The MDM Theater hosted the premiere of the play “Fear Nothing, I’m with You”

The MDM Theater presented the premiere of the play “Don’t be afraid, I’m with you” based on the songs of the beat quartet “Secret” popular in the 80s. The performance is staged in the style of a “post-Soviet musical”, which is becoming more and more popular in the musical theater: on stage is a reconstruction of Soviet realities on the eve of perestroika. But nostalgia has nothing to do with it. A positively provocative show with colorful costumes, spectacular scenery, intricate lighting, incendiary dances and a flying trolleybus has no nostalgic color. Yes, and juicy, pop-musical arrangements by Evgeny Zagota take the style of the songs away from the soulful sound of Russian bard-rock. Movement and fun – this is how you can briefly describe the atmosphere of “Do not be afraid of anything …”.

Celebrities traditionally gather at the premiere at MDM. For well-known reasons, this time the qualitative composition of the celebrity has changed a lot – even the leader of the Secret group, the author of most of the songs, Maxim Leonidov, did not appear. According to the media, he settled in the same place where most of the evaporated celebrities – in Israel, from where he does not plan to return to Russia. Announced a little earlier, the Moscow concert of “Secret”, dedicated to the 40th anniversary of the group, was canceled for the same reason. So another leader of the group, Nikolai Fomenko, took the rap for everyone: he gave interviews, and in the finale went out to bow.

The new life of the 21st hit of the “Leningrad Four” (as they were called in the 80s by fans in rhyme with the “Liverpool Four”) is solved in the jukebox genre. This is when songs written as separate works are taken and combined by composing some text into a single plot. Musical practice is full of this: from Across The Universe to BEATLES songs to MAMMA MIA! for ABBA songs. And it happened with us: “Dandies” is also, by the way, a “post-Soviet musical” based on songs by various authors and a critical look at the “totalitarian past of this country.” It is not easy to compose a story that would link hits in such a way that a coherent dramaturgy would come out. Mikhail Mironov, the author of the play and stage director, who gained his main professional experience as a director of the Evening Urgant program, seemed to be trying to do this. It turned out cool and funny in places, boring and drawn out in places.

The protagonist Slava is conceived as a charismatic sociopath. He is expelled from the Komsomol, expelled from the institute, is under investigation and sells vinyl records with fake autographs on the black market, in short, in the eyes of Mironov, who is the same age as the Secret group, this is a true superhero. He is played by Anton Loban, and it is difficult to understand this choice: the dramatic actor is not very friendly with vocals. The directors are aware of this problem, so Slava, most often, acts as the lead singer – she sings (let’s use this word conditionally) the first phrases, then they are picked up by the singing part of the cast. The second character is a tired cliché: a major boy Denis (Dmitry Fedorov), who marries the daughter of a dissident professor at the behest of a functionary dad in order to leave for diplomatic work in London. This is just one of the absurdities of which there are many in the play. But these are trifles. The main thing is that the girl’s name is Alice (Yulia Dovganishina), she is different from the youth of the Leningrad party, which, as we all understand, is dictated by the need to sing the song “Alice”. In the finale, Denis begins to see clearly and marries a ballerina. However, that doesn’t matter either. It is important that “Arina the ballerina” be heard – this is what drives the plot. To sing, for example, “My love is on the fifth floor”, another hero is launched into action – Anton (handsome actor Vladislav Tashbulatov), ​​who is trying to prove to his friends with the help of this song that he is no longer a virgin.

The song “Home” clearly made the author of the play suffer. In the end, in order to motivate her, the director drove the heroes to serve in the merchant fleet. The song crammed into this concept with difficulty, like many others, becoming a theatrical video with strained lyrics.

Really sorry for the song “Hi”. This true masterpiece of The Secret, subtle, intelligent, built on semitones, has turned into a massive oratorio. Moreover, the words in the finale were changed – instead of “you go out here … well, be healthy”, it became “you leave with him …”. Comments are superfluous. I thought that it would be better if this beautiful song was not touched at all, just as the most popular hit of The Secret, “Vision Girl”, was not touched. Just quoted the text – and that’s it.

The song “Christina’s Name Day” has infiltrated the wildly mad dramaturgy most organically: Christina, performed by Yulia Iva, is one of the most attractive images of the play. Julia herself is a real “synthetic” musical actress, singing and dancing excellently – the decoration of the show. The party scenes at Kristina’s are a great occasion to dance rock and roll in the wonderful choreography of Irina Kashuba and show off the various costumes of Tatiana Noginova, in which the real fashion of the 80s is cleverly combined with purely theatrical solutions.

Leningrad, built on the stage by set designer Maxim Obrezkov and lighting designer Ivan Vinogradov, is a combination of recognizable architectural monuments with non-ceremonial shabby yards-wells. It is the scenography that slightly hints at the true atmosphere of the St. were going to offer the viewer not only “tragedy in the style of rock”, but even “comedy in the style of rock.” So, in general, we can call the production fulfilled its task: the songs of the group “Secret” sound, and the trolleybus with the main characters flies across the Leningrad sky.