Musicals are staged to help people relax, not think hard
Let us support the domestic producer and watch the Equator musical! A grand show by the Kyiv standard, and the authors promise that it is kept in the Broadway spirit and done under an exclusive London show program. Although there seems to be a sizable expanse of water between Broadway and London, the authors appear to keep their promise. Anyway, given the scarce volume and poor scope of Ukrainian culture, this show leaves one really impressed. In a word, if you want to relax, listen to live music and songs, marvel at scantily dressed beautiful bodies, oh and ah at the vicissitudes of love, inhale stage smoke, go and buy a ticket for the Equator!
This two-act musical premiered at the Kyiv Operetta Theater courtesy of the Art Project Producer Center, made a reality by acknowledged masters of drama and variety. The play and verse belong to the noted poet and singer Oleksandr Vratariov, winner of international contests. The music was written by Oleksandr Zlotnyk, People’s Artiste of Ukraine, winner of Ukraine’s first Big Gold Medal of the World Organization of Intellectual Property in Switzerland (in other words, Ukraine’s number-one intellectual). It was staged by Viktor Shulakov, Meritorious Worker of Culture of Ukraine, winner of the Taras Shevchenko State Prize (it was his 100th stage production).
And if you think that these people with their kudos lack in lightness and entertaining spirit, you are wrong.
Their rhythms are springy and energetic, their melodies are in the hit parade division; you see many attractive young people caught in heathen, sailor’s, and court ballroom dances, with acrobats pulling off breathtaking stunts above and on stage (the cast includes performers from the Kyiv Variety and Circus College), and singers doing their numbers with a vocal and drama skill rarely witnessed in modern pop art. In a word, the show is an impressive success. The posters promise that you will remember it long afterward. It is true.
Even if the whole show is in Russian, Miklukho-Maklay, the celebrated traveler, ethnographer, humanist, and Papua New Guinea’s human rights champion (that country still has Maklay Coast), was born in Ukraine. They sing about him (the cast sings only) that he is a Cossack from the Zaporozhzhian Sich glorified by Nikolai Gogol; that the Cossacks are hard to keep under control, that they have iron will; that under Catherine some of them decided to make their names sound British, so that Miklukho-Maklay now appears a real gentleman... Denys Barkanov, with his unique vocal and dramatic talent, appears more in public demand in Moscow than in Ukraine. His Miklukho-Maklay is a born romantic, an extremely charming individual. The plot makes him a target of amorous encroachments on the part of four women, but he is a rebel and prefers a storm on the southern seas to stormy love affairs.
All of the women sing very well and two are also excellent dancers (A. Makarchuk as Innkeeper Augusta and S. Loboda as the savage girl Mirana). Two of them are very beautiful (K. Konechna as the Chief Lady in Waiting Alena Pavlovna, and T. Liberman as Margaret, Prime Minister’s daughter with a smashing bust and a treacherous smile on the lips that are sweet like cherries). On top of all that, the man is chased by the twin savage sisters impersonated by Hanna and Natalia Ivaniuk, both excellent dancers and singers, and lusted for by the rest of the female Papuan populace. But he remains a staunch albeit adventuresome anthropologist. Margaret is the only one he kisses, but do not ask me what happened afterward. I have no idea.
The only thing the audience should not do during the show is use their brains, trying to piece together the plot or figure out the logic of what is happening on stage. Instead, everybody should relax and enjoy the music, processor-controlled lighting, rhythmically chimerical dances beautifully staged by Andriy Yeremin, the young cast’s vocal and dramatic skills (including the charming villain Otto Finsch played by T. Luchanko), the gorgeous arrangement of Oleh Shak, Vlad Rudenko’s inventive stage design, D. Mishenkova and K. Bobkova’s attractive costumes, and the whole performance’s youthful energy.
As for the plot, it can only be guessed, especially in the second act. It is also true, however, that the authors made it clear from the outset that theirs is a hit-parade musical. In other words, the whole thing is a set of video clips hastily put together. And the hell on the plot. You want to know what the story is about? Ask someone else. Listening to the actors’ line will not help you either (e.g., “Turning traitor is a serious art, especially when betraying a friend...”; “Once we cross the equator, we’re saved...”; “Adventure, adventure, victors aren’t judged, with the shield or on the shield...” — from what I know, being on the shield means getting killed, so how it fits in with being victor beats me). In a word, the text is markedly simple and there is a small Papuan-Russian glossary attached to the brochure that you can buy with your ticket. An invitation to study a foreign language. Seriously, the show tries to run with the hare and hunt with the hounds, struggling to combine humor with romanticism. And you know what? It works now and then.
Like I said, do not try to figure out what you are watching and hearing, for then you will try to understand why the Moon rises and wanes, why young ladies looking exactly the same and wearing miniskirts are walking arm-in-arm with the Russian emperor. Are they grand princesses? If so, what are they doing there? The libretto is the only way you will follow the romance between His Royal Highness and the Chief Lady in Waiting, just as it is the only way you will understand why Miklukho- Maklay turned away from that lady when she confessed her love. And the Prime Minister’s daughter! So noble and impregnable, then suddenly you see her dancing with sailors. One of the characters is called the Voice of the South Seas, an absolutely virtual figure, nothing but a symbol (Oleksandr Tyshchenko with his overwhelming male soprano). He suddenly finds himself captured by highwaymen. They pounce on him and tear off his gold-threaded clothes, their loot... I could go on, but then you would have too many questions to ask of the stage director, and the man is celebrating his birthday. He is a creative personality and that is the way he sees things. Miklukho-Maklay and Margaret sing about their love and then he does a solo part, his inner monologue, with Margaret simply stepping into the wings and then returning to complete their duet. So what? That is how the stage director sees it. And his mise en scenes are simple and expressive: the performers are in the center and alongside the footlights, so you can clearly see everybody. Monotonous? Maybe, but you do not have to look for anyone.
One also wonders about Miklukho-Maklay walking to the center of the stage, then moving to the edge, remaining silent. What is the stage director’s idea? The hero is lost in thought, but few if any in the audience can read his mind and the actor does nothing to help them. I remember a stage director in Kyiv, he would tell an actor, “Just stand there, it’s a sequel.” Sounds great, but you try it and you will see if it is an easy task. In our case the actor stands as though he were a remembrance with a sequel or vice versa.
Once again, if you buy a ticket, just relax and enjoy yourself. Trust me, you will find the show highly entertaining. If you have a strong philosophic trait, here is some food for thought:
We are all travelers in this world,
We all come and go,
But there are chosen ones in life,
Those destined for the road to
Calvary and to the throne.
Where do you think you belong? Do not worry, we will cross the equator and will be saved.
