“The Knights of the Cross by the Pond”

Outstanding singers and actors, live rock music, gloomy black and white scenery mixed with modern choreography. All that, combined with lasers, hovercrafts, jet skis and firework displays from the surface of the water, is to be seen on Tuesday, 3rd of May by the Jelcz Pond.

Jelcz-Laskowice Extraordinary show

At 21.00 the premiere of the musical show “The Knights of Cross” will take place on the open-air stage by the pond. A first in many years Polish rock-opera, based on themes from Henryk Sinkiewicz’s novel. Set in the natural scenery of the Jelcz pond, it promises unforgettable effects. The audience will enjoy two hours of heavy rock, including the biggest Polish stars. The performances will be accompanied by visual effects. It is a show, where pride meets history, passion and love.

The idea to stage “The Knights of the Cross” in Jelcz-Laskowice came from Łukasz Dudkowski, the director of the Regional Culture Centre. - I have always been fascinated by rock-opera, starting from :Jesus Christ Superstar” starring Mark Piekarczyk, leader of the band TSA, as Jesus. As soon as I found out, that something like that is being prepared, I contacted the director of the play and proposed staging the show here. It worked!

The premiere of the rock-opera took place in December 2010, in the Congress Hall in Warsaw. Marcin Kołaczkowski was the author of the screenplay and the director, Adrian Filip Tabęcki was the composer, and Jacek Korczakowski- the author of the lyrics. There will be about 50 artists on stage by the Jelcz pond. The main roles were given to well known Polish musicians such as: Paweł Kukiz, lead singer of “Piersi”in the role of Konrad von Jungingen, Maciej Balcar from “Dżem” as Jurand from Spychów, Piotr Cugowski as king Wladyslaw Jagiello, Maciej Silski, winner of the show “Idol” will play the part of Zbyszko of Bogdaniec, and the role of his lover-Danusia, will be played by Olga Szomańska, winner of the show "Szansa na Sukces”, who worked with Piotr Rubik and sang the hit “Niech mówią, że to nie jest miłość.” Jagienka of Zgorzelice’s lines will be sung by Joanna Dec, known from the show “Śpiewaj i tańcz”. Apart from the 13 singers, we will also see the live band “Freedom”which consists of musicians known for their cooperation with the Lipnicka and Porter duo, Lady Pank and Natalia Kukulska, among others. Dancers from the group "Art Color Ballet” will also appear on stage. - It’s going to be a great performance- guarantees Łukasz Dudkowski.

The musicians will have a huge stage-12 by 17 metres. The audience will also be able to watch the event on two outdoor screens. The whole thing will be kept in a gloomy, black and white, rock style. The actors will be dressed in modern costumes. The knights- in white suits, the Poles and Lithuanians- in military boots and jeans. The narration will be done by Krzysztof Kolberger. The creators of the rock opera instantly thought he would be a person who can read Sienkiewicz’s prose beautifully. That was the actor’s last big role before his death following a long, hard battle with cancer.

The tickets for the rock-opera can be purchased at the Regional Culture Centre on Partyzantów Square for the price of 50 PLN, and at the price of 60 PLN in Empik stores and the website www.e-bilet.pl.

Malwina Gadawa
malwina@gazeta.olawa.pl

Source: http://gazeta-olawa.pl/artykul-2921-krzyzacy-nad-stawem.html