A boy born disfigured spent his life hidden in the laby- rinthine darkness of an op- era house in Paris. Thanks to the goodness of a ballerina who spared him from distress and evil, in darkness and solitude, isolated behind his own mask, the boy became a musical geni- us. Now already a grown man, on the stage above his darkness he hears the angelic voice of the young Christine, who has gained her first role in the op- era. His love grows into obsession, and that obsession leads to crime. A phan- U katarzi koju svi na kraju doživljavaju u veoma dirljivom momentu kada je Fantom pušta da ode, Kristin ga poljubi, oprašta se od njega dajući mu ono što najviše želi. Da ga neko voli. Možda, da su se ranije sreli... Marta Hadžimanov, Kristin In the catharsis that everyone experiences in the end, at the very touching moment when the Phantom let’s her go, Christine kisses him, making her goodbyes while giving him what he wants the most: for someone to love him. Perhaps, had they met earlier… Marta Hadžimanov, Christine tom who will terrorise and spread fear in the opera house is born. His disfig- ured face becomes insignificant com- pared to the distortion of his soul. Want- ing only to be loved and accepted, the Phantom becomes a monster... This story, based on Gaston Leroux’s 1910 novel, is said to have been inspired by true events that occurred in the Paris Opera during the 19 th century. In the hands of the legendary Andrew Lloyd Webber, it became the topic for the longest-run- ning musical of all time, which has to date been seen by more than 140 million peo- ple. It came to life in London’s West End in 1986 and went on to break all records in the number of performances of a sin- gle musical, while on Broadway, where it
premiered two years later, it became the absolute record holder. The Phantom of the Opera has now also arrived on the boards of Belgrade, on the stage of Terazije Theatre, where this theatre’s director, Aleksandar Đaja, realised his artistic plan. - Since arriving at this theatre 16 years ago, I wanted to stage three great musi- cals – Victor/Victoria, Mama Mia and the Phantom of the Opera. My trilogy has now been completed, with the most demand- ing show ever – says Đaja. The magic of the Phantom of the Opera musical, its secret code, is said to be hidden in the dance at perhaps the highest height at which the heroes of this piece are raised. The human voice has no- where further to go, nor anywhere fur- ther to reach. This musical is also about sacrifice, giving, devotion, envy, hoping, fighting with averageness, and all of this is ultimately dedicated to art, because the main hero is actually music. An avalanche of unbelievable and tragic events in one theatre, the inter- weaving of two realities, initiates the love of the main hero, the mysterious Phan- tom, for the talent of the young opera singer and her voice. Among the more than 200 performers on the stage of Ter- azije Theatre, Slobodan Stefanović finds himself playing the lead role, while his partner on stage is the fantastic seven- teen-year-old Marta Hadžimanov. Stefanović, the champion of this thea- tre, who himself says that he hasn’t played a great number of lead roles, emphasis- es that the most important thing when setting up this show was to know who he needs to address and whom to touch. - I think it’s the right time to stage this show in Serbia, because we aren’t even aware of how many phantoms lurk around us, how many disfigured, rejected, unaccepted souls whose cries we don’t hear. Our senses have dulled to love, ac- ceptance and compassion. If my phan- tom succeeds in awakening a spark of compassion, regardless of the crimes he’s committed, which actually mirror the so- ciety that made him such, then I can say that I have achieved something – we are told by Slobodan, who can breathe more easily after the premiere. That’s because the phantom reached every heart in the audience, who blubbered while follow- ing his final return to the light. This dis- figured hero in an act of absolute love grants freedom to his beloved Christine, who leaves with the one she loves – Vis- count Raoul... And Christine, who receives a role due to a set of circumstances, steals his
Marta Hadžimanov (17) je ovom ulogom postala najmlađa Kristin na svetu By taking up this role, Marta Hadžimanov (17) became the world’s
youngest Christine
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