Romanov family's great friend Grigory Rasputin kissing Nabokov's Lolita - New Musical "Lolita 1916"

 

New exciting performance from the acclaimed production team Makers Lab. The plot of the musical is based on the story of the English writer Christine Hancock "Lolita 1916". Events unfold in the winter of 1916. The train following the route "Tsarskoye Selo - St. Petersburg" crashes. After the disaster, passengers get to know each other. The British intelligence officer Oswald Theodore Rayner falls in love with the artist’s 13-year-old daughter, and Grigory Rasputin treats the maid of honor of Empress Alexandra Fedorovna Anna Vyrubova, who was injured in the accident. How will these events affect the history of the country and why will they lead to the collapse of the tsarist regime in Russia? The authors of the play will present their own interpretation of historical events, in the center of which is young Lolita.

Almost 70 artists are involved in the performance. To enhance the Broadway sound, several compositions of the new musical were recorded by American Joel Sill, sound producer of the films Forrest Gump and Terminator. Spectators and scenery will surprise you. Not only a train will appear on the scene, but also a giant installation with the head of Rasputin, composed by the artist from shreds.

How did this sweet creation with childish smile make an English spy give up his career and homeland? International production team, stars of Russian musicals, innovative 3D scenery, multi-channel sound, contemporary - choreography.

The world premiere of the horror musical about Grigory Rasputin held in St. Petersburg at the LDM. New scene. " The new musical Lolita is the largest project of the Makers Lab team. This time, almost 70 artists are involved in the production. For comparison, there are traditionally no more than 26 performers in all the largest Russian musicals, and only the Broadway “Lion King” can be compared in scale with “Lolita”. To enhance the Broadway sound, several compositions of the new musical were recorded by American Joel Sill, sound producer of the films Forrest Gump and Terminator. The powerful contemporary choreography and staging is the responsibility of the guru of Russian mass dance scenes, choreographer Svyatoslav Melnikov, head of the Jagger dance studio, who staged dance numbers for the Sochi Winter Olympics and the Scarlet Sails festival. The main parts of the musical will be performed by Disney's “voice” in Russia Yulia Dovganishina (cartoons “Moana”, “Scheherazade”, “Beauty and the Beast”), winner of the show “Voice” on Channel One Evdokia Malevskaya, actress Anastasia Makeeva. Costume designer Anna Nazukova, who previously created fantastic costumes for the musicals “Master and Margarita” and “Chudo-Yudo,” came up with outfits for the new production that convey the spirit of the time so that the audience themselves can see and feel the atmosphere of the era of the last pre-revolutionary years. And the work of the artist-decorator, Anna Andrienko, who also produced hats for the production, will make the audience plunge into what is happening on stage. In the new musical, even the artists' makeup is special: specially for Lolita, PROMAKEUP developed a new line of cosmetics for the stage.

The team of creators of the acclaimed musicals "Master and Margarita", "Demon Onegin", "Oscar and the Pink Lady. Letters to God ”, studied archival documents, the story“ Lolita 1916 ”and, together with historians, conducted a real investigation of the tragic death of the world famous“ elder ”Rasputin. The author of the libretto and general producer Irina Afanasyeva, composer Anton Tanonov, actress Anastasia Makeeva and choreographer Svyatoslav Melnikov on November 2, 3 and 4 will present their vision of events that entailed troubled times, on November 2, 3 and 4 at the LDM. New scene. " The heroes of the new musical of the production company Makers Lab are Prince Felix Yusupov, maid of honor Anna Vyrubova, English intelligence officer Oswald Rayner and central characters, Grigory Rasputin and Lolita, the daughter of the artist Steblov. The play, based on the story of the English writer Christine Hancock "Lolita 1916", takes place in the winter in Russia in 1916. The plot is based on real events.

The train following the route "Tsarskoye Selo - St. Petersburg" crashes. At the time of the catastrophe, the fate of the heroes intersects: the English scout Oswald Rayner falls in love with the daughter of the artist Steblov, Lolita (Aglaya), the maid of honor of the Empress Alexandra Fedorovna Anna Vyrubova meets an English spy, and Grigory Rasputin treats Vyrubova, the victim of the accident. Meanwhile, in the mansion of Felix Yusupov, a conspiracy against Rasputin, prepared by Purishkevich, Grand Duke Dmitry and Oswald Rayner, is forming. The authors of the play offer their own interpretation of historical events, in the center of which is the young daughter of the artist Steblov, Lolita. How did the 13-year-old fragile Lolita become the main ingredient in the lethal cocktail of Grigory Rasputin? How did this girl make the English spy abandon his career and homeland? This is described in the musical. After the death of Rasputin, Russia plunged into revolutionary times, one of the most tragic moments of which was the shooting of the imperial family in the summer of 1918, a performance dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the death of the Romanovs.

The production promises to be one of the most spectacular in the collection of the production team of Makers Lab. In one of the scenes there will be a train and a giant installation with the head of Rasputin, composed by the artist from shreds. The music of the play, including arias, French and Russian romances, was written by composer Anton Tanonov. Already, the main parts can be heard on social networks and seen on YouTube - the theater first went to the experiment and demonstrates musical material and clips of the performance in public. The main role, maids of honor of Anna Vyrubova, is performed by actress Anastasia Makeeva: after Betsy Tverskaya, played in the TV series Anna Karenina, Makeeva again turns to the female image from the last century.

“We are doing the first horror musical in Russia,” comments Irina Afanasyeva, general producer and author of the libretto. - Whether it will be scandalous, and what can happen, I do not know, but I can say for sure: the music is divine! This is an absolutely grand project. We have never worked in the horror genre, but this genre is closer to me than the comedy one. Why did we decide to make a horror musical? The answer is simple - now there is not a single good one. ”

Irina Afanasyeva says that initially the production was originally planned according to the story of Vladimir Nabokov, but this idea had to be abandoned so as not to infringe on the copyrights now owned by the American agency. The work of Nabokov, after the death of his heir, Dmitry, can neither be filmed nor put on the stage. The theater conducted a study and found out that there are at least two more Lolits: the German author Heins von Lichberg - a work written before Nabokovsky, as well as the English writer Christine Hancock, where the action takes place in Russia in 1916. The theater decided to stop on the second story: the plot of the work will certainly be close to the residents of St. Petersburg and the guests of the city who are not indifferent to the historical events that plunged Russia into the abyss of terrible revolutionary times.