MEDIATHEK

Liduschka (Baarová) This original musical version of the well-known story of the dramatically-attractive relationship between actress Lída Baarová and Reichsministr Joseph Goebbels is more of a variety-show grotesque on the subject of the 20th century than an attempt at historical truth. It has three authors – playwright and journalist Karel Steigerwald, composer Aleš Březina, and Jiří Ornest. “The theme of Baarová is not about either defending or condemning her. (…) It contains more of a metaphor for this whole wretched twentieth century and us in it. My favourite is the incidental sentence about Baarová: If she had lived in Italy, she would have had a completely different life,” says Karel Steigerwald. The authors, with their specific viewpoint full of irony, sarcasm and provocativeness, give us a glimpse, in rapid, revue-like succession, into film studios, a bar at night, the corridors of Nazi power, a post-war courtroom, and even into Velhartice with Jan Werich’s quips. “This play about Lída Baarová is a certain type of political theatre cleverly presented to the audience in an easily-digestible showbusiness wrapping,“ Jana Machalická has written.

// Credits //

Direction: Roman Meluzín
Music: Aleš Březina
Libretto: Karel Steigerwald
Song lyrics: Jiří Ornest, Karel Steigerwald
Conductor: Jiří Petrdlík, Dalibor Bárta
Choreography: Lukáš Vilt
Tap dancing: Kateřina Marešová
Set: Daniel Dvořák
Costumes: Ivana Brádková
Directorial assistance: Martin Šefl
Choreography assistance: Jan Kaleja
Music rehearsal: Pavel Kantořík, Martin Červenka

Cast:
Baarová: Alžbeta Bartošová
Goebbels: Petr Jeništa
Frölich, actor: Daniel Bambas, Petr Vondráček
Barrista: Jozef Hruškoci
Pergolesi: Roman Říčař
Black prince: Petr Šudoma
Werich: Radek Štědronský Shejbal
Hitler: Aleš Kohout
Vávra, director, film agent from the US, FELLINI: Ondřej Černý
Lamprecht, director: Roman Krebs
Soud engineer: Martin Šefl
Kameraman: Jan Kaleja
Matka Baarové: Stanislava Topinková Fořtová
Magda Goebbelsová: Kateřina Sedláková
Leni Riefenstahlová, zpěvačka, soudkyně / singer, judge: Veronika Veselá
Frölich’s mother: Venuše Zaoralová Dvořáková
Lída Baarová’s sister: Simona Lebedová
Eva Barunová: Kristýna Bečvářová
Female dancers, singers: Charlotte Pščolková, Františka Stropnická, Markéta Martiníková, Věra Vodičková
Male dancets, singers: Lukáš Daňha Vilt, Jan Fanta, Richard Pekárek, Petr Faltus
Mauzzi, a Jewish girl Sofie Machálková, Viktorie Tandlerová
Goebbels’ children: Sofie Machálková, Viktorie Tandlerová, Rozálie Vojáčková, Zuzana Kopáčková, Viktorie Krbcová, Viktorie Vítová, Kristýna Siková, Johana Sofie Svobodová, Ema Maršálková, Agáta Tandlerová, Matyáš Rous, Šimon Vanžura

Premiere: 26th November 2016

// Author //

Roman Meluzín (1956) Director, translator and scriptwriter. After studying at DAMU, he started his artistic career in 1983 in the District Theatre in Příbram, also working in Olomouc and České Budějovice and for six years in the F.X. Šalda Theatre in Liberec, where he headed the whole drama company. In Pilsen he has directed a large range of musical productions and for sixteen years (2000-2016) headed the musical and operetta company at the J. K. Tyl Theatre.

// J. K. Tyl Theatre //

J. K. Tyl Theatre has four companies which together produce approximately 500 drama, opera, operetta, musical and ballet performances a year. The theatre tries to have a varied repertoire that is balanced in terms of genre, and which includes new plays both Czech and foreign; last year the theatre had 24 premieres. Its history of over a hundred years, artistic activity and a number of other activities makes it one of the significant theatres of not only the Western Bohemian Region.

// Press //

Steigerwald persecutes lies and half-truths, makes fun of the actress’s anabasis among Nazi bigwigs, but also of the fake rabbinical wisdom of Jan Werich, asking him some unpleasant questions (he is fishing!). The front-of-stage scenes between Werich and Baarová are one of the highlights of the musical. The other, more expected one, is the almost angry condemnation of the post-war bullying of Baarová by Czech society, when the people piling on most were those who ought to keep quiet and be glad it was not their turn. Injustice? That too, but above all the usual way in which history breaks has never been different, and never will be. Only this scepticism was, I found, a little lacking in the text.

Josef Herman, Divadelní noviny

Steigerwald’s libretto touches on a number of unpleasant questions, deliberately suggested and treated lightly. It provokes, it goes to the edge, and yet it never loses its lightness and wit. This concept is helped by Roman Meluzín’s essentially sober direction, which gives the genre what belongs to it. Meluzín has done well in composing the big singing-and-dancing revue-type parts with the more intimate acted scenes. It is all seamless, holds together well and proceeds at a pace. Daniel Dvořák’s set design is also simple and effective, working with indications of an environment and making do with one travelling “table” as an effective central point of situations. The company does good work – some of the multi-part musical numbers are highly demanding, and the chorus pulls them off well.

Jana Machalická, Lidové noviny

The work is dominated by Březina’s carefully-composed score with its melodic duets, three-part songs and choruses, ironic towards all possible clichés of the greater part of the 20th century, with quotations from and echoes of its musical greats. With the libretto, planned out with Steigerwald to the last detail, in places sarcastic, in places self-flagellating and with his and Ornest’s lyrics, this is a work of a kind not often seen here.

J. P. Kříž, Právo

The authors – Karel Steigerwald, Aleš Březina and Jiří Ornest – have managed to create, in the deluge of original Czech musicals, a work that is singular, controversial, innovative, and at the same time audience-friendly and incredibly inventive in musical terms.

Vítězslav Sladký, Production of the Year survey, Divadelní noviny

…finally something worthwhile on the Czech musical scene

Bohumil Nekolný, Production of the Year survey, Divadelní noviny

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