Premiere in the Szekszárd

05.08.2018

Here it is, perhaps, one of the main milestones of the NucKids 2018 Project. More than 20 rehearsal days, a vast amount of learned text, a lot of sleepless nights and invested effort. All this is left behind. And now the first spectators are entering the hall of the Mihai Babić Cultural Center to see the musical Lomonosov’s Scroll.

On August 4th, on a sunny Hungarian day, the hall of the Cultural Center was filled with friends and relatives of the participants from Hungary, as well as representatives of the nuclear enterprises of Paks. These were our first spectators. Antal Kovács, Information Director of Paks NPP, attended the premiere. He noted that one of the aims for the construction of nuclear power plants is building friendship between people. “The NucKids project gives us that very pure children’s friendship, essential source of inspiration. How great it is that there are such projects!” – said Antal Kovács.

 According to an old tradition, all atomic artists, together with members of the creative team, gather backstage to perform the final “charge”. This is such a moment of unity of all project participants, when teachers give final instructions and wish a successful premiere. “Hands in the center! One! Two! Three! God be with you!” – is heard from the backstage, which means that the children have received a charge of energy, gathered their strength and are ready to start the performance.

The third bell sounds and the curtain opens. The audience is immersed in the unique atmosphere of the musical. The next hour and a half flies in a blink of an eye. One scene follows another, a fantastic detective replaces a historical drama. We see Russia of the XVIII century headed by Lomonosov, as well as many mysteries and riddles that the great scientist left behind. The hall is enchanted by the main characters, musical pieces and the general tone of the performance.

“The premiere went very well for me! It’s true that they turned on the wrong phonogram on our stage by mistake, but all the kids reacted very well and made it up. I don’t think anyone in the audience even realized it. I also really liked the way our dancers performed. Also, our vocalists performed live songs – Call Me and Lomonosov and Elizabeth Duet. It was very cool! And, of course, the costumes. They were just great. When you go out in full costume and makeup, you feel your character better and give yourself more to what’s going on”.

Sofya Polzunova, 14 years old from Petrozavodsk

But during the premiere the atmosphere heats up not only on stage. No less active work is going on behind the scenes. Someone is closely following the progress of the play, someone is changing for the next scene, someone is preparing the scenery, and someone is cheering up friends and helping with the exit to the stage. Technical services are also working here, because it is necessary for the participant to go on stage in the right costume, to have a microphone on and to have the right props in his hand. But our atomic artists are used to it! They are ready for the show!

The next task for the project participants was to adapt the play to the large venue at the Mihai Babić Cultural Center. This is no longer a small stage in Tolna, but a serious and professional theater venue that hosts many international productions. Thanks to the technical capabilities of the Cultural Center, the audience was able to fully see all the intentions of the creative team. Video projection, light, and sound – all this helped the participants of the project to make the musical colorful.

“Today I felt that it was a real premiere for the first time. In Tolna it was more like a dress rehearsal: we didn’t go anywhere, we played at the venue we know well and rehearsed for more than 20 days. And here it’s different! You already feel a professional stage, which is spacious enough for a cool musical. And the flooring for the dancers was just right. It was a pleasure to perform our musical pieces. And when they turned on the projection and lights, we finally realized what our dances were supposed to look like. And that’s just awesome!”

Vlada Ustinenko, 14 years old from Angarsk

After the performance, a special surprise awaited all the project participants from the representatives of the Paks NPP. They congratulated the children on the premiere, thanked them for their stay in Hungary and presented them with two large cakes. Also, the employees of the company composed a song about the project, which they performed in front of the children at the farewell dinner. This touching act amazed the whole project team.

In a word, the premiere in Szekszárd was a success. The young artists are happy, and the creative team is planning for further work. We have a lot of room to grow, because there are many more performances to come. Now the project participants are waiting for a tour across Russian atomic cities and a long-awaited return to their homeland. Now it is a sad moment to say goodbye to Hungary. Thank you Tolna, thank you Szekszárd! Köszönöm!

Lev Suslov,

Specially for nuckids.ru