Musical “Master and Margarita” The musical hall of St. Petersburg was shown to the world in September 2014. Fifteen hundred spectators came to discover this large-scale mystical production, which was created based on the novel of the same name by M. A. Bulgakov.
About the book
Mikhail Afanasevich began to write his famous novel in 1928, he worked on it for a very long time, rewritten several times and made fundamental changes to it. The title of the book changed repeatedly and the Master and Margarita were not immediately included in the novel. In 1930, the author burned his creation, but after marrying E.S. Shilovskaya, he returned to work on the novel. Until the last days of his life, Bulgakov corrected his great work. The publication of the novel was dealt with by the wife of Bulgakov after his death.
The creators of the musical
A huge team worked on the creation of the musical "Master and Margarita": the theater "Music Hall" in conjunction with the production company "Makers Lab". Fabio Mastrangelo, the director and artistic director of Music Hall, became the musical director of the project. The directors of the project are S. Sirakanyan and T. Zhalnin. The music was written by six composers: A. Tanonov, O. Tomaz, S. Rubalsky, I. Dolgovoy, O. Popkov, A. Mayev. There are also six authors of the libretto - this is Sergey Shilovsky-Bulgakov (grandson of E. S. Shilovsky - the last wife of M. A. Bulgakov), I. Afanasyev (she is also a producer), A. Pastushenko, M. Oshmyanskaya, K. Khankok, I. Shevchuk. Choreographer - D. Pimonov. Illusionist - M. Kretov.
The costumes and sets were created by Kentauer, the production designer of the Hungarian versions of such musicals as The Phantom of the Opera, Miss Saigon, Oliver ... He is known to the Russian public for his work in the production of The Vampire Ball, which successfully went to St. Petersburg. St. Petersburg Musical Comedy Theater until August 2014.
Those who already had the opportunity to see the play “The Master and Margarita” (musical), reviews about the production leave the opposite, but the general impression was great for most, many say that with great pleasure they will again and again become spectators of this mystical action.
Musical characters
Woland, Master, Margarita, Yeshua, Gella, Azazello, Hippopotamus, Koroviev, Pilate, Homeless, Frida, Berlioz, Kaifa, Levi Matvey, Likhodeev, Meigel - characters of the production of the Music Hall “Master and Margarita”. The musical (St. Petersburg), or rather its creators, somewhat transformed some of them ...
Woland is Satan; he travels the world in search of sinners. In the musical he, unlike the book image, has long hair pulled in a ponytail, and in the arsenal of costumes there is one very original one - in the Gothic style. He can not be called an absolutely negative character, he does not cause harm to those whose conscience is clear, he justly punishes those who deserve it.
The master is a historian who decided to become a writer. He created a brilliant novel, but, as is often the case with geniuses, his talent was not appreciated.
Margarita is a beautiful woman, she has a loving but not beloved husband, her life is empty. Once she met the Master and fell in love with him. She is a symbol of true love, ready for self-sacrifice.
Yeshua is a philosopher who believes that there are no evil people in the world. He was innocently crucified on the cross. Yeshua means Jesus.
Pilate, the procurator of Judea, because of his cowardice, condemns Yeshua to execution, which he repents of all his life.
Demons from the Woland retinue. Hippopotamus cat - walks on two legs, behaves like a person and talks. Gella is a vampire, very beautiful, but with an ugly scar on her neck. Bulgakovskaya Gella always walks naked, but the creators of the musical presented her with several dresses, and also gave her a crush on Woland. Koroviev is a former knight who fell into the retinue of Woland as a punishment for an unsuccessful joke. Azazello is a killer demon.
The plot of the musical
The plot of the musical is as close to the book as possible. Most of the dialogue and monologues of the characters are completely taken from the novel.
Woland arrives in Moscow and pretends to be a professor of black magic. He inflicts reprisal on people who do evil deeds. Events take place in the 30s of the twentieth century, when everyone believed that neither God nor the Devil exists. Woland proves the opposite.
The master wrote a brilliant novel about Pilate and Yeshua, but his work was criticized and refused to be published. He burns his novel and voluntarily ends up in a madhouse ...
Woland arranges a ball, at which, according to tradition, there should be a queen - a woman named Margarita, in whose veins royal blood flows. The main character is a suitable candidate, and Azazello invites her to fulfill this role, hinting that, as a reward, Messir promises to fulfill her desire. Margarita agrees to become the mistress of the ball in the hope that he and the Master will be together again.
At the end of the play, Woland takes the Masters and Margarita into oblivion in order to give them eternal peace.
"Master and Margarita" (musical) the audience received various reviews. A lot of enthusiasm has been expressed, but there is also a small percentage of those who are disappointed - those who, after reading the book, did not imagine its heroes as they were shown in the musical. To this, the creators of the play give an answer that even before the premiere they advised the viewer to abstract from the book in order to correctly perceive the production.
Actors
In the musical “Master and Margarita”, the actors were casting in 3 rounds. Among them there are artists who have already managed to become famous and are very familiar to the viewer.
Ivan Ozhogin (Woland) - one of the best actors in the musical genre, winner of an amazingly beautiful and powerful voice, winner of the Golden Spotlights, Theater Musical Heart and Golden Mask awards for the role of Count von Krolok in the musical Vampire Ball . Leading roles in the musicals Phantom of the Opera, Jekyll and Hyde, Paula Negri, Nord-Ost, Cats ...
Now the list of his works has been supplemented by the project “The Master and Margarita” (musical). There is a photo of Ivan Ozhogin in the role of Woland in this article.
Rostislav Kolpakov (Woland) - gained fame thanks to the musical "Ball of Vampires." Anton Avdeev (Master / Yeshua) - soloist of the musicals "Chaplin", "Aladdin", "Ball of Vampires". Victoria Zhukova (Margarita) - previously was a soloist of the Rock Opera Theater. Natalya Martynova (Margarita) - theater and film actress. Vyacheslav Shtyps (Pilate) - soloist of the St. Petersburg Musical Comedy Theater , Sultan in the musical Aladdin. Elena Romanova (Frida) - artist of the ensemble and performer of the role of Sarah in the musical "Ball of Vampires". Maria Lagatskaya-Zimina (Gella) is a soloist in the musical Chaplin.
Due to the fact that a wonderful troupe was selected for the project “The Master and Margarita” (musical), the audience’s reviews about the actors involved in the production are the most positive. Most viewers express their special admiration for Ivan Ozhogin, who plays the role of Woland. In their opinion, the artist is perfectly able to embody his hero on the stage.
Musical Premiere
The premiere of the musical "Master and Margarita" took place on September 18. Guests were greeted by girls dressed in small black dresses, and in their arms they held black cats. A red carpet was laid at the entrance to the theater . Everyone who came to the theater for a performance could reincarnate as Kota-Behemoth and take pictures in such an image. An interesting idea with the division of seats in the hall into sectors with the names of memorable places from the novel: "Variety", "restaurant Griboedov" ...
Performance Features
“Master and Margarita” (musical, St. Petersburg) has a number of unique features. This is an interactive performance - in the course of the action, the audience becomes its participants. In addition to the decorations, video content with a three-dimensional image is used in the design, it was created using the latest technology, which allows you to do without stereo glasses. The musical has special effects and Copperfield tricks. During the performance, photo and video are allowed, applause is prohibited. “Master and Margarita” (musical) received the most flattering reviews about the interactivity, the audience was delighted with such a close interaction between the artists and the audience.
Monument to the Master and Margarita
On the eve of the premiere of the musical, a press conference was held, in the final of which a monument to the Master and Margarita by the sculptor Grigory Pototsky was unveiled directly on the stage of the theater. In the future, it is planned to move it to the Russian Museum. Grigory Pototsky portrayed the heroes in the form of the St. Andrew's Cross.
Ticket price and how to get
The play “Master and Margarita” will be shown at the Music Hall Theater in blocks, an average of 7-10 days per month. The action lasts 2 hours 30 minutes with intermission. Tickets cost from 500 to 5000 rubles. In the theater you can buy a program, discs with studio recording of arias, t-shirts.
Theater address: Alexandrovsky Park, 4. The nearest metro station is Gorkovskaya. Nearby are the Baltic House Theater, the Skazkin House Theater, the Leningrad Zoo. Nearby is the famous "Peter and Paul Fortress".