Unpleasant news: "The Inspector General" became the most expensive performance of the Army Theater

A large-scale spectacle, a "firework performance" with "Balkan motifs" — this is how the new play "The Inspector General" is presented to the audience at the Theater of the Russian Army. Hundreds of costumes were sewn, there was a singing ballet on the stage, and a brass band in the pit. The main star of the production is Alexander Baluyev, who plays the Mayor. Izvestia visited the premiere and appreciated the scope.

The new "Revizor" — musical

The musical is a new genre for the Russian Army Theater, although there are musical productions in the repertoire. This form requires not only good vocal skills, but also the ability to move while singing. Not all dramatic artists have such skills. Fortunately, the troupe of the renowned theater includes a number of generalists who are quite capable of performing such a task.

— When singer Gleb Matveychuk came to us six months ago with the idea to stage the musical "The Inspector General," we immediately realized that this was our material. A witty comedy full of cheerful melodies," said Milena Avimskaya, director of the theater. — From the first reading, we saw that Gleb had placed the accents correctly.

Gleb Matveychuk has been directing for ten years. "The Inspector General" is his first job at the Army Theater. In addition, Matveychuk is also the composer of the play. The fact that the play has a 190th anniversary this year played into his hands.

— "The Inspector General" stands apart in my composing activity, I set myself the task of expanding the meanings of classical comedy with the help of music, — Gleb Matveychuk shared. — The music is written in the Balkan style. This is what creates the farcical effect. The grotesque here is not just a visual element, but a means of expressing character traits, a mirror reflecting reality. I wanted to highlight the hidden fears, vices, and passions of the characters and make them more vivid and memorable.

The creators claim that not a word has been changed in Gogol's text. But this is only in the text that is pronounced in the dramatic parts. But the lyrics of the musical numbers are fresh, you can feel it right away. The verses to the arias were written by Karen Kavalerian and Gleb Matveychuk, and the contrast between the authentic and the new text becomes a kind of dialogue, although it can be very annoying for the viewer. The time of the action is preserved by Gogol, the beginning of the 19th century. And there's a real farce going on on the stage.

"The audience is drawn into the atmosphere of Balkan music with all its colors, instruments, melisms, and polyphony," says Mikhail Eliseev, the musical director of the performance. — We are showing the classic story of the work "The Inspector General", but as if filmed in the genre of an absurd comedy.

One and a half hundred costumes were sewn on the stage to create a celebration. This is handmade, right down to the making of the base. Costume designer Elena Simonova came up with 87 unique prints that were applied to the fabric. They were sewn from them. As Milena Avimskaya says, there has never been a production with so many costumes in the theater. This is the most expensive wardrobe for a performance.

Singing dancers from their troupe were selected for the production, and 12 musical artists were invited on a competitive basis. There are three rehearsals every day. Vocal and choreography teachers worked with them. It is difficult to imagine Balkan melodies without wind instruments. Trumpeters, oboists, saxophonists, and horn players were hired. It turned out to be something like the soundtracks to Kusturica's films.

Who plays in the "Inspector General"

The surprise for the audience was Alexander Baluyev in the role of the Mayor. According to the director of the theater, Milena Avimskaya, the People's Artist of Russia was pleased to respond to the offer. The role is big, comedic, and burdened — the artist had to discover new facets of his talent and try himself as a comedian-vocalist. It turned out that Alexander Nikolaevich practically has a bass.

But Baluyev did not limit himself to mastering the Mayor's parties. He's dancing here. He moves on stage in an original way. He famously dances in a pair with the Honored Artist of Russia Anastasia Busygina, who plays the role of the wife of the Mayor Anna Andreevna. That one is exciting, plastic. Even the deliberately bright makeup did not make the actress a clowness. She remained as feminine and seductive as the theatergoers used to see her.

The director invited Ekaterina Lyutova to play the role of his daughter, Maria Antonovna. The tall actress looked comical next to the petite "mother." This is as it should be: Gogol writes that at times Marya Antonovna resembles a three-year-old child. The heroine, despite being tall, bats her eyelashes, laughs out of place and demonstrates her long legs to the potential groom Khlestakov.

Khlestakov is Dmitry Lomakin. She sings, dances, and does acrobatic stunts. Sports training is felt.

— We did a herculean job, all the workshops had a hand in it, — Dmitry Lomakin shared. — I never thought that you could sing Gogol, but it turned out that you can. We were not trying to lower the author to ourselves in this way, but through this genre we wanted to reach Gogol. He's at the head of this story.

The Army Theater managed to invite Maria Poroshina to the production. She usually acts in films, but on stage she can only be seen in entreprise projects. The director, seeing the work of the guest star, was amazed: "Maria Poroshina, it turns out, can be hot and spicy, unlike the image we are used to: sweet, kind, graceful. It will be an opening for the audience."

The performance is technically challenging. Additional equipment was used for the production. As the director says, what they didn't have enough money to buy, they rented. The decoration workshop has created a two-level set design. The audience applauded the scale, humor, and idea standing up. Someone was bragging that they had bought tickets for the next show. And the snobs grumbled that Gogol's text was such that one could not write poetry, but simply sing what was in the play, and it would turn out even better.