Production

Milénium Theatre

Rusalka – The Musical was played as the world premiere in the Czech Republic in 1999 and 2000 in Prague in the Millennium Theater. Due to the lack of theater buildings with the capacity of about 800 seats, this theater was constructed for this production by an extensive adaptation of an industrial building from the beginning of the 20th century. The theater seated 800 people and had standing room for 30. It had the amphitheater form.

The U-shaped stage was constructed on the surface of 10 x 6 meters. The main staircase for the entry of viewers from the foyer to the auditorium was situated on the stage. During performances, this staircase was covered by a large sliding panel. During some scenes, the staircase was used for stage purposes. The relatively small dimension of the stage was compensated by the second stage in the height of 8 metes, behind which there was the orchestra pit divided by dark glass. Thus the orchestra and the conductor were rather sensed than actually seen by viewers. In addition to behind-the-scenes devices, the top stage was interconnected with the main stage by a glass tower-staircase, which was also used for stage purposes.

Cast

Rusalka – The Musical has the opera form, i.e., it is a musical with no speech. In each performance, the ensemble consisted of 8 singing roles and 1 dancing role (Mother Water). The company consisted of 9 women and 9 men plus 1 male swing and 1 female swing (not including alternation.)

The performance was accompanied by 27-member live orchestra. If the operational budget of the new production allows, the number of the strings (11 in our production) as well as several other instruments should be extended.

Costumes

The costume designer was the Oscar-winning Theodor Pištěk who often collaborates with Hollywood productions. The costumes were one of the best assets of the production and the use of Pištěk’s design can be highly recommended for any other production. On top of that, Theodor Pištěk personally supervised their manufacture in the Barrandov film studio in Prague, which frequently makes costumes for American film productions shooting in Prague. Nevertheless their manufacturing price is quite low by European standards. The Prague production Rusalka – The Musical consisted of 68 costume designs, many of which were made for three different protagonists of one role. Many of the costumes were made of leather, sometimes they involved girdler work (armor), complicated wigs and a numeber of relatively costly, albeit impressive stage elements. However, the complete manufacturing of the costumes including the shoes and wigs cost slightly over 100 thousand dollars.

Stage Technology

The Millennium Theater had a wealth of stage technologies. The most important elements included the following:

1. Large sliding panel covering the main staircase.
2. Airship of the Foreign Princess. From a corner of the ceiling of the auditorium, the Foreign Princess descended over the heads of the viewers in a bizarre cage. It had the form of an elevator which could move not only horizontally, but also vertically. The cage eventually landed in the center of the stage. The arched horizontal route represented ca. 25 meters; the height traversed was 8 meters.
3. Semi-circular horizontal motion: Large glass cubicle of 1,8 m representing the Witch’s hut, placed on dragon feet, came from the backstage to the center of the stage.
4. Hydraulic elevator for the Old Water Sprite made it possible for this character to emerge from the depths directly on the stage; in combination with a cable elevator in other scenes this character was transported from the watery realm to the top stage in the height of 8 meters.
5. Six shafts above the stage made it possible to use various impressive sets and props such as the enormous pot for brewing the elixir, the net for the Old Water Sprite, the Moon, etc.
6. Watery curtain – semitransparent and opening on one side, it was filled by bubbling water. It formed the border between the watery realm and the profane world.
7. Transparent and illuminated lake in the floor of the back part of the stage co-created a perfect illusion of the watery realm.

The stage effects were enhanced by perfect light design (including robotic lights Vari*Lite), huge large-size slide projection and a large number of gobs.

The musical can be also staged in a regular opera glass theater. Some spatial effects, wiping off the strict border between the stage and the auditorium, can be certainly borrowed and adapted for the classical theater.