The musical “Romeo and Juliet”, created by Gérard Presgurvic, premiered on the stage of the Operetta and Musical Theatre “Ion Dacian” in April 2009, being the first pop-rock musical staged by a professional musical theatre institution in the country. The production was successfully received by both the public and the critics, who called the musical “The show of the year 2009” within the Annual Awards Gala of the “Musical News” Magazine, 20th edition.
Based on the famous love story written by William Shakespeare, “Romeo et Juliette: de la Haine à l’Amour” (original French title), the musical does not deviate from the original plot, but repositioned and translates it today. Romeo and Juliet are two young people living in a universally valid drama, transmitted to the public through pop-rock rhythms, with accessible and recognizable lyrics in the language of today’s young people. Gérard Presgurvic’s choice of subject, as well as its transformation are captured in the following statement: “It is the most romantic and tragic piece in the history of literature. It’s hard to find a better subject for a good musical. It has all the necessary ingredients: hate, love, misunderstanding, destiny, death, wedding, freedom. Beyond all this, I tried to use this story to discover new but universally valid feelings in myself and in others”.
The production of this show was the second collaboration of the Bucharest musical institution with the Operetta and Musical Theater in Budapest (after the operetta “Merry Widow”), being part of the Open Operetta program, which involves long-term partnerships with institutions abroad, exchanges of experience and cultural residencies. Benefiting thus from the contribution of the creative team from Hungary, the Romanian version of the musical is like to the Hungarian, preserving the musical structure, choreography and costumes used in the Budapest staging, which later allowed a unique collaboration – a bilingual Romanian-Hungarian staging of the musical, with the participation of soloists from both musical institutions.
