Иван Ожогин

Иван Ожогин -- лауреат Российской национальной театральной премии "Золотая маска" -- 2013, известен петербургскому зрителю, прежде всего, как исполнитель главной роли в мюзикле «Бал Вампиров» -- коварного графа фон Кролока. На днях Иван вернулся из Берлина, где в течение нескольких месяцев исполнял партию графа в немецкой версии мюзикла «Tanz der Vampire». А 8 сентября, в день памяти жертв блокады, Иван Ожогин представит горожанам программу «Слушай, Ленинград» в Государственной Академической Капелле в сопровождении Адмиралтейского оркестра ленинградской военно-морской базы.

[@TheShahoff]

Перед просмотром "Бал вампиров" я думал,что не люблю театр(тем более мюзикл),сейчас я агитирую всех знакомых на походы в театр.Искусство-сила!

[@SinAngel210683]

я до этого ходила на "Нотер Дам Де Пари" это тоже было потрясающе, Бал вампиров шикарен. Тоже всех агетирую ))

[@Nadin140188]

I translated the beggining of the interview. Hope it will be useful for somebody. Sorry for my English) - There is a unique situation today, because we have got so many questions for you, some of them were even asked from our foreign readers. So there will be three parts of the interview: the first one will consist of questions about the musical Dance of the Vampires, the second one will be about your work as a whole and the third part will refer to your private life. - Once you said that before you started playing the part of Krolok in Berlin you had never came across with the German language. How could you prove a director of the musical to choose you for the part. What had an influence on the director mostly - your appearance, voice part or your charisma? And I’ve heard there was a mystical story about the process of casting. It was said you took part in casting at the last moment. - Yes, there are some mystical stories referring to the Dance of the Vampires. But I would call it interesting facts or conjunctions than mystical stories. So, the question is how I conquered Berlin. In fact I didn’t discuss the point with the director just because it’s inappropriate. I think I proved the director playing the part in Saint-Petersburg. Having seen the character and heard how the part made vocally, he took advice with the musical director Michael Reed and they offered me not to play the part, but try to sing an aria in German language. They wanted to know how it would sound in German, because it’s very difficult even for the Europeans (for non-German speakers) to learn and pronounce it without an accent in an understandable way. So, I’ve heard some original performances of the German artists - Jan Ammann, Kevin Tart and others and tried to simulate in the way I’ve heard it. So I made it better that other artists who pretended to the part. Evidently the stars were aligned and I was offered to play the part of Krolok in Berlin. - Ivan, in spite of the fact Russian and German directions are similar to each other, your fans notice differences between Russian and German Krolok - starting from make-up, movement, aspects of personality and so on. Russian Krolok is more lyrical, soulful, German is a real monster, cruel and arrogant. Did you feel you played two different characters? - Of course I felt the difference. And I should say in fact the directions are not so alike, the scenery is totally different, costumes and make-up are different because there is another art director in Berlin, who created all the scenery. The differences in the scenery result in new mise en scenes, new relations to your co-actor, new direction and new objects (the objects are not completely different, but they were slightly changed), which are set by the director at the same period of the stage time. Recently it was hard to switch fast from one Krolok to another in a few hours (because for example I had two performances on Sunday in Berlin and I had to play Krolok in Saint-Petersburg even on Monday), so theese two Counts have got something common. But in at the beginning there were two different Counts. - Which Krolok do you prefer personally? - I cannot choose… Of course Russian Krolok is more understandable for me. I’ve learnt the lyrics of my arias in German and I know translation, but I couldn’t learn thinking in German. I had so little time for it. Hope I will do it in the future.

[@ТамараГроховская]

Мне нравится этот талантливый певец. Всего ему доброго.

[@Nadin140188]

- Ivan, it’s known you’re a believer and confessed you had asked advice from a priest before accepting the part of Krolock. Tell honestly if the priest told you the character is too evil (Krolock says awful things such as «God is dead» and so on) would you deny playing the part? - At that moment I had a serious choice between playing the part of Krolock and keeping work with a chorus called «Bravissimo». It’s very likely I would have chosen the chorus «Bravissimo» and continued working with them. But I didn’t do so. Whatever happens, happens for the best. - It’s a question from our reader. Olga asks if Sarah could inspire something like love in Krolock? - It’s impossible to answer the question definitely, because Krolock himself would be glad Sarah had a chance to inspire such feelings in him. He hopes and wants with all his heart in plain language «to die». And he knows he won’t be able to do it every time, every year, every dance. Nevertheless he fails and stays the same who he was. And he knows it will last forever. You can imagine how deep his sorrow is. It’s impossible to play, to understand… - So, Krolock isn’t so bad character? - Yes, maybe. He is suffering character and that’s why he’s more interesting and thoughtful. You can reflect on him closely more and more. - A very fine actor Ivan Krasko once said in the interview for our newspaper that he never played bad characters because it might have influence on an actor. How has your character influenced on you? And this is a question from our reader: you have created a well-rounded image of Count von Krolock. Such bright characters start often to live theirs own life and influence on their author. Does Krolock bother you in ordinary life? - He doesn’t bother me now. If he does I will talk to him seriously. Now he helps me. - So, is there some influence of the character? - Of course, there is. - Is there any character you will definitely deny? - I don’t know such characters. It depends on who offers me it and whom I’m going to work with. - Is it true that a vampires’ fellowship exists and all the performers of Count von Krolock are keeping company and helping each other? - Well, there was no fellowship until recently. Only now we’re trying to connect with each other. Of course there is some kind of competition - who is better, who has more fans, who plays more interesting, who sings better, who looks better. I’m taking steps to connect us. I thinks all the actors, who are playing or have played Krolock, absolutely deserve the part and they’re true professionals. - Ivan, what is the story about a ring, which was gifted to you by one of the Krolock performers? Before the performance started in Saint-Petersburg I went to Germany in order to get acquainted, to discuss the part, to know about rehearsal process there and what they thought about the character (it refers to the question about the choice - to play or not to play), and to understand why there was no such problem for them - choosing between the light and dark side of the character. When I saw Drew Sarich on the stage all the questions disappeared. I understood the character was bad, evil and so on, but it was done so cool! His character was so appealing, breathtaking and truly great. And when I met Kevin Tarte in Stuttgart he presented me a ring which he had been playing with for 11 years. Unfortunately during the last month of working in Berlin when I was on the stage, I made an energetic movement and the ring slipped off my finger. I was very upset about it. But when it’s gone, it’s gone. I hope maybe somebody will see the interview in Berlin and decide to return the ring. I really set a high value on it. - Lots of fans who couldn’t see the musical in Berlin ask: wouldn’t the show continue in the future? And what are plans for the musical in Russia? It is said the performance will go on till summer 2014? - Yes, the musical will go on in Russia till September 2014 and it’s very likely it will be going on then. I don’t think the interest in the musical will be waning. Saint-Petersburg is a highly developed tourist city, there are many foreign tourists here and it’s easy to come from Moscow or other Russian cities. We’ve already mentioned some people come to see the musical several times. You can see the show many-many times, because there is a real life on the stage. You can discover something new every time, when you see the show. - What about the musical in Berlin? - It had been going on for 13 years in Germany and about 4000 performances were given in different cities around the circle - Berlin, Stuttgart, Oberhausen, Hamburg. So far it was decided to finish the show. But vampires are immortal. I think it will definitely start again somewhere in Europe - France, Germany, Austria…

[@Nadin140188]

- Now it’s a question from our reader Vika Levinskaya: «Have you made mistakes flounding Russian and German words, when you played the part of Krolok in two language in Berlin and in Saint-Petersburg? I definitely know that you sometimes put German phrases in Saint-Petersburg. Did you do the same in Berlin? - I had never sung in Russian in Berlin. - And what is the story about putting German phrases? - Oh, yes, there were small almost noteless emotional phrases, which I put automatically in cooperation with co-actors. Basically it happens in talking with Koukol, when I tell him something in an unknown language. - I saw there was a big discussion about the point on your social network page. So, Natalia asks: What do you usually say to Koukol near the Castle, when he has to escort guests. You likely say the phase in German, but it’s hard to understand. Break a secret. - I’ve never said it in German, because the phrase doesn’t have to be in German. The author wrote one word in the score - «mushnigi» - it means nothing in any language. The word belongs to a native language of people who live in the village. They say to each other «busha-busha-maga-boga», it’s like a jargon. There is a song in the original Polansky version of the musical, which is sang by the locals and called «busha-busha» itself. Then the song has been cut very much to 2-3 lines literally. So there should be a phrase in an unknown language. Sometimes I use phrases in Armenian or Ossetian languages. - So, you improvise? - Yes, I do. The main point is the phrase doesn’t have to be clear for anybody. I used to say something in Hungarian or Russian in Germany, because the Germans usually don’t know Russian. And I tried to make my words unclear, for example I could say «Пшел вон!» (it means «Get out!»). - It’s difficult to mention one more musical which is so popular like the Dance of the Vampires. I know people who have been on the show ten or more times and who is travelling around the Europe and trying to catch the performances. - I know people who’ve been about 100 times on the show only in Saint-Petersburg. - It’s high time to write about them in Guinness Book of World Records! So, what is the secret of such success? And why Krolock (who is definitely wicked character) is so popular among many people especially women of course? - Well, I think the charm of evil is so attractive because firstly it’s more interesting to play, secondly evil has many sides, many faces. Vampires’ magic has always attracts people that’s why there are a lot of movies, TV serials about vampires. It’s a favorite subject for directors especially in the cinema. Maybe the «vampires theme» is not very popular at the theatre and it’s good that the musical exists, because it’s a high quality project on any side - music, scenery, make-up, costumes - everything has been done with love, professionally, richly and it looks very well. So everything works for a result. The main character is Graf von Krolock. Initially the musical as well as the movie was done for two main characters - Alfred and Professor Abronsius. I think thanks to Steve Barton, who had started to work from the premier in Vienna (he had magnetic charisma and was very good playing the part), it were written one or two extra arias specially for Barton, so his character became principal. - You’ve played the part in Berlin about 150 times. Where do you get inspiration to keep your character’s charisma, to experience your character’s emotions on the stage? - Well, fabulous libretto and music get me the inspiration. It’s very interesting to play finding every time a new emotion, new meaning. I’m sure it’s right for every single character. It’s hard physically and psychologically working according to the «Berlin’s schedule», when you have 8 shows a week. Not every singer, who can sing his part very good, is able to sing it well every day. Having 30 performances a week is difficult. I understood it by myself. The first three months in Berlin were easy and joyful for me. In three month I understood it was hard and started to get tired. But what is difference between a non-professional singer and professional one? Non-professional singer singes if can and doesn’t sing if he cannot. Professional singer singes in any case.

[@НахКозлов]

Почему Кролок, Призрак Оперы Дракула, Алукард, Джокер и т.п. притягателены? Почему, почему... Потому что антагонистов в 70% подают в: 1 красивом оформлении. 2 сильной харизмой. Согласитесь, если бы граф был с внешностью Куколя (верно?) или первого Носферато, то навряд ли он стал оплотом девичих грёз, при этом как бы Иван Ожогин прекрасно исполнял бы свою партию; какой девушке захочится увидеть в своей ванной Куколя и пойти с ним, даже, если Куколь будет заливаться аки соловей и обещать долгой любви?

[@SinAngel210683]

на немецком просто роскошно, мне больше понравилось ))

[@SinAngel210683]

Интересно, по роли Воланда - это ж СОТОНА он тоже с попом советовался? ((( Хотя он как то съехал с этой темы )) Жаль, конечно, если Иван православный.

[@nadiablohina2032]

сатана

[@notredamedeparisfantt]

Он вроде об этом говорил