Lucy Simon, the composer of the “Doctor Zhivago” musical, visited Białystok last weekend. She spent the Saturday and Sunday evenings in the audience of Podlasie Opera and Philharmonic. The effect completely surpassed her expectations.

“I didn’t even realise the vastness of the production here,” przyznała Lucy Simon. “It is miraculous, perfect, it allowed me to fully understand the power of that novel, which I did not yet completely felt while writing the musical.”

The composer was astounded by the performance of the song “On The Edge Of Time” with choreography by Jarosław Staniek, that uses movement of two tancers to add layers to the story, showing the passion, affection, romantism. She also praised the interpretation of the “Women And Little Children,” opening the 2nd act of the musical.

So far, “Doctor Zhivago” premiered in Sydney/Australia (2011), Seoul/North Korea (2012) and Broadway (2015). The productions were not fortunate:

“That was a brilliant material, but completely ruined,” Daniel Wyszogrodzki does not beat around the bush. He translated the libretto to Polish and had a major contribution to convincing the team from Białystok to give chance to the title.

“Earlier productions were not too good. When I heard my music in Białystok, it took my breath away. I thought I can die now,” said Simon. “All my dreams as an author came true and every prior disappointment was rewarded.”

See the extensive photodocumentation of Lucy Simon’s visit in Białystok on our photoblog OPERA_SPACE.

“Doktor Żywago” comes back February 2019. The tickets are already on sale.