The Ivano-Frankivsk National Theater will present the performance “Only girls in jazz”.
Author
- < li class="auth_item"> Editor of the culture department of ZN.UA (1996- 2019)
Articles by authors
- Wartime theater: Marilyn Monroe is waiting on the Ivano-Frankivsk stage The Ivano-Frankivsk National Theater will present the performance “Only girls in jazz”.
- The scene of martial law: it became known which Kyiv theaters operate without an intermission in the summer The war made adjustments to the schedules and features of theater work.
- Shakespeare Festival in Poland: Ukrainians talked about the peculiarities of the work of theaters during the war A discussion “Theatre during the war” took place within the festival.
All articles by author All authors
On August 14, the Ivano-Frankivsk Ivan Franko National Theater opens its new 84th theater season: in this day will be a performance by the collective in Ternopil with the charity artistic project “Battle for Ukraine”, which was created by the National Presidential Orchestra and the Ivano-Frankivsk National Theater. And already on August 16, “Fight for Ukraine” will be shown on the native theater stage in Ivano-Frankivsk.
Meanwhile, the first theater premiere of the 84th theater season is already planned for September in the theater. This is a musical comedy “Girls Only in Jazz” based on one of the world's most popular film comedies directed by Billy Wilder (the 1959 film starred Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon).
The director of the new musical production – Nazarii Paniv – had previously staged two successful experimental performances based on the classic works of Franz Kafka and Ivan Franko at the Ivano-Frankivsk National Theater. The current big project is the debut of a young director on the big stage of the national theater in a responsible musical genre.
The director says that he previously read a lot of research by American sociologists and psychologists, who came to the conclusion that in periods of great depression and other social upheavals, the comedy (musical) genre is of great importance as a method of mass social therapy, and in Hollywood, in particular, it is in periods during American crises and depressions, great musical, comedic or costume movie hits appeared, which helped the population in difficult times to gain a certain optimism and good mood.
The director says that he is aware of the burden of responsibility that his current large-scale musical theater project, because there probably isn't a person in the world who hasn't seen the super popular American film comedy with Marilyn Monroe in the lead role at least once in their life.
“Of course, we do not have and cannot have any intentions to copy or scan the world-famous film comedy, or to “compete” with the legendary American film, – says ZN.UANazarii Paniv. – What struck me in this story is that the plot of the famous film directed by Wilder (screenwriters Billy Wilder and Izzy Diamond), which is based on a story by Robert Toren and Michael Logan, is a classic theatrical “situational comedy”. Therefore, our genre approach in this new play involves, so to speak, a free Ukrainian stage fantasy on the theme of a Billy Wilder film comedy, or a Ukrainian stage play on the field of an American film myth. Recently, as is known, the modern European theater has made its new trend precisely the direction of reinterpretation of old film myths. In this field, in particular, the outstanding European theater director Ivo van Hove is actively working, who periodically reinterprets the film myths of the past, in particular, the cult films of Luchino Visconti and Joseph Mankiewicz. I'll reveal a secret: even the main character (in one of the cast members of the upcoming performance) there is not a blonde, but a beautiful brunette (this is actress Olga Komanovska). That is, there are no unambiguous stereotypes in relation to the legendary blonde Marilyn Monroe. However, I do not rule out that the ghost of Marilyn Monroe can visually appear in our upcoming performance “Only Girls in Jazz”, as an ironic stage movie quote or as a universal meme known to the whole world. How to present it and how to realize it on the stage, we are currently thinking together with the artist of our play, Anastasia Batorii. By the way, few people know that the famous American actor of Ukrainian origin Mike Mazurki (Mykhailo Yulianovych Mazurkevych) also starred in the American film “Some Like it Hot” (later the name “Only Girls in Jazz” was attached to this film comedy). He was born in the Ternopil region, and since 1941 he began to actively act in Hollywood and play there, thanks to his distinct characteristic appearance, mainly “bad guys”, criminal authorities, mafiosi and gangsters. Our Ukrainian played one of these heroes in Billy Wilder's film. I think this is also an interesting fact in the mythology surrounding the “Girls Only in Jazz” project.
Two cast members are expected in the Western Frankish play.
In the main roles: Olga Komanovska, Iryna Benyuk (Dana Kovalchyk or “Tsuckerochka”), Ivan Blindar, Yuri Khvostenko (Josephine), Yuriy Vyhovanets, Andriy Melnyk (Daphna). The director admits that one of the “production” problems of the new production about girls in jazz is the process of persuading the talented Hutsul actors to shave off their luxurious mustaches and beards, because, of course, the cool legs will have to play wayward American girls in a jazz orchestra.
Also working on the new stage project are: Olena Andriychuk (costume designer), Bohdan Tkachuk (musical solution), Dmytro Leka (choreographer-director), Natalia Baidak (choirmaster), Lyubov Skirko (assistant director).< /p> Related video
The premiere of “Only Girls in Jazz” is tentatively expected in Ivano-Frankiask in September 2022.
