#Nataliya Dievskaya

[elenavonkrolock]

Jekyll & Hyde, Russia - Review pt. II

Saint Petersburg, Muzcomedy, 30.12.2022

cast:

Jekyll/Hyde - Roman Dryablov

Lucy Harris - Nataliya Dievskaya

Emma Carew - Elena Gazaeva

John Utterson - Aleksandr Sukhanov

Sir Danvers Carew - Andrey Matveev

Lady Beaconsfield - Manana Gogitidze

Spider - Alexey Shtykov

Nellie - Mariya Reshavskaya

Simon Stride - Vitaliy Golovkin

This was the second (and also my last) Jekyll & Hyde. (I’ll put a link to the review of the first day here:)

So once again I went to the theatre a bit earlier than necessary because I had two huge bags of presents with me that I still wanted to deliver. Just like the day before, I coincidentally met Elena in front of the theatre before the show and already gave her a new year’s present. This time we also met Nataliya before the show. Then I met up with friends and we used the remaining time to take some photos in the theatre. The interior and decorations there really are gorgeous. The show itself was just as amazing as the day before, so I’ll just sum up some of the differences. First of all, I didn’t sit in the партер but in one of the benoir lodges. The best thing about the first lodge of the benoir is definitely that several of the characters (for example Jekyll, Utterson and Emma) walk past you during the show. Unfortunately, the people in front of me were all rather tall and the person next to me was writing text messages and playing games on her phone with sound and bright display on, which was somewhat annoying but nevertheless, it didn’t bother me from enjoying the show and the experience of actors running past me multiple times). Apart from the different seat, the main difference was definitely that Jekyll / Hyde was not played by Kirill, but by Roman Dryablov this time. I have to admit I hadn’t seen a lot of him before, since he only started playing the role in 2021 but I was really impressed! While Kirill’s Jekyll seemed more introverted, work-focused, Roman’s portrayal was more of a sociable, loving man at first and he got visibly colder and more isolated over the course of the show. I also think his Jekyll showed a trace of regret for his distant, behaviour, especially towards Emma. Also the engagement scene was just adorable. Roman and Elena really had incredibly good chemistry and her portrayal of Emma also was a bit different than it was the day before (but just as great), so that their characters went perfectly well together. As I said, Kirill’s Hyde really embodies an evil, murderous killer, who, despite, a trace of insanity and rage, mostly strategically thinks about hus murders up to some extent, while Roman’s Hyde just goes wild. He was more of a savage, a maniac, driven by lust and fury. He legit scared me at some points. Kirill reminded me of a serial killer whereas Roma reminded me more of a beast. I enjoyed both portrayals though. Especially since I watched the show two days in a row I think it’s great that you don’t always watch the same musical over and over again, but there’s always something new and different and every performer brings a unique portrayal of their character on stage. Lena’s Emma was amazing again, in my opinion even more touching than the day before. Knowing that this was her very last performance one of her lines in the wedding scene «настал тот день и час, чтоб отпустить» (the day and time to let go has come) and during 'in his eyes' «будь горда, уходи, забудь о прошлом» (be proud, leave and forget about the past) really made it impossible for me to hold back my tears. And the whole ‘once upon a dream' and wedding ceremony left me with teary eyes as well. And seeing her tears at the curtain call just literally broke my heart.. Natasha’s Lucy was also great again,she was by the way the only one of the three main characters who didn’t have her last performance that day : ( One of my favourite scenes this time was definitely when during (I think it was alive) Hyde accidentally ripped off the belt of her gown and then returned it to her before dangerous game with the words “I think that’s yours”. The expression on her face was just priceless xD I also really liked Sukhanov as Utterson. And Manana’s Lady Beaconsfield was so entertaining! In general, the whole cast was great. Curtain call was really sad to watch, knowing it was the last performance of two of the main characters. Overall, everything was great though and I am so sad this beautiful show had to leave..❤️‍🩹

stage door: this time I luckily managed to get out of the theatre earlier, so we secured really good places at the stage door right next to the exit. I cried an awful lot because I just hate saying goodbye to all of these wonderful people, but fortunately my friends and Elena comforted me <3 and we still did some photos together. Also I had my programme signed by Elena and Roman✨

[nabuka]

Nataliya Dievskaya, one of my favourite Magdas :3

[elenavonkrolock]

Jekyll & Hyde - SPB, 29.12.22 - Review

I finally got around to writing my reviews about J&H and Bal Vampirov. Since I saw different casts at different dates and I suppose this is gonna be a really long post I decided to split it into three parts and write a separate review for each show))

Theatre of Musical Comedy, Saint Petersburg, 29.12.2022г.

cast:

Jekyll/Hyde - Kirill Gordeev

Lucy Harris - Nataliya Dievskaya

Emma Carew - Elena Gazaeva

John Utterson - Konstantin Kitanin

Sir Danvers - Andrey Matveev

Lady Beaconsfield - Elena Zabrodina

Nellie - Maria Reshavskaya

Spider - Alexey Shtykov

Simon Stride - Vitaliy Golovkin

Review —

Starting with some random information. I have to mention I have bootlegs of the show in several cast compositions many times but, especially since the show closed now, I was glad I managed to see some of the last performances live. In fact, I only had a ticket for the 30th at first and thought I would only make it to the stagedoor on 29th but when around 3,5 hours before the show as by a wonder a ticket appeared, I, of course, decided to take it in a heartbeat. Since I was staying in an apartment not very far from the theatre I went there a little earlier and met outside with friends. After a while I then noticed that someone was greeting me and when I turned around I figured out it was Elena, who just came to the theatre to get ready for the show. I then rushed to greet her as well, she congratulated me on getting to Piter again (since ofc she knew about my ✨adventure✨ at the border control the other day😵‍💫) and I also managed to hand over the bouquet of flowers I bought for her. 🥰 Honestly, after this small, coincidental meet-up my mood already went up by 1000 but by then I did not even expect just how much better this evening was still going to become. We then went inside the theatre, met some more friends there and just walked around, taking pictures. I also got a programme of the show which I asked some of the actors to sign the next day.

The show - I honestly don’t think I’ll be able to even closely describe my amazement about this show in words but overall it really was a breathtaking and fantastic experience and (no shade to other productions, I love the musical in general) I am now even more convinced that the Russian production is my favourite out of them. The costumes are gorgeous, the whole cast and ensemble is great, the orchestra and the music itself are also amazing… I was already impressed when the show started with Kirill’s Doctor Jekyll from the off giving some kind of “introduction” to the show and sort of explaining how every person is split into good and bad etc. also I really loved the stage design and how the scenery on stage switched for almost every scene, starting with scenes in the madhouse and then switching to Sie Danvers’ home, the red rat, and Doctor Jekyll’s Study or Laboratory all the time. 'Lost in the darkness' and 'I need to know' right at the beginning were really great scenes and I also have to remark that 'facade' (and its 1000 reprises) and the ensemble dancing scenes in general were really impressing. At the end of act 1 Hyde was sort of lighting a flame on stage and even though I sat in the 7th row, I was able to feel the warmth on my face.. (I’ll just mention my absolute favourites now bc otherwise it’s gonna be too long) One of my favourites was definitely the engagement scene, which was absolutely adorable. Also the fact that Henry and Emma wore matching clothes almost made my heart melt.🥺 I also adored the 'his work and nothing more' part. 'Alive' and 'dangerous game' were some really hot scenes as well, as was confrontation. At 'a new life' and ‘once upon a dream' I had trouble holding back my tears. And, I know it’s a very unpopular opinion, but ‘in his eyes' will forever be among my most favourite scenes in the whole show. Especially in this composition because Elena and Nataliya just sounded really great together. The final also left me in tears. This time was by the way one of the shows where Emma also dies in the end :'( So overall, the whole show was amazing.

Cast - starting with Jekyll/Hyde of course. As you might know, my favourite J&H unfortunately hasn’t been playing since 2018, so I had no chance of seeing him. Nevertheless, I saw both Kirill and Roman now and they were both great, though very different (about Roman I’ll write in the other review). To sum up, Kirill was an exceptional J&H, he found the perfect balance between a very introverted doctor who is pretty much focused on his work only and evil, savage Mr Hyde. To me personally, his Henry even seemed less sociable and a bit more cold/withdrawn than some other portrayals I’ve seen. While for others it seems the extreme obsession with work only developes over the course of the show and they did care a lot more for Emma before all that, he really seems to have chosen his work as his top priority right from the start and she only comes second. Nevertheless, the chemistry between him and Elena (and Natasha as well) was really good and they seemed like a very sweet couple during their engagement. Moreover, I have noticed that you sometimes see Hydes who are acting more beast-like and wild while others, like Kirill’s, seem to focus more on the evil, maniac side of the character. Overall, I really enjoyed his portrayal though. Emma. My favourite. I have to admit I wasn’t a huge fan of Emma and always thought she’s a rather boring character - until I saw Elena’s portrayal of her. I could write hours about how much I love her Emma, but to sum up she was just amazing, both vocally and acting-wise. Her Emma was very tender, always loving, kind and supportive towards Jekyll, but at the same time she had this strong and independent side to her, which was visible especially in her interactions with stride at the beginning. She’s pretty much driven by her love for Henry, never leaving his side and always believing in him, even if nobody else does, even though it is noticeable that she has her doubts later on and that she really suffers from her fiancé’s constant absence and Lena just portrayed all of this perfectly. Nataliya as Lucy was also great. I really enjoyed watching her 'bring on the men' and the scenes in the red rat in the beginning but at the same time I suffered with her during 'a new life' and her death left me in tears as well. It’s just impossible to not feel touched by her story seeing how such a kind-hearted woman who never gives up believing in her dream and hoping for a new life, despite her position in society, has to go through so much suffering…

stage door - first of all, right after the show I got a chance to take a picture with Emma in costume and after that and after I went to get my jacket from the wardrobe, I went out to the stage door, met some more friends there and then we waited for the actors together. There were masses of people that day, so I was really worried I wouldn’t be able to take photos or ask for autographs. I almost didn’t notice when Elena came out because she was surrounded by such a huge crowd of people. Luckily, my friend told her that I’d like to see her and ask to sign something again and she came to us right away, took some pics with me and signed my photo album with the photos with her from another concert in September before she left. She’s the sweetest, honestly, I can’t even describe how much I love her <3 When the crowd started to disappear I also managed to take a picture with Kirill. We stayed for a little longer and suddenly noticed that someone had placed some huge plastic cherries next to Kirill in front of the stage door. They were gone again later, but up to this date, we haven’t figured out why they were standing there. I showed Elena the photo with the cherries later and asked whether she knows, since I suggested it might’ve been a present for Kirill, but she didn’t know anything about it either. We later figured out they were taken away from a café nearby and placed there. Why is still unknown. Anyways, that was my first Jekyll&Hyde💗 I’ll write the second review tomorrow! If you have questions/remarks whatsoever, feel free to ask, comment, text me etc)

Should I post some of the photos as well? :D

[elenavonkrolock]

does anybody have a free video of the «его глаза» by elena gazaeva, vera sveshnikova, agata vavilova and nataliya dievskaya from the gala concert in 2019 (i think) where all 4 of them sang the song together? 🥹

[elenavonkrolock]

Bal Vampirov 2022 Cast so far:

Krolock: Ivan Ozhogin, Alexander Sukhanov, Mark Seibert, Thomas Borchert

Sarah: Alexandra Kasparova, Daria Kim

Herbert: Kirill Gordeev, Anton Avdeev, Roman Grafov

Professor: Andrey Matveev, Sergej Sorokin, Ivan Korytov

Alfred: Aleksandr Kazmin, Ruslan Davidenko, Vadim Ryabushkin

Magda: Agata Vavilova, Nataliya Dievskaya, Anna Tess

Rebecca: Manana Gogitidze, Darya Kozhina

Chagal: Alexander Sukhanov, Oleg Krasovitskiy, Konstantin Kitanin

Koukol: Anton Moshechkov, Sergey Sorokin

information taken from the website of bal vampirov & the instagram accounts of the cast and theatre, will update the list as soon as i know more ))

note from the theatre: there can always be changes in cast due to the ongoing pandemic.

(I’m sorry if I misspelled any names, I just transcribed them from cyrillic)

[elenavonkrolock]

THE TANZ DER VAMPIRE TAG

I saw this floating around somewhere on tumblr and was sad because I did not get tagged because I absolutely wanted to do it, so I am just gonna join in now <3 credit goes to the person who started this tag))

How did you discover Tanz?

My parents used to watch a lot of musicals before I was born/when I was younger, they had seen TdV the first time in 2001 so I basically grew up listening to it and saw it live the first time in 2013 :)

Favourite Krolock?

ROSTISLAV KOLPAKOV!

How many times have you seen the show?

I saw it once in Berlin 2013 and was planning to see it again 2021 or 2022 in Saint Petersburg but well…

Do you prefer Kentaur sets and costumes or original sets and costumes?

Kentaur! Especially for Sarah’s ball dress and Krolock’s costumes. And I love that the Kentaur version has Sarah, Alfred and Krolock in the finale as well☺️

Favourite song from the show?

When I was younger I would’ve 100% said Totale Finsternis, but now I also adore Rote Stiefel and Die Unstillbare Gier. I also love Carpe Noctem )))

A part that gives you chills?

Молитва / Das Gebet ✨

Dream cast

Graf von Krolock: Rostislav Kolpakov

Sarah: Elena Gazaeva

Alfred: Georgiy Novitskiy / Aleksandr Kazmin

Professor Abronsius: Andrey Matveev? idk

Herbert: Kirill Gordeev or Rostislav Kolpakov

Chagal: tbf I don’t pay much attention to Chagal but I think Aleksandr Sukhanov / Oleg Krasovitskiy

Magda: Nataliya Dievskaya / Anna Lukoyanova / Anja Backus

Rebecca: Manana Gogitidze

Koukol: I have no idea lmao

Favourite quote from the show?

«зов этот вечен, бессилен разум перед ним. путь бесконечен и жребий наш неотвратим»

«я постичь пытался невозможное, я стр��мила в никуда.. только счастлив быть не может тот кто проклят навсегда»

“gäbs nur einen Augenblick des Glücks für mich nähm ich ewiges Leid in Kauf”

One thing you would change about the show?

I’d love to see more interactions between Krolock & Sarah, Sarah & Magda, Herbert & Sarah. And generally a more intense relationship between krolock and Sarah. Or I’d love her to wear his ring in the ending of every version xD

I tag

I’m too shy to tag anyone, so anyone who sees this and is a fan of Tanz please do it! I’d love to see your answers 💜