BRANKO MILIĆEVIĆ: ALTERNATING FOR A SUPERSTAR Branko Milićević, who later came to be known as Kocki- ca, was recruited by Jovan Ćirilov from the Belgrade Drama Theatre, where he saw him in a “folk song” play singing “Dji- da”. Noting Branko’s voice, Ćirilov hired him to stand in oc- casionally for Miša Janketić. “I was thrilled, as an unknown actor, to be the alternate for a superstar whenever he was away shooting some lm. I later replaced him complete- ly, but also jumped into other roles if, for example, an ac- tor had to do their national military service. If I hadn’t fallen in love with children and children’s theatre, I would have re- mained in musicals for the rest of my life,” says Milićević. NADA BLAM: EXTREME PROGRESS “At the audition for Hair, which back then wasn’t called cast- ing, many young people applied, but I had no doubt that I would be picked,” says Nada Blam. Her self-con dence was fuelled by the fact that she sang beautifully, was musical- ly educated and came from a family of musicians. And she wasn’t mistaken: she was immediately assigned a solo part. And not only that – after having started as an amateur and part of the “Tribe”, a few years later she was already a stu- dent of the Academy of Dramatic Arts and succeeded Se- ka Sablić in one of the main roles. That can be referred to as
of this incredible story. There was no more huge demand pushing the show, rather tick- ets were being bought by companies and public bodies, so that day part of the hall was occupied by cadets from the Military Acad- emy. In contract to the usual enthusiasm of viewers, the young soldiers were seeming- ly frozen in shock. One ocer soon reacted by sending a letter to the Yugoslav leader- ship, protesting against the ripping up of military cards. The scene was labelled neg- ative propaganda for serving national mil- itary duty. Hair was removed from the rep- ertoire, but the real reason might have been that it had “exhausted” itself. Nevertheless, as the greatest theatre hit of the 20 th century, Hair also experienced a remake at Atelje 212 in 2010, adapted and directed by Kokan Mladenović. And, just as Bora Ćosić had adjusted the script slightly to suit this region back in 1968, so Mlade- nović also harmonised it with the current situation. Although this version of the mu- sical - which was also criticised by multina- tional companies in their struggle for prof- it - was a big hit, it was impossible for it to outdo the 1969 version. That rst Hair is still remembered today as the moment when Belgrade became the world, and the theatre experienced a turna- round. Of those credited with this success, many are no longer with us - Mira Trailović, Jovan Ćirilov, Dušan Prelević, Ljuba Moljac, Dragan Nikolić... Legends all...
to leave anything to chance, Trailović de- cided to divide the actors into those who would carry the dialogue – the already prov- en Dragan Nikolić, Miša Janketić and Branko Miličević – and those who would participate in mass scenes, singing and dancing.“In the city they joked that Hair was the cheapest strip bar,” laughs Vlahović. But Hair was, of course, much more than that. The premiere performance, on 19 th May 1969, was a genuine bombshell, and the show immediately became a favourite. So much so that, on Sundays and during tours, the ensemble would perform three times a day. Our Hair was on a par with Broadway’s in terms of quality, while it di ered from oth- er versions around the world in terms of its interaction with the audience. This speci c quality was also noticed by Ragni and Rado during their visit to Belgrade.They spontane- ously joined the ensemble at Atelje for sev- eral numbers, and that was forever remem- bered and recounted in the media. They also sang to then Yugoslav President Josip Broz Tito on the occasion of his birthday cele- bration at the Youth Centre. While practis- ing the choreography for this special occa- sion, someone noted that turning towards Tito – a gure of unimaginable authority – at the point of singing“LetThe Sunshine In” could have been misinterpreted. The scene was changed to the forming of a circle with a light source (a disco ball) at the centre. Of course, scenes of stripping and ripping up military cards were also excluded, soTito very much appreciated the sections depicted for him. His photograph with the performers circled the world. The pursuit of perfection resulted in numerous alternations, so Branko Milićević played almost all male roles, substituting Dra- gan Nikolić as Berger, and Miodrag Andrić – better known as Ljuba Moljac – who por- trayed Woof. Nada Blam began as part of the “tribe”, only to take over – after three years – from Seka Sablić in the role of Jeannie, the hippie girl who doesn’t care whose child she’s carrying. The wealthy Sheila was played by Mirjana Peić, while Berger’s solo numbers were performed by Dušan Prelević. The play invested heavily in production, with special lights procured for the tour, as well as microphones, a stroboscope and smoke e ects, while the Saša Radojčić Or- chestra was also engaged. Everything had to be magni cent. However, as a legalist in spirit, Mira respected the contract that didn’t permit lming. Thus, not one of the more than 250 performances was recorded, with memories recollected only via two black and white recordings of songs performed by Mire Peić, Prelević and the “Tribe”. Unfortunately, sometime in mid-1973, something happened that signalled the end
extremely swift progress. SEKA SABLIĆ: TIME OF JOY
“That was a glorious time, though we weren’t aware of that at that moment, rather we were just lled with incred- ible joy,” says Seka Sablić talking about that period of the late ‘60s. The leader of that time, when it comes to thea- tre, was Mira Trailović – an incredibly energetic and proper manager; a woman who brought the latest and best scripts from around the world, including Hair. This ensured that the young Sablić loved her role as Jeannie very much. “As I would pass through the audience, I made direct eye con- tact with individuals and thus joined the practise of Bitef’s avant-garde. The fascinating qualities of the musical were not muted due to the original music, exceptional chore- ography, acting bravura and incredible singing of Dušan Prelević,” says Seka.
Kosa je trajala puna tri sata, sa pauzom između dva čina. Jedna od retkih mirnih, ležećih scena, da pleme obnovi snagu Hair ran for a full three hours, with a break between the two acts. One of the rare tranquil, laid-back scenes, for the tribe to recoup its strength
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