Italiano Revva: a musical based on foreign pop hits was presented in Moscow
Bright nylon suits, sweatpants with shiny sequins, groovy melodies of Soviet discos and the incomparable atmosphere of the Russian south — a new musical performance "Everything will be Celentano" was presented on the stage of the Moscow Youth Palace. The same team that drove everyone crazy with the musical "Don't Be Afraid of Anything, I'm with You" was responsible for the production. This time, the creators went a little further than naked nostalgia and added amazing absurdity to the plot, as well as presented comedian Alexander Revva with his debut theatrical role. Izvestia was one of the first to rate the production.
The Love Polygon
The plot centers on Dima Istomin (Nikita Kuchikhidze), who dreams of winning the heart of his boss Margarita (Natalia Bystrova). The latter's love is also claimed by a local Greek with the imposing name Zeus Borisovich (Alexander Matrosov). Among the arguments in his favor are the brand—new Volga, the Parnas restaurant and sauna complex, and a half-unbuttoned shirt.
The action takes place in the summer of 1987 in the fictional Black Sea region. Shortly before City Day, the local executive committee remains without the star of the music program. Hoping to impress Margarita, Dima is determined to bring the real Adriano Celentano to the south — he is just coming to Moscow with a single concert. Alas, it is impossible to get "italiano vero", but Dima meets a wandering musician Vitya (Alexander Revva) and decides that no one will notice the substitution. Lera (Daria Yanvarina), his school friend, who has been in love with Dima for a long time and unrequited, helps him make an Italian out of a homeless man.
The initial placement of the characters promises a classic love triangle, in which there is a desirable woman, a good guy and a villain who must plot throughout the plot. However, the plot is not limited to these characters, and gradually the story turns into a full—fledged polygon, with each of the vertices awaiting a happy and somewhat unexpected ending.
It is difficult to call Zeus Borisovich an unambiguous antagonist, because he gets the first lyrical solo — Toto Cutugno's song "Se Una Donna Se Ne Va" (in the musical — "You are always with me"). Alexander Matrosov, in fact, plays a bandit with a big heart, so even if his methods raise questions, it is simply impossible not to sympathize with him.
Sergey Plotov was responsible for the adaptation of foreign texts into Russian. In most of the compositions, the musical outline and general thematic outlines remained from the original, but in general they work on the plot. The exception is the songs that Vitya performs, pretending to be Celentano, and therefore has to imitate the star. Anyway— try to. Thanks to this move, the chorus of the song "L'italiano", which sounds in Russian folklore like "loshara mikantara", was included in the musical uncut (the script couldn't resist joking about "loshara" either). In all other cases, you will not be able to sing along with the artists on stage, although no one will forbid you to mumble familiar melodies under your nose.
The main discovery of the musical can rightfully be considered the theatrical debut of Alexander Revva, who received the role of Vitya and also the fake Celentano. His character describes himself exclusively as a "freelance artist from the hero city of Leningrad" and adds a contrasting vividness to the already funny production. Revva is known primarily as a comedian, so many perceive his musical role as Artur Pirozhkov as another joke. But participation in the musical can hardly be called a marketing trick: the artist recorded the song "Like Celentano" back in 2016 and, it seems, had been preparing for the role for a long time. It's a lucky hit, and it's not just about sunglasses, bell-bottomed trousers, and charmingly clumsy Italian. A distinctive feature of the image is his angular gait with his knees deliberately exposed — Revva turns to vivid detail, even when there is no plot need for it. His experience as a comedian dilutes the impeccable acting and choreography of the troupe, making the production not only brilliant, but also funny.
Disco and the time machine
The key advantage of the new production in comparison with the jukebox musicals of recent years is its fearlessness of the absurd. Contrary to expectations, the most notable number of "Everything will be Celentano" was not the grand finale, but the performance of the Italian folk song "Bella Ciao" by the choir of patients of the local sanatorium. The script deftly plays up the Russians' habit of replacing unfamiliar foreign words with understandable analogues, which is why "kidney stones" and "stomach stones" list the names of wines and cheeses that are dangerous to their health. The adaptation of the song "Susanne" suddenly opens with a quote from Pushkin, and individual characters receive Chekhov—like eloquent names - Themis Prigovorova and Aida Khoronyan. The director of the distillery bears the surname Dionisidze and even appears in one of the rooms with golden wings on an airfield cap. Such a game does not give the plot anything significant, but it still makes it more lively.
No less comical are the details that reveal the production's loving relationship to the Soviet past. The Black Sea resort cannot do without chebureks, corn, Ossetian pies, men in family houses, wandering sellers on trains and imposing Caucasian accents. All this adds depth to the musical, even when the production adheres to the safe rules of the genre and seems too smooth.
Talking to the audience after the premiere, Dmitry Bogachev, the author of the idea, noted that the story works like a kind of time machine and returns the viewer to sunny days — not only to the Soviet Union, but also simply to summer. The musical really succeeds in this — it warms, makes you laugh and intelligently recreates the atmosphere, rather than just using nostalgia as a marketing ploy.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
