Moscow. Final Premieres

16.08.2021

NucKids 2021 Project has completed. This year the participants, keeping with tradition, played five performances in Moscow in a very short period of time: on August 12th, 13th and 14th the Et Cetera Theater hosted the final premieres of the musical Atomic Love.

This year the audience had a unique opportunity to see four casts on stage at once – two younger and two older ones.

“Nuclear Kids – and that says it all! Their children’s energy, sincerity is always something especially sensual, sensitive, reaching into the heart. Stunning music by Ilya Efimov, excellent choreography by Maxim Nedolechko always reaffirm the trademark of the project. I see many of the kids again, and I would like to note how the “old timers” of the project have grown during this year. This year the musical showed us that children can teach adults a lot, and this is a very important topic to talk about from the stage” – said Anastasia Lyamtseva, a participant of the NucKids 2011 and 2012 Project.

On the final day of the premiere, the counselors came to help the kids to get ready and produce the best results. In the morning, the kids did exercises, and after that the participants together with the counselors, standing in a circle and holding hands, tied a “string of friendship” to each other, sharing their energy before the final shows. The rest of the time the main cast rehearsed their parts and scenes. There were moments when the buttonholes were switched off or the batteries died, then the counselors were there to easily and professionally change the microphones; if during the rehearsal a part of the character’s costume flew off – the dresser quickly came to help; during the audience blackout and rearrangements the kids actively supported each other. Such coordinated joint work was carried out backstage and on stage, because the last premiere was always recorded for the follow-up video version. All mistakes and flaws are clearly visible through the cameras, so there was no room for error. Anxiety was put aside, because the audience appreciated the work done and appraised it with loud and long applause. At the final performances, the participants came out to bow twice! At the end of the premiere, many kids let their emotions out: they cried, hugged, realizing that there was only one day left until the departure.

“I always thought that I gave the kids a little bit of atomic love, which they kept for the whole project, but after watching the musical, I saw how the kids were multiplying this love in their hearts and sharing it with the audience. This is the main mission of our project – to cultivate love in young hearts and give it to the world. Many spectators shared their enthusiastic feedback about the performance with me: they said that they enjoyed the musical, and this equals to success for us” – shared Sergey Novikov, the author of the idea of the Nuclear Kids Project.

Having played the last performance, on August 15th the children went on a walking tour around VDNKh and visited the Space Pavilion. There they learned about the structure of spaceships, the life of astronauts on orbital stations and tried to launch their own rocket in an interactive application. After the excursion, the participants went to the water bus, to take part in the traditional Farewell Party and see the fireworks.

A festive banquet and beautiful panoramic views of Moscow awaited the children on the ship. Also there was a farewell concert, where children performed their favorite songs, dances, theatrical scenes and sketches. Many people remembered the original song of Eva Goryunova, Angarsk dance medley and a performance from the counselors, in which adult mentors recalled all the funny and sad moments of the project. Whole teams also performed, expressing gratitude for such a wonderful summer to everyone around them. A lottery of lucky tickets was held after the creative part of the evening. As a result of the lottery, bypassing all the castings, the following people were selected for the project: Kseniya Kravchenko, Diana Khlyamova and Matvey Eidelstein.

Besides these kids, the lucky tickets were given to three more participants, whose efforts were evaluated by the creative team of the project. They were: Elizaveta Zavodova, Svetlana Tolstukhina and Ksenia Ponomarenko. Veriko Shevardenidze will go as a volunteer with a lucky ticket next year. However, in 2021 there was an update on the project, and now the granted participation in the project was awarded not only to children, but also to counselors. Having consulted with senior teacher Elena Gordeeva, the administrative and creative group awarded Vitaly Korolev as a counselor of the NucKids Project 2022 for his active work, and Amina Abdurakhmanova will go as a volunteer.

Well, the summer session of the NucKids Project 2021 is officially over. But we have a lot of interesting things ahead of us! In the fall, after passing the selection, the participants will prepare performances for the Day of the Nuclear Industry Worker. After which the Winter Tale will be waiting for the kids, where in almost a week they will have to stage a musical again, but that’s another story.

In the meantime, get ready for the casting in March, because we will again go on a selection tour across the cities of Russia and will be looking for new talents!

See you again, right?

Absolutely!

Nuckids Project media office