morava
After a gap of seventeen years, Brno City Theatre has decided to return to the musical The Witches of Eastwick, which was written by Dana P. Rowe (music) and Johnny Dempsey (lyrics and book). Much has been preserved from that time, including the direction by Stanislav Moša, the costumes by Andrea Kučerová and the sets by Jaroslav Milfajt, while there is also a degree of familiarity in the casting of the actresses in the three main roles.
Ivana Vaňková (pictured), Johana Gazdíková and Radka Coufalová, who appeared at the first premiere evening this time around, have aged entirely appropriately in the meantime to play the lonely provincial women who conjure up a charming lover from hell. His role is now again being played by both the Darryl van Hornes of that time, namely Petr Gazdík who played the part at the musical’s premiere and Petr Štěpán who won a Thalia Award for his “devil” in 2008.
Absolute certainty of interpretation that allows consummate and experienced musical actors to give their best after all these years is the principal bonus of this story which is effective in every respect, though it was based by its writers more on the American hit film of 1987 starring Jack Nicholson, Cher, Michelle Pfeiffer and Susan Sarandon than on the original book by John Updike.
But the simple fact is, however, that a musical has its own demands – and we can say with no fear of contradiction that this piece was created by people with an extremely good understanding of what this kind of stage entertainment needs and what it can do, thanks to which they have produced one of the most attractive of musicals, with strong roles, purposeful humour and perceptible sex appeal, as well as a darker fairy-tale magic. Added to which, at Brno City Theatre’s Music Theatre, are the professional performance of the theatre orchestra, the striking stage effects and, not least, the extremely respectable translation by Jiří Josek.
And, it goes without saying, the unfailing performances of the entire ensemble, including all the performers in minor roles, of whom Viktória Matušovová as the uptight Felicia and Kristýna Daňhelová as her young daughter Jennifer stood out with their confident singing at the premiere I attended, while Milan Němec was entertaining in the rewarding role of her father, the hen-pecked Clyde.
Even after seventeen years, The Witches of Eastwick is still sure to attract large audiences at Brno City Theatre, because fans of musicals are unlikely to find anything better in this regard anywhere else.