ROMA Musical Theatre has been offering Polish audiences premieres of world-famous classic musicals for over 15 years. But only the most important works and only with its own staging. We have put on versions of, among others, “Miss Saigon” (2000), “Grease” (2002), “Cats” (2004), “Dance of the Vampires” (2005), “Phantom of the Opera” (2008), “Les Misérables” (2010), “Aladdin Jr.” by Disney (2011) and “Singin’ in the Rain” (2012).
The director of most of these shows, Wojciech Kępczyński, has collaborated with some of the world’s greatest theatre producers – from Cameron Mackintosh to Roman Polanski. What’s more, he enjoys the personal trust of the two greatest musical writers of all time: Lord Lloyd Webber (who only gives permission for non-replica versions of his shows in exceptional circumstances) and Claude-Michel Schönberg, a composer known throughout the world for “Les Misérables”.
To meet the expectations of our wonderful audiences, we put together a review of some of the best moments from our last fifteen years staging musicals. This show, which featured the greatest musical hits from our productions, gave our performers from the ROMA Musical Theatre another opportunity to sing and dance to songs which are everybody’s favourites – the biggest hits in the history of musicals.
We recreated, among other things, the dance-filled world of George Gershwin in the musical CRAZY FOR YOU. Then there was the modern version of “Madame Butterfly” with MISS SAIGON, the problems of the heart while growing up in the rock’n’roll musical GREASE, and the metaphysical theatre of poetry and magic in the legendary CATS. Plus Transylvania, and its predominance of blood, in DANCE OF THE VAMPIRES, and our family musical THE ACADEMY OF MR. KLEKS, with the music of Andrzej Korzyński. Then there was our record-holder, in terms of the number of shows we put on, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, as well as the timeless romantic tale by Victor Hugo in the legendary musical LES MISÉRABLES. Finally, we again enjoyed the magic carpet ride to the land of “1001 Nights” in Disney’s ALADDIN JR. and ROMA Musical Theatre’s latest production, the song and dance classic SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN.
Behind us are fifteen wonderful, musical years. And many great productions. Our shows have been seen by a total of almost 3 million people! We wanted to remind you of all that was good about them. THE BEST OF ROMA – not to be missed!
Each performance of THE BEST OF ROMA featured performers and artists from ROMA Musical Theatre, and the show was directed by Sebastian Gonciarz, the director of many of the musical productions staged in the ROMA Theatre to date.
THE BEST OF ROMA is a show comprising only the biggest musical hits, including “Memory” from CATS, “Total Eclipse Of The Heart” from DANCE OF THE VAMPIRES, “Strange Little Duckling” from THE ACADEMY OF MR. KLEKS, “The Phantom of the Opera” from THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, “I Dreamed A Dream” from LES MISÉRABLES, “A Whole New World” from ALADDIN JR. and “Good Morning” from SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN.
A short overview of the musicals which featured in the show:
CRAZY FOR YOU (1999)
The “Golden Age” of Broadway given an outstanding Polish reworking, translated by Antoni Marianowicz, based on the music of George Gershwin and directed by Wojciech Kępczyński. The most well-known songs from this hit dance show include famous pop and jazz standards such as “I Got Rhythm”.
PETER PAN (2000)
Our first serious attempt at a family musical, this show featured original music by Janusz Stokłosa and an excellent libretto by Jeremi Przybora based on the classic of children’s literature. Its biggest hits include “Cheeky Face” and “Peter Pan”.
MISS SAIGON (2000)
The West End and Broadway hit musical was written by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil, but this non-replica production also incorporated the artistic vision of the director, Wojciech Kępczyński. It is based on “Madame Butterfly” and set in Vietnam, with a highlight of the performance being the on-stage helicopter landing.
GREASE (2002)
This rock’n’roll blockbuster created by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey is well-known for the film version starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John. Set at the turn of the 50s and 60s, it features plenty of young people, cars, sex and… brillcream. Plus the classic songs which we all know off by heart: “Summer Nights”, “Shakin’ At The High School Hop”, “Beauty School Dropout” and “We Go Together”.
CATS (2004)
A historic production and a record-breaking success, this was an original Polish version of one of the greatest musicals of all time. The show combined the verses of T.S. Eliot, winner of the Noble Prize for Literature, with the music of Andrew Lloyd Webber in one of the greatest musicals in the history of music. ROMA Musical Theatre is the only theatre in the world which currently possesses the right to stage a non-replica version of “Cats”. Moreover, Poland is the only country in the world where “Cats” is performed with a translated title.
DANCE OF THE VAMPIRES (2005)
The Polish version of “Dance of the Vampires” was based on Roman Polanski’s film “The Fearless Vampire Killers” and the famous director himself provided artistic supervision over the production. The unconventional humour and the gothic setting transported the audience to the dark world of Transylvania and the ‘immortal bloodsuckers’ inhabiting its castles…
THE ACADEMY OF MR. KLEKS (2007)
A show based on the “Academy of Mr. Kleks” series of books by Jan Brzechwa. The most ambitious family musical ever staged in Poland, it was a spectacle on a world-class scale and made use of the latest technological developments in the theatre. The animation, the work of Oscar-nominee Tomasz Bagiński, was a huge hit with the audiences, while the set design created by Boris Kudlička made it a true piece of theatre for the 21st century.
THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (2008)
“The Phantom of the Opera” was the spectacular production staged by ROMA Musical Theatre to celebrate its 10th anniversary. It marked a return to the genius of Andrew Lloyd Webber (who himself came to watch it in person and was fulsome in his praise). This was another non-replica production directed by Wojciech Kępczyński, and it proved to be the biggest success in ROMA’s history – with almost 600 performances. Currently celebrating its 25th anniversary, the musical is still running in the West End and on Broadway.
LES MISÉRABLES ( 2010)
Claude-Michel Schönberg’s greatest work, this powerful musical, based on Victor Hugo’s novel of the same name, is currently the longest-running musical in the world – playing in London’s West End continuously for almost 30 years! Featuring “I Dreamed A Dream”, one of the most recognisable songs in the world of popular music, the show has been performed in ROMA Musical Theatre more than 400 times!
ALADDIN JR. (2011)
The fairy tale from the magical Orient brought to life using the conventions of a modern tv report. The stage version of the classic Disney film won two Oscars for its music (for the song “A Whole New World”, among others). The story of the street urchin who falls in love with a princess contains the very up-to-date message that we should always be ourselves, not matter what the circumstances or temptations. The magic carpet ride of the two young heroes has become part of theatre legend.
SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN (2012)
Named the greatest movie musical of the 20th century in a ranking by the AFI (American Film Institute), this is a true classic of the genre! It features the unforgettable Gene Kelly in the legendary dance sequence in the pouring rain and a humorous storyline revolving around a 1920s Hollywood film set. The stage version doesn’t veer too far from the film version – it still shows Hollywood and the rain but best of all, besides the scenes showing the silent movie actors’ struggles on the set of the new talking picture, are the songs. Highlights include the title song “Singin’ in the Rain”, “Good Morning”, “You’re My Lucky Star”, and many more.