Captains daughter

On September 26, 27 and 28, the St. Petersburg State Theater of Musical Comedy presents the premiere of the musical “The Captains Daughter” by Andrei and Olga Petrov, dedicated to the 225th anniversary of the birth of Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin.

In the 1990s, while looking for a plot for a new work, Andrei Petrov chose the latest prose work by A.S. Pushkin - the story “The Captains Daughter”. The decision was not accidental: the story made it possible to reveal the truly Russian characters of the heroes at the time of serious trials, which was important in the critical years of the formation of the new state. And, as often happens, work on the work once again confirmed the genius of the great Russian poet, who was able to convey to subsequent generations in words the concept of honor, dignity, loyalty to duty and the Fatherland, humanity and kindness, especially relevant against the backdrop of the tragic events of history.

Due to circumstances, A. Petrov work was not widely disseminated on the Russian stage, but years later it has not lost the relevance of its civic message. That is why the Musical Comedy Theater decided to give his “Captains Daughter” a second wind and present it on its stage as part of the celebration of the 225th anniversary of the birth of A.S. Pushkin.

For the premiere show, the theater did a lot of preparatory work: the libretto of the musical was almost completely reworked by successful theater practitioners - Oleg Solod (prose) and Susanna Tsiryuk (poetic numbers). The musical score also acquired new colors and was finalized by the heiress of the creative dynasty - the talented composer Olga Andreevna Petrova. And the musical director and conductor of the future production, Alexey Nefedov (in his hands are all the large-scale musicals of the theater’s repertoire that are recognized by the audience and professionals), worked in tandem with her on the modern orchestration of the material.

The artistic world of the new project today is in the hands of the famous theater artist Olga Shaishmelashvili. Through her eyes, the viewer will see the splendor of the capital St. Petersburg and the life of the inhabitants of a small garrison in the distant Orenburg fortress.

Russian State Prize laureate Igor Konyaev is working on the production: “St. Petersburg writer Daniil Granin, discussing the concept of honor in the modern world, noted: “Many consider the concept of honor outdated, outdated, in the sense that it is not applicable today - the conditions are not right... How Can the concept of honor become obsolete, which is given to a person once, along with his name, and which can neither be compensated nor corrected, which can only be preserved? The question of moral choice, moral guidance has always been at the core of Russian culture, Russian identity.

The problem of the “concept of honor” is more relevant than ever in today’s changing world. Therefore, it is so important to create an exciting and beautiful performance through the musical genre, which is popular among young viewers today, after viewing which they could say in the words of A.S. Pushkin: “I swear on my honor that for nothing in the world I would not want to change my fatherland or have a history other than the history of our ancestors, the way God gave it to us...”

play by Oleg Solod, poems by Susanna Tsiryuk

Stage director - laureate of the State Prize of Russia Igor Konyaev
Musical director and conductor – Alexey Nefedov
Scenographer: Olga Shaishmelashvili
Choreographer: Maria Korableva
Stage combat director: Maxim Pakhomov
Lighting designer: Denis Solntsev
Assistant directors: Oksana Antonenko, Manana Gogitidze
Assistant choreographer: Ivan Dremin, Iskander Fakhrutdinov
Assistant music director for vocals – Elena Bulanova
Assistant set designer for costumes – Varvara Pletneva
Responsible accompanist – Olga Bronskikh