In mid-June, the Brno City Theatre will be hosting a festival showcase of professional theatre entitled Dokořán (Open Doors for) Musical Theatre, the only festival dedicated to presenting contemporary musical theatre works. The festival's dramaturgs have compiled a selection of ten of the most interesting productions representing the best currently on offer on stages at home and abroad. The show will be complemented by an exhibition marking 80 years of the Brno City Theatre, as well as a concert by Meteor from Prague.
The end of the Brno City Theatre season will traditionally belong to the event Dokořán for Musical Theatre. The show will take place from 13-17 June 2025. Tickets are on sale from today.
In addition to the music, the audience can also look forward to a varied off programme in the Brno City Theatre Courtyard, which will come alive with the opening of the exhibition 80 Years of the Brno City Theatre, the final musical performance of 2nd year students at the Brno City Theatre Musical School, and five great concerts. An original and delicious cocktail of ingredients from all over the music world in their own arrangements will be mixed for you by the six accomplished musicians that make up Sixmen. Meteor from Prague will be playing classic Czech pop hits of the 60s. Oldřich Smysl will pay tribute to the work of Andrew Lloyd Webber in his distinctive one-man show Play Jesus. There will also be a show by Señoritas, a women's string quartet of musicians from Brno City Theatre, whose genres range from classical music to pop, and The Glass Onion, the legendary Brno revival band playing numbers by The Beatles. Admission to the entire off program is completely free of charge.
The festival will then round off on Wednesday 18 June 2025 at 10:00 in the Brno City Theatre Club with a public debate entitled Round Table on Musical Theatre, about the festival and the current state of (not only) Czech musical theatre and featuring invited experts. Open to all who love theatre that talks, sings and dances.
MAIN FESTIVAL PROGRAMME:
Brno City Theatre
Benj Pasek, Justin Paul, Steven Levenson
Dear Evan Hansen
the most successful musical of our time
The Musical-Operetta Magazine Award ceremony for 2024 will take place before the performance.
Seventeen-year-old Evan Hansen suffers from social anxiety and depression. When his therapeutic letter to himself is accidentally taken by a classmate, Connor, who later commits suicide, Connor's parents mistakenly believe the boys were best friends. Evan becomes entangled in a web of lies when he begins to feign a close friendship with Connor in order to get closer to his sister Zoe. One of today's most popular musicals, its catchy songs and timely themes of social networking, loneliness and merciful lies have won it six Tony Awards and a Grammy. Brno City Theatre presents the Czech première of Dear Evan Hansen.
Director: Stanislav Moša
Coming up: 13 June 2025 at 3:00 p.m. on the Brno City Theatre Drama Stage
Andrej Bagar Theatre in Nitra
Marián Amsler
Golden Lyre
a jukebox musical about the legendary song festival
The musical production Golden Lyre (Zlatá lýra) takes a look backstage and presents the Bratislava Lyra Festival as a phenomenon of the time, free of nostalgia and idealization, but using insight and humour to highlight the defects of the former regime, which presented this extremely popular event as a showcase of the culture of socialist Czechoslovakia. The Lyra - gold, silver or bronze... In just one night it made stars out of performers and hits out of songs. Still, one inappropriate verse from the Lyra stage could lead one to be banned from songwriting and public performances, ruining the careers and lives of performers and their families.
Director: Marián Amsler
Coming up: 13 June 2025 at 7:00 p.m. on the Brno City Theatre Music Stage
Lukáš Adam & Richard Pekárek
Stephen Dolginoff
Thrill Me
a passionate musical drama for two actors
A man imprisoned for years is once again speaking out about his old crime. What role did he and his accomplice actually play in it? When does desire become obsession and how far is a person capable of going? The musical is based on a true incident in Chicago in 1924, when two law students from wealthy families killed a 14-year-old boy and committed the "crime of the century." The musical was first performed in New York in 2003, followed by a successful Off Broadway production in 2005, and has since been produced in many countries around the world. The original production by the National Moravian-Silesian Theatre in Ostrava was voted Musical of the Year by the editors of i-divadlo.cz.
Director: Juraj Čiernik
Coming up: 14 June 2025 at 6:00 p.m. on the Brno City Theatre Drama Stage
Klicper Theatre, Hradec Králové
Pavel Khek, Lenka Smrčková, Iva Marešová
And Then I Fall Asleep and Get Up
a tribute to Zuzana Navarová
To mark the 800th anniversary of the founding of Hradec Králové, the Klicperovo Theatre together with the Hradec Králové Philharmonic, RAZAM and Iva Marešová have decided to put together a unique musical project that pays tribute to Zuzana Navarrová, an exceptional woman and singer who was born in Hradec Králové. The human soul is the immaterial substance of a living being. But what does this mean? What forms does it take and can it be embodied through theatre and music? The story of an exceptional artiste who defied all standards and norms. What is the price we pay for uniqueness but also total authenticity?
Director: Pavel Khek
Coming up: 14 June 2025 at 8:00 p.m. on the Brno City Theatre Music Stage
Horácké Theatre Jihlava
Josef Fojta, Emanuel Míšek
The Great Failure
a fairy-tale musical for the whole family
We know from fairy tales that love can cope with an evil dragon, a foolish Honza and an enchanted princess. But how will Mr Handyman and his bag of tools cope with love? And what does Miss Beautiful have to say about it? This original fairy-tale musical for the whole family takes you to a workshop where everything begins and has a happy end. There will be lots of imaginative music, dancing, action scenes and of course love. We all know exactly what happens when a horse falls in love. But what happens when Mr Handyman falls in love?
Director: Michal Zetel
Coming up: 15 June 2025 at 3:00 p.m. on the Brno City Theatre Drama Stage
Studio DVA, Prague
Peter Quilter
Judy
a tragicomedy with songs about a global showbiz icon
Judy Garland... a phenomenal singer, movie star, and America's brightest and most tragic star. Peter Quilter's tragicomedy gives viewers an insight into one of her last attempts to return to the stage. But the fatal cocktail of fame, stimulants, financial instability and failed marriages won't make it any easier for her this time either. Who really wants to help her and who's looking out for themself? Can her new love save her or will she sing her biggest hit Over the Rainbow for the last time? A unique acting and musical opportunity for Monika Absolonová, who will be singing Judy Garland's greatest hits accompanied by a live band.
Director: Petr Gazdík
Coming up: 15 June 2025 at 6:00 p.m. on the Brno City Theatre Music Stage
National Moravian-Silesian Theatre, Ostrava
Zdeněk Král, Marek David, Tomáš Novotný
Interview
an intimate musical drama
In a stale radio show, the experienced presenter has guests coming in and out as though on a treadmill. For him, interviews have become a mixture of routine with boredom and frivolity. Until an unknown woman sits down in his studio. That's the start of a permanent struggle and an inscrutable clash of two completely different worlds and attitudes to life. For one hour, the shabby radio studio becomes a prison from which there is no escape. Can the two of them find common ground and something to talk about...? An original Czech musical written for the National Moravian-Silesian Theatre.
Director: Marek David
Coming up: 16 June 2025 at 6:00 p.m. on the Brno City Theatre Drama Stage
Moravian Slovakian Theatre Uherské Hradiště
Tim Rice, Andrew Lloyd Webber
Jesus Christ Superstar
rock opera
During the Roman rule over the Jews, Jesus of Nazareth preaches and gains a following. The Jewish high priests fear losing their grip on power, while the crowds hail Jesus as the messiah. Judas, portrayed as a rational opponent warning against Roman intervention, is pitted against Jesus, whose actions can be seen either through his divinity or as a gamble. The story depicts the last seven tense days of Jesus' life, from his arrival in Jerusalem to his crucifixion. This legendary musical is fascinating for its diversity - the rapid rhythms of the crowd's enthusiasm alternate with the slower passages of the priests; the dramatic singing of Jesus and Judas contrasts with the melodic entrances of Mary Magdalene, the folk instrumentation of Pilate's Dream with the musical Herod's Song.
Director: Dodo Gombár
Coming up: 16 June 2025 at 8:00 p.m. on the Brno City Theatre Music Stage
Karlín Musical Theatre, Prague
Ivan Mládek
Swamp Story
musical grotesque with lyrics and music by Ivan Mládek
Swamp Story is a musical comedy interwoven with popular songs by Ivan Mládek. The play was written in verse by Ivan Mládek with his own distinctive wit and features notorious songs such as Jožin z bažin, Pochod Praha - Prčice, Medvědi nevědí, Zobali vrabci, zobali and Prachovské skály, as well as lesser-known ones such as Vylučování. The story is quite simple - about a lost classmate. Her disappearance is solved by two confused policemen and on their way to find her they meet many characters from Mládek's songs - Jožin from the swamp, Linda, Jenda Benda and vampires.
Director: Vilém Dubnička
Coming up: 17 June 2025 at 6:00 p.m. on the Brno City Theatre Drama Stage
J. K. Tyl Theatre in Plzeň
Toby Marlow, Lucy Moss
Six
a historical comedy in the style of a pop concert
The show is presented under licence from Concord Theatricals (www.concordtheatricals.co.uk).
A colourful and exuberant party combining musical, pop concert and historical facts. Each of the six wives of British King Henry VIII tells their story in turn, with various piquant details, to prove to each other who suffered the most at the hands of their common husband and his somewhat dubious morals. This rousing eighty-minute concert battle offers up six great performers, a four-piece all-female band and catchy tunes that have thrilled fans around the world, where Six has won dozens of awards. This modern, energetic and provocative work breaks down genre boundaries and will undoubtedly appeal especially to young and middle generation audiences.
Czech text and lyrics: Lumír Olšovský and Pavel Bár
Director: Daniela Špinar
Coming up: 17 June 2025 at 8.30 p.m. on the Brno City Theatre Music Stage
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