Let us recall that the famous play by Leonid Zorin was a theatrical hit once (Kyiv’s Russian Drama’s version of Eduard Mytnytsky’s Warsaw Melody raised Ada Rohovtseva to stardom many years ago). Astutely told, the love story involving Polish conservatory student Helena and Soviet winemaking technology student Viktor thrilled the audience, even though the two lovers were prevented from staying together by the notorious decree issued by the Soviet government on February 16, 1947, that prohibited Soviet citizens from marrying foreigners... Now, Helena is back on stage 40 years later, with the sequel written by the director Ihor Afanasiev. Warsaw Melody-2 features the female protagonist meeting at a concert retired officer Zhenia, who looked like Viktor to her. Will she be happy with him? The director left the play open-ended, allowing every spectator to imagine an ending to their liking.
The play’s cast included popular actors Ada Rohovtseva, Akhtem Seitablaiev, Anatolii Yashchenko, Kateryna Stepankova, and Volodymyr Zadniprovsky.
“The idea to hold a charity event came from the Council of NGOs, which participates in many different projects aiming to support participants of the ATO and invited us to join their effort. We offered to stage Warsaw Melody-2 and donate the proceeds to support the wounded,” producer Iryna Zilberman told The Day. “We contacted the nearest military hospital and asked what they needed most. It turned out that there was a shortage of prostheses for the wounded ATO soldiers. Rohovtseva immediately and wholeheartedly supported the initiative to stage a charity performance. By the way, all the actors involved in it agreed to play for free without as much as a moment’s hesitation. I want to thank management of the House of Officers for providing us a venue for free. We have already donated 54,000 hryvnias to the volunteers who work at the hospital.
“The performance was a raging success! The auditorium proved too small to accommodate everyone. Despite it being designed for 900 seats, we had to put extra chairs in the aisles, and still dozens of spectators watched Melody standing. All the actors played stunningly well, and the audience gave a fantastic reception to our performance, with standing applause at the end continuing for about 15 minutes. Honestly, we had worried about people not coming to see it, because there was no direct advertising, only a few publications in the print media (especially in The Day) and two radio broadcasts about the coming performance. I thank all Kyivites and guests of our capital for supporting the charity event and joining our effort to raise funds for the wounded ATO soldiers. Together, we will overcome all the difficulties!”
