Teatr Muzyczny Roma

ROMA Musical Theatre

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ABOUT THE SHOW

THE PILOTS is a musical inspired by historical events of the 1930s and 1940s–primarily the Battle of Britain. It is also a deeply emotional tale about love, brutally interrupted by World War 2. The two main characters are Jan, a young Polish pilot, and Nina, a cabaret actress and singer in the pre-war Warsaw.

Casting for the show took place in October and November 2016 with nearly 600 people applying. Approximately 70 actors, vocalists and dancers have qualified and will appear in the show. They include artists who performed in prior ROMA MT shows, but for some of it will be a début on our stage.

Rehearsals began in April. Sets and costumes have already been made. Videos and animations that will complement the show are being prepared by Platige Image.

Wojciech Kępczyński – book and direction

“After many premières of international titles, such as The Phantom of the Opera, Cats, Les Misérables, and, recently, Mamma Mia!, the time has come for us to stage a Polish musical. I have been thinking about such a project for a long time, especially since this theme is close to my heart for family reasons—two of my Grandmother’s brothers fought in the Battle of Britain. The Pilots is not a documentary. It’s a fantasy. A whirlwind story about difficult choices made by our protagonists confronted by dramatic events.”

Michał Wojnarowski, lyrics

“We tell this tale using a modern language. Despite the seriousness of the subject, we still go – in some cases – for humour, jokes or puns. However, we do want to avoid stereotypes. There will be many songs in the musical, and the lyrics will not only develop the plot and comment on the events, but they will also characterise the characters.”

Jakub Lubowicz, co-composer:

“The music of The Pilots is the result of many years of experience and music experiments by my brother–who co-wrote the music–and myself. Since the beginning of our creative journey and professional activity, we have been immersed in different music genres. The period in which The Pilots is set is precisely defined; however, the music—despite many stylistic references to that period—will be elegantly “disguised” in a modern suit. We will hear broad songs based on long phrases (which is typical for a musical), but also modern some rhythms and sounds as well. A full-size orchestra will be involved in the performance.”’

Sebastian Gonciarz, assistant director, areal battles screenplay:

“It’s an honour for me to work on a performance that reminds us of the fates of the Polish pilots during the Second World War. Their history tends to be unappreciated by the Poles, while for the Brits—especially from their today’s perspective—it seems a bit embarrassing.”

Agnieszka Brańska, choreographer:

“Our story is also a very personal topic for me, because my mother’s father was a military pilot and he fought in the Battle of Britain. Furthermore, he didn’t come back to Poland at all after the war, but settled in Preston where he worked at a plane factory. And he died there. A sentimental journey to the dancing styles of the 1940s—reshaped and updated, of course—is certainly a huge professional challenge.”

Jeremi Brodnicki, set designer:

“We wish to achieve an effect of seamlessly merging parts of the actual set on the stage with the video projections on the screens. We remain true to the period’s landscape, but we also want to give everything a certain homogeneous, characteristic, painterly style–remembering that we are not making a documentary about that period, but a musical.”

Kamil Pohl, director of digital set design and animation (Platige Image):

“What’s important is that we don’t simply animate the digital set. We design and create entire worlds, make interactive animations, so that videos and stage components complement each other, and not contradict our story.”

CREATORS AND PRODUCERS:

Book and direction – Wojciech Kępczyński

Lyrics – Michał Wojnarowski

Music – Jakub Lubowicz, Dawid Lubowicz

Assistant director, areal battles screenplay – Sebastian Gonciarz

Music direction – Jakub Lubowicz

Set design – Jeremi Brodnicki

Costumes – Dorota Kołodyńska

Choreography – Agnieszka Brańska

Vocal coaches – Lena Zuchniak, Jacek Kotlarski

Digital set design and animation direction – Kamil Pohl, (Platige Image)

Hairstyling – Jaga Hupało

Make-up – Sergiusz Osmański

Lighting direction – Marc Heinz

Sound direction – Paweł Kacprzycki

Assistant sound director – Jan Kluszewski

Technical management – Anna Waś

Assistant music director, recordings – Piotr Skórka

Assistant choreographer – Mariusz Bocianowski

Assistant set designer – Bartłomiej Grzegorz Wilk

Assistant costumographers – Arek Chrustowski, Anna Adamek

Historical advisor – Sławomir Koper

Military uniform advisor – Andrzej Szenajch

Logo and poster design – Karol Mańk

Production – Ewa Bara, Alina Różankiewicz

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CAST

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NINA
(cabaret actress, singer, Jan’s fiancée)
Zofia Nowakowska / Edyta Krzemień / Natalia Krakowiak

JAN
(air force pilot, Nina’s fiancée)
Jan Traczyk / Przemek Zubowicz / Paweł Mielewczyk

CHAIRMAN
(impresario, actor, restaurant/cabaret owner)
Janusz Kruciński / Jan Bzdawka

HANS
(Luftwaffe officer)
Wojciech Stolorz / Tomasz Więcek / Michał Bronk

ALICE
(Lord Stanford’s daughter)
Marta Wiejak / Basia Gąsienica Giewont

FRANEK
(air force pilot, Jan’s friend)
Paweł Kubat / Jeremiasz Gzyl

MAKS
(air force pilot, Jan’s friend)
Piotr Piksa (National Theatre in Warsaw) / Paweł Draszba / Andrzej Skorupa

STEFAN
(air force pilot, Jan’s friend)
Marcin Franc (National Academy of Dramatic Art) / Marcin Wortmann / Michał Piprowski

NEL
(actress, singer, Nina’s friend)
Ewa Lachowicz / Anastazja Simińska

EWA
(actress, singer, Nina’s friend)
Paulina Łaba / Sylwia Banasik

FLYING OFFICER PILKINGTON
(Royal Air Force officer)
Robert Rozmus / Grzegorz Pierczyński / Krzysztof Bartłomiejczyk

GROUP CAPTAIN BROWN
(Royal Air Force officer)
Piotr Płuska / Krzysztof Cybiński

LORD STANFORD
(English aristocrat)
Wojciech Machnicki / Jakub Szydłowski

HOWARD
(Lord Stanford’s butler)
Wiktor Korzeniowski / Wojciech Socha

MISS PINKY
(WAAF English teacher)
Malwina Kusior / Agata Bieńkowska

MARY
(WAAF nurse)
Marta Burdynowicz / Iza Bujniewicz

BETTY
(a girl from the WAAF)
Kaja Mianowana

JEREMI
(student)
Rafał Supiński (OiFP in Białystok / UMFC in Warsaw) / Karol Jankiewicz (UMFC in Warsaw)

WOJTEK
Mikołaj Gajowy / Mateusz Panasiuk / Jan Petersen / Jan Pisera / Iwo Wiciński

and

Justyna Bojczuk (UMFC in Warsaw), Marta Skrzypczyńska (UMFC in Warsaw)

DANCERS
Dominika Dąbkowska, Anna Lubiak, Joanna Sikorska, Mariusz Bocianowski (dance captain) Arkadiusz Hezler, Jakub Sokołowski

VOCAL SWINGS
Justyna Cichomska, Maria Juźwin, Michał Bronk, Robert Kampa, Paweł Strymiński

DANCE SWINGS
Justyna Banasiak-Konieczny, Magda Mielewczyk, Jarosław Derybowski, Gabriel Piotrowski

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Tickets now available!

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Video Player

“Nie obiecuj nic” [Don’t You Say a Word] single from the musical PILOTS
Performers: Zofia Nowakowska, Jan Traczyk
Music: Jakub Lubowicz, Dawid Lubowicz
Lyrics: Michał Wojnarowski

Orchestra directed by Jakub Lubowicz

Vocal coach: Jacek Kotlarski
Recording: Piotr Skórka, Marcin Murawski
Mix: Piotr Skórka
Mastering: Leszek Kamiński
Graphic design: Karol Mańk

Production: Ewa Bara, Alina Różankiewicz
Music production: Jakub Lubowicz
Creative supervision: Wojciech Kępczyński, Sebastian Gonciarz
Recorded at ROMA Musical Theatre Recording Studio

© 2017 Teatr Muzyczny ROMA

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Behind the scenes of the musical The Pilots

Preparations for the latest show at the ROMA Musical Theatre are gaining ground.
Each Thursday, we will present interesting facts about our workshops, along with photos and information from the creators.
Today, Dorota Kołodyńska, costume designer, reveals the secrets of her team’s work:

“Working on The Pilots is also a great challenge because there are so many costumes. The plot takes place in three countries: Poland, France and the United Kingdom, in many different locales. I have divided the costumes into two basic groups: military uniforms, including—of course—our protagonist pilots, and civilian clothing. I differentiate them between leading characters who must stand out, and more toned-down secondary groups—such as pedestrians and guests at an elegant restaurant in Warsaw, or personas from this period’s world of theatre. There will also be several large group performances, including the climactic scene of the performance of Parisian Moulin Rouge—there will be glamour and feathers! Currently, we are gathering fabrics and holding fittings for all characters. When designing costumes, I try to maintain the historical nature of early 1940s attire—fashion from a period that I particularly like—but I also make them so that the performers can move freely and are able to change clothes quickly. Not only must each detail be carefully planned, but also the entire, immensely complicated logistics of changing clothes needs to be well-orchestrated. Sometimes, a single actor becomes several different characters in subsequent scenes; however, they must remain unidentifiable as an actor for the audience. We have been preparing for several months, but our actions are finally beginning to bear fruit. I have to admit that, despite many difficulties—which are normal for such an enormous project—working on The Pilots is making me exceptionally happy.”

You can read more about the costumes and Dorota Kołodyńska’s work on The Pilots in the interview for PAP life: HERE

Scenographer Jeremi Brodnicki reveals his work with Platige Image:

“This is quite a challenge before us. We’ve been preparing for it for a dozen or so months. We reviewed hundreds of archival photos and watched—I think—every film available. We want the audience to leave the theatre believing that they visited a real street in Warsaw or Paris of the 1940s. This includes aerial combat scenes that are already partially animated, but we have yet to create film sequences, which should begin soon. At the moment, we have all the scenes sketched and we’re doing details and visualisation structure, so that the world our team creates is as realistic as possible.”

The boys’ auditions for the role of Wojtek in our latest production have ended. This is how the Roma Musical Theatre Director Wojciech Kępczyński describes the character of Wojtek and summarises the auditions:

“We looked for boys gifted vocally, in acting and movement, who are not afraid of performing in front of a large audience. Such auditions are never easy for both the candidates or the jury, because the candidates have only a few minutes to show themselves in their best light, and we have to make correct decisions based on these few minutes. However, I do think that we have chosen the most promising candidates, who were able to conquer stress and freely display their abilities, not only by singing, but also dancing. I am happy that we will be creating this beautiful story together with them.”

Composer and music director Jakub Lubowicz describes his work on the music of The PILOTS, and talks about recording a single:
“First, we recorded the duet sung by our two protagonists, Jan and Nina, entitled “Nie obiecuj nic” [Don’t You Say a Word]. It is a very emotional, musical-appropriate song based on melodic phrases; a song whose melody should uplift and seduce the listener at the same time. It is arranged for a traditional orchestra with a string section, woodwind section, and brass section; it also includes the harp and timpani. Combined with a modern rhythm section and a leading grand piano, it gave us the result that we wanted to achieve—reflecting the atmosphere that arose in our imagination a while ago when we were composing this piece. Everything begins calmly and builds up until a very dynamic and complex finale that literally lifts the vocalists up into the clouds.
Composing songs for this project has given us a great deal of satisfaction. I speak in the plural because I composed the music to this performance with my brother—David. We have more than 30 scenes that include various motifs, not only vocal, but also purely instrumental, illustrative, and this duet’s motif returns several times in various arrangements—I hope that they are surprising and non-obvious.
I am in a comfortable situation with this show, because not only am I the composer, but also the music director—that is, I can direct all songs and the entire music layer from the beginning to end, just how I imagined them in the first place.”

Jaga Hupało, Artistic Director at Jaga Hupało Born to Create:

“When preparing hairstyle designs, I ‘visited’ the troubled period of the 1930s and 1940s, preceded by the largest aesthetic revolution in history. I analysed photos and archival footage in search of inspiration, and I saw people paying attention to the smallest crumbs of beauty in these times of terror. My hairstyles visualise the contrast between daily life, including a soldier’s life, and a parallel life on stage—artistic life—fascinating us with its size and colours. My styles echo Antoine Cierplikowski’s work, the main architect of revolutionary changes in hairstyling of the early 20th century. It’s a style that returns over and again, and constantly inspires the world of fashion creators. Hairstyles in The Pilots are natural and stylish; they build the atmosphere of the locales—Warsaw, London and Paris—while remaining connected to modern times and maintaining authenticity. I invite you to ROMA MT in autumn. You will see the results of our entire team’s work in the musical Pilots.”

Tomasz Pałasz, pyrotechnician, explains the scale of the project and the special effects plan:

“We are looking for a solution that will enable us to repeatedly, very spectacularly, and safely present explosions on stage. We have conducted more than 100 field attempts to propose several ideas on the Roma stage. The effect itself will take two to three seconds on stage, but it should cover the larger part of the stage view. It is a culminating moment, so it must be powerful. It will be spectacular because Roma is the leader in Polish stage solutions. It will be one of the largest explosions in musical theatres worldwide. There is still much work to do, but after this attempt at the place where it will later occur every evening, we know exactly what we want to achieve. It’s a large professional challenge for me, but it’s also satisfying.”

Lighting director Marc Heinz about his work on the musical:

“Light is something that is difficult to describe. It influences our mood, atmosphere, our reception of a place and its identity. Designing lighting placement for a show is meant to serve beauty, entertainment and inspiration. Light and darkness, shadows and their range of intensity, are such an inspiration for me. I love working with lights and I love to infect others with my passion. Therefore, with great pleasure, I will be working with the fantastic team and producers of the ROMA Musical Theatre for the third time (I also worked on Singin’ in the Rain and Mamma Mia!)—this time on the musical The Pilots.”

Three shooting days are behind us, Sebastian Gonciarz, assistant director and creator of air combat scenarios talks about working on stage:

“ROMA Musical Theatre means modern solutions and effects. The appetite increases with each production, so we want to surprise the audience this time as well. Using a green screen, we recorded parts of scenes, or entire scenes, that we will incorporate in the story using modern technology. We are working on the entire visual layer together with Platige Image. Reinforcing the final effect required precisely such recordings with actors. We filmed close-ups of faces, extras in group scenes, and episodes with individual protagonists to take the viewer into the world of the 21st-century theatre. I think that our audience will like the end result of such a combination. We are trying to create truly visually-refined gems.”

Music video for “Nie obiecuj nic.” See how the shooting was done on the Main Stage of our theatre, and what the actors and director said about working on the set:

Zosia Nowakowska (Nina): “It was pure pleasure to work on this music video. Beautiful music, perfect scenery, positive, talented people and lots of laughs.”

Jan Traczyk (Jan): “For me, shooting this music video was an incredible moment spent with nice and creative people in a fantastic atmosphere! We gave it our all.”

Sebastian Gonciarz, music video director: “As early as the script stage, I decided that the form of the music video for this beautiful song would be very simple. It’s all about describing the nature of the characters (the main protagonists of the musical) played by, among others, Zofia Nowakowska and Jan Traczyk. Passion, longing and love: these are the emotions felt by our protagonists. We will also see brilliant musicians in the music video. They will be playing the music in this show for many months. I very much wanted to show them because they often remain invisible to the viewer, despite being an integral part of the musical.”

Intensive rehearsals are consuming us whole. Actors reveal progress on works.

Edyta Krzemień, playing the role of Nina, the main protagonist: “We are currently entering an interesting phase of rehearsing individual scenes; we talk about the characters, we attempt to interpret their behaviour, we remember that we create their nature, we have several ideas a day… The plot is rapidly developing in several layers at once, and our protagonists are characters involved in various real-life situations. We have to think this through carefully, so that the viewer can freely follow the plot of the musical and the stories about our protagonists—and everything is accompanied by a technologically advanced scenography that we have to learn to work with.”

Janusz Kruciński, as the President: “As a villain, I am a loser by definition. On the other hand, there is no good plot without such a character. Each component is important, and that is what our collective work is about. Just like history. And we want to show it in all the shades of grey. Contrary to the current, increasingly black and white vision of reality, we want to show that it is very much far from the extremes, even as it unfolds in front of our eyes. No chain of events is too implausible, and our tendency to see others from the perspective of a full belly and a patio with a view is only a clumsy attempt to justify our sins. Kristin Hannah wrote: ‘In love we find out who we want to be; in war we find out who we are’. And there’s nothing more to add.”

Intense choreography rehearsals have been taking place for several weeks on the ballet stage. Details are revealed by the choreographer Agnieszka Brańska:

“A large challenge lies before us, involving an enormous diversity of styles and dance techniques; from tango, Charleston, boogie-woogie, all the way to modern dance. Here, the whole nature of a musical artist reveals itself to us. The best vocalists must be perfect dancers. I think we can already see the first results of our work. The artists have ‘picked up’ the steps, now we’re working on postures and making figures expressive. We are working on many songs. It’s not easy. For some arrangements, we even need knee pads.”

The Pilots receive their wings! Thanks to Platige Image, and the scenographer Jeremi Brodnicki, who reveals some secrets (scenography, decoration, props):
“The scenography for Pilots is being created in several places simultaneously. Platige Image in Warsaw is making animated backgrounds, such as extensive landscapes and city alleys. They are also creating incredible animations of aerial battles. In Szczecin, we’re building car replicas, while, in Lublin, we’re building a replica of the Hawker Hurricane—one of the three types of planes used by Polish pilots during the Battle of Britain. In addition, we’re creating apartment furniture and, among other things, a gazebo, stairs, etc. Selected parts—such as new curtains—are being made in theatre workshops. Everything is created in a completely traditional manner, based on aluminium or steel structures. They are appropriately covered with plywood, Dibond, mesh, or ABS parts, and coated with stain or acrylic paint.”