Whilst the musical has faltered in the West End and on Broadway in recent years, there has been a strengthening of the musical theatre scene in Europe: France, Austria ... and the Czech Republic. Prague has seen the number of new musicals performed in its theatres grow rapidly over the last fifteen years or so. It is becoming a very popular form of entertainment, though there are a number of differences between Czech musicals and Broadway and West End shows.
Czech Musicals: A Brief History
One of the earliest big success stories for the musical in Prague was Dracula, which first opened in 1995. Written by composer Karel Svoboda with opera star Daniel Hulka in the title role, it was an instant hit. The storyline is not based on the Bram Stoker novel and is fairly complex but the music is lyrical and emotive in the style of the great English musicals of the 1980s.
From then on there was no stopping the Czech musical and the past few years have seen the appearance of shows such as: Krysar (1996)(based loosely on the Pied Piper of Hamlin story), Johanka z Arku (Joan of Ark)(2000), Kleopatra (2002), Hamlet (1999), Obraz Doriana Graye (Picture of Dorian Gray) (2006), Golem (2006, based on a Prague legend) and, most recently, Robin Hood (2010).
Czech Musicals: Storylines
Czech musicals have trawled a variety of subjects for the basis of their storylines. Some, like Kleopatra and Johanka z Arku, look to history; others, for example Obraz Doriana Graye and Monte Cristo (2001), use classic novels; Golem and Krysar draw from local legends and folktales; while a few, such as Tajemství (2005), are original stories. It seems that no subject matter can escape the scrutiny of the composers of Czech musicals – there was even a musical about Jack the Ripper (Jack Rozparovac) in 2007!
Czech Musicals: Musical Style and Composition
Aside from a handful of more traditional shows such as Dracula and Monte Cristo, many Czech musicals are heavily based in pop music. Most of their original musicals use recorded back tracks as opposed to live orchestras and often songs from the new shows will make it into the pop charts as singles. The reason for this lies in the fact that a good number of musicals in Prague are written by Czech pop singers: Janek Ledecký wrote and starred in both Hamlet and Galileo (2003), for example. The Czech musical theatre scene is therefore strongly linked to its pop scene, which may explain why musicals now have such a strong hold in Prague while they fail in other places.
Czech Musicals: Performers
As we have already seen, many pop stars are involved in musicals. A famous Czech rock singer, Lucie Bílá, played Lorraine in the original production of Dracula as well as originating roles in other shows. Other pop names that perform regularly in musicals include Janek Ledecký, Petr Kolár, Josef Vojtek (lead singer of heavy rock band, Kabát) Tomáš Trapl (lead singer of folk rock band Dolmen) and Lucie Vondrácková.
Those performers in lead roles in musicals in Prague tend to operate like repertory actors. Most will be doing two or three shows in the same month. All lead roles have two or three performers assigned to them and they alternate. So you could see an actor in one show on Friday night then catch him in a different show on Saturday night.
Czech Musicals: Staging and Costume Design
Many Czech musicals have fairly simplistic set designs, with a number of them (especially those shown at Divadlo Kalich (The Chalice Theatre) relying heavily on stage revolves. There are some exceptions - again the more ‘traditional’ shows such as Dracula and Monte Cristo – but most are pretty straight forward and minimalistic. Mirroring the music, the dance and movement is also often very pop-based but is usually lively and engaging all the same.
One frequently used convention is that of the flaming torch. When I see a new Czech musical, I am always waiting for someone to come on stage holding a flaming torch! That is just one of those little quirks that make Czech musical theatre so fun and enjoyable. Also, do not be surprised to see some dancers clad in rather scanty or provocative costumes. Some shows even contain scenes of nudity; Czech musicals are fairly liberal in this regard.
Czech Musicals: Find Out More
For anyone who wishes to learn more about Czech musicals, there are a number of resources available. If you would like to hear some of the music before you rush out and purchase CDs, visit Tomáš Trapl’s website. He has a number of mp3s from Czech shows that you can download for free to get a taste of what the music is like. If you are still keen after that, Sound of Music in Germany stocks many Czech shows on CD and DVD, or try Dress Circle in London.
Bontonland in Prague sells the items at a cheaper price but you will be charged much higher postage fees from there. Better yet, jump on a plane and go and experience them for yourself: see what is showing at Divadlo Kalich, Divadlo Broadway, Divadlo Hybernia or Divadlo Ta Fantastika!
With slim pickings for new musicals in London and New York these days, it may be time to look to Europe to see where the future of musical theatre is heading. Czech musicals may not be to everyone’s taste: the musical theatre purists will no doubt find many of them simple and silly. But if you enjoy a good evening’s entertainment with catchy music then you should find something to please you amongst the huge selection of Czech musicals.
For anyone attempting to learn Czech, they are also a great resource to improve pronunciation and build vocabulary. For further information on musicals as a language-learning tool, see my article on learning foreign languages.
For more of foreign musicals you can also read my article on Musical Theatre in Vienna (Austria)
