A Century of Musical

The flourishing of the musical in Slovenia in the last decade and a half – from Broadway and West End hits to original productions – has generated interest (particularly among the young audience) for this music and performance genre. A genre which, other than a few exceptions (the 1980s’ Stink Opera and In Slovenian Mountains, the early 1990s’ Snow White and a decade later Chicago), used to be a rare guest on Slovenian stages.This may have been the result of theatre managers’ underestimating the genre, their unfamiliarity with off-Broadway productions and the unawareness that among the very many commercial works, there are musicals based on superb plays.

But now, our theatres also know that the musical genre can mean things beyond entertaining musical comedy. To bring a part of this musical-stage tradition to the audiences in Primorska, A Century of the Musical introduces the most recognisable and vocally demanding numbers from Broadway musicals and stages them so that they connect into a whole. Besides the music and vocal interpreters, a pianist connects the numbers and presents the development of the genre as well as the most important trends and turning points in its history.

The author of the text and the director of the production is one of today’s most prominent European directors of musicals, the Czech Stanislav Moša. In A Century of the Musical, he introduces evergreen scenes from nineteen musicals from the 1930s onwards: Hair, Les Miserables, Cats, Evita, My Fair Lady, Jekyll & Hyde, Miss Saigon, West Side Story, Jesus Christ Superstar, Cabaret, Fiddler on the Roof, Hello, Dolly, The Phantom of the Opera, Porgy and Bess, Mary Poppins, Aladdin, The Lion King, Notre Dame de Paris and Moulin Rouge!.