With the big role comes the big responsibility

23.07.2018

As in any other play there are main characters in the musical Lomonosov’s Scroll of the NucKids project 2018 These kids faced an enormous responsibility and pressure in the wink of an eye. How hard was it to get the desired role? How to feel your character and weave together with it? And what is it like to be the key of the whole performance? We talked about it with the project participants performing the main roles.

After all, being the main character is a big challenge. Can you imagine what it is to impeccably know the role which the whole performance depends on? And that’s within 23 days of production. In the beginning of the project, within just one minute, a small group of kids not only became little stars of NucKids 2018, but also missed the opportunity to play with friends, go to the pool and walk around the wonderful city of Tolna. Rehearsals, rehearsals and again rehearsals. No time to delay, as there is a lot of work to be done, and the deadline must be reached in time.

In 2018, NucKids will present The Lomonosov’s Scroll, a real crime drama with a detective storyline. The story is about an art specialist, Neil Garin, who will attempt to solve the mystery of the Lomonosov’s Scroll with his assistants, whose line is also prescribed in the script. Sounds outstanding! But our nuclear artists will have to make this incredible idea a reality. And that’s not easy.

“I didn’t expect that I would get the lead role this year. I am very happy that the director entrusted it to me. The main role is, first of all, a very intense workload. You have to work very hard to make your character come out vivid and genuine on stage. Neil Garin is a very clever and inventive person. But sometimes, I think, from boredom and indolence, he can fall into some sort of a mental anabiosis. I also have similar feelings sometimes, but I try to avoid it. It’s such a stressful schedule now that you just can’t relax.

Stepan Tegin, 16 years old from Moscow

The musical Lomonosov’s Scroll will not only be filled with Dan Brown style detective stories and mysteries, it will also feature a kind of leap into the past. While the main character Neil Garin searches for the mysterious scroll in modern Moscow, we will see a fragment of the the genius Russian scientist life. Pavel Ivanov from Petrozavodsk was lucky enough to play Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov, and that is a challenging task for him. The young artist will have to create a truthful portrait of his character, as well as to personify a real historical figure on the stage.

“To be honest, when I first read the script, I didn’t even think of playing Lomonosov. It seemed to me that the role wasn’t for me at all. Even at the first rehearsal with the director, we didn’t agree on this character. We had to re-analyze everything, read and understand the character. It was very difficult. And the text wasn’t easy either. It was smaller than Neil Garin’s, for example, but it was filled with confusing, outdated words. We had to work hard. And if we didn’t have our acting training, I probably wouldn’t have made it. But it’s all cool now. I’m getting the hang of the role and I feel like I’m in the right place”.

Pavel Ivanov, 17 years old from Petrozavodsk

Playing the main role is not only a huge amount of work on the character’s image, but also a great responsibility for the whole performance. The kids realize that a lot depends upon them. They have the most time on stage, the most lyrics and acting dedication. If the main characters are dull, neither songs, nor dances, nor deep drama will save the musical. But the nuclear artists are well aware of how high the stakes are, and they have no intention of giving up!

I feel a great responsibility that I have been credited. The main role is very difficult, and you have to go through a lot of preparation. There’s no excuse for the fact that I’m a little girl. We work like real artists. But there is no sense of pressure. For me this work is a pleasure. I’m ready to rehearse all day long, just so that the play will please our audience, and me too. Plus, I feel a kind of unity with my character and I fully understand her. So everything should work well.

Daria Maslova, 13 years old from Nizhny Novgorod

So, the main characters keep preparing hard for the upcoming premiere. The kids have just a few days left to finish the text, spread out on the stage and be confident in what they’re doing there. Very soon the big runs with scenery, props and sound arrangements will begin. The hardest part is yet to come!

Lev Suslov,

Specially for nuckids.ru