Get ready for gigs, shows and movies coming this fall
It looks like autumn in Kyiv is going to be pretty hot. But of course, that’s only if you don’t stay home, and try not to miss any of the outstanding entertainments expected in the coming months. So don’t hesitate and make plans for the coming season – just pick the events you like best from those listed below. Trust me – there is a lot to see.
Thank you for the music
The concert season in Kyiv will be started by Italian singer Zucchero, coming to Kyiv Sept. 12. The artist behind the sugary rock-pop hits “Baila Morena,” “Senza Una Donna,” and “Diamante,” already visited Ukraine’s capital in 1999, as one of the headliners of the rock fest RockKyiv. Now, eight years on, Zucchero and his band will drop by while touring to promote his latest album, “Fly,” released last September. The plate features already known European hits “Bacco Perbacco,” “Cuba Libre,” “Occhi,” and “Un Kilo,” and features collaborations with artists such as Ivano Fossati and Jovanotti. Zucchero’s music is largely inspired by gospel, blues and rock music, and alternates between ballads and more rhythmic boogie-like pieces.
However, those who like heavier and less mainstream music get a special treat this autumn – three mega concerts by British alternative rock band Muse, German teenage stars Tokio Hotel, and electronic duo The Chemical Brothers, are coming to play Kyiv for the first time.
The German stars Tokio Hotel will pop in on the Ukrainian capital Sept. 25. The average age of the band members, who include vocalist Bill Kaulitz (a boy who looks like a girl), Tom Kaulitz, Georg Listing, and Gustav Schafer – was 16 at the time their debut album, “Schrei,” released in 2005. That same year, Tokio Hotel was named the major new artist of year on the German stage and quickly grew into one of the most successful bands of Germany. At the show, expect hits from the first, as well as the second album, “Room 483,” which has German and English versions.
British rock-trio Muse already played Russia five years ago, and this autumn will play there again, while Ukraine will get to hear the band live for the first time. Sure to be one of the most anticipated shows this fall, Muse will make an appearance Oct. 13 at Palats Sportu. Having received an MTV Award for Best Alternative Group in 2006, Muse – made up of vocalist Matthew Bellamy, drummer Dominic Howard and bass-guitarist Chris Wolstenholme – continues touring in support of their latest album “Black Holes and Revelations.” During last year, Matthew Bellamy & Co was touring together with My Chemical Romance and gave smash shows all around the world, and now it’s time for Kyivans to revise the lyrics of their favorite Muse songs.
British electronic duet The Chemical Brothers belongs to the most notable figures on the modern electronic music scene, however their Oct. 18 show at Palats Sportu is sure to attract more than just their fans. After all, the Brothers are known by everyone who takes an interest in good music. Influenced by various cult bands, from Public Enemy to My Bloody Valentine, and using elements of funk, hip-hop, house and brit-pop, The Chemical Brothers founded their own style, called Big Beat. Ukraine was lucky enough to be included on the schedule of their European tour, in support the new album “We Are the Night.”
The authors of mega hit “Ticket to the Moon,” legendary band Electric Light Orchestra, are coming with a full-scale Ukrainian tour this October, dubbed “Electric Light Orchestra PART II,” which includes five Ukrainian cities: Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Odessa, Kharkiv and Kyiv.
Italian singer and composer Toto Cutugno, coming to perform Nov. 23 at Palats Ukrayina, is sure to be warmly received by those who come from the 80s generation of the former Soviet Union, since that’s when he enjoyed his biggest popularity. Many Italian singers were popular in Ukraine at the time. However, no one was loved more then Toto, and he remains the most well remembered up to now.
As if to ensure that the autumn program will indeed suit various tastes, The World Famous Glenn Miller Orchestra will arrive to perform at Palats Ukrayina Nov. 24. The true lovers of jazz are to be enchanted by a musical show featuring absolute classics: “Moonlight Serenade,” “Kalamazoo,” “American Patrol,” “Don’t Sit under the Apple Tree,” “Pennsylvania 6-5000,” and others. The orchestra, lead by Will Salden, is presently the most popular big band of its kind in the world, for both its live performances and swing dance engagements. The World Famous Glenn Miller Orchestra carries the name of its founder, trombonist, composer and simply genius arranger Glenn Miller, one of the biggest selling jazz musicians of America, who has become the personification of the word jazz music for several generations. The present Glenn Miller Orchestra was formed in 1956 and has been touring ever since, playing an average of 300 live dates a year all around the world.
Another outstanding concert – the one by Columbian pop-diva Shakira – was announced for Sept. 13. However, whether there was a mistake with the date, or the organizers failed to negotiate with Shakira’s management, the show seems to have been cancelled. A pity…
Zucchero Sept. 12
Arena Entertainment (2A Baseyna, 492-00-00)
Tokio Hotel Sept. 25
Muse Oct. 13
The Chemical Brothers Oct. 18
Palats Sportu (1 Sportyvna Ploshcha, 246-7406)
ELO Oct. 6
Toto Cutugno Nov. 23
Glenn Miller Orchestra Nov. 24
Palats Ukrayina (103 Chervonoarmiyska, 247-2444)
Movie time
Naturally quite a few surprises are awaiting film buffs this autumn as well. A French film very loosely based on the life of Moliere, starring Romain Duris, Fabrice Luchini and Ludivine Sagnier, will start showing Sept. 6. A witty, boisterous and hugely entertaining costume film, “Moliere” boasts excellent performances and exquisite production and dialogue that blends the language of today with the stilted inflections of 17th century high society. It offers further fun for Moliere fans that can spot many of the films situations and lines of dialogue from two of the writer’s later plays, “The Bourgeois Gentleman” and “Tartuffe.”
On Sept. 13 French biopic “La Vie En Rose” will premier. Originally called “La Mome” (French for The Kid), “La Vie En Rose” is the title for English-speaking territories. The film, directed by Olivier Dahan, is based on the life of singer Edith Piaf. The leading part is played by Marion Cotillard, and her co-stars include Gerard Depardieu, Sylvie Testud, Emmanuelle Seigner, and Pascal Greggory. “La Vie En Rose” presents fragments depicting Piaf’s life in different periods, which may enrage historical purists, but enables those of us who have little prior knowledge of the legendary singer to get a broad outline of her life quickly.
“Hairspray,” the film adaptation of the Tony Award-winning 2002 Broadway musical of the same name, is itself adapted from John Waters’ 1988 comedy. Set in 1962 Baltimore, the movie follows a sweet plump girl named Tracy Turnblad as she pursues stardom as a dancer on a local TV show and rallies against racial segregation. So far, the most amazing element of the movie seems to be the performance by John Travolta as Tracie’s mother.
Admirers of Japanese anime master Hayao Miyazaki should get to the cinemas on Sept. 20. “Kaze no tani no Naushika” (“Nausica of the Valley of the Winds”) is not his new work, but a retrospective. The cartoon was made in 1984 – by then Miyazake was already well known in Japan for his anime work in film, TV, and for the comic strip that this film was based upon. However it was the first work that allowed him to fully spread his wings. There are fantastic aerial sequences like the jet-glider evading the flying snakes, which are a tour-de-force of imagination and geometry. As a genre, it can be classified as soft sci-fi rather than fantasy, though some might think it more of the latter.
The fans of horror – and especially of one of its major heroes, Michael Myers – should get prepared for the newest remake of “Halloween,” delivered to us by famous rocker and director Rob Zombie and coming to local theaters Oct. 25. Zombie, a big fan of the original “Halloween” (1978) by John Carpenter, intended to reinvent Michael Myers, because in his opinion, the character, along with Freddy Krueger, Jason Voorhees and Pinhead, have become way to familiar to audiences, and as a result, less scary. The idea behind the new film was to delve deeper into the maniac’s story, give the young Michael real charisma, which would be projected onto the psychopathic adult. The film will star Malcolm McDowell, Sheri Moon Zombie, Tyler Mane, Brad Dourif and others.
Shall we dance?
If you’re fascinated by Spanish flamenco dancing, don’t miss the chance to see the performance of Thomas de Madrid on Oct. 1. Thomas de Madrid’s Flamenco Theater will give only one and show in Kyiv during his European tour “Road of Dance.”
Festival Dances of the World 2007 will give you a chance to enjoy the world’s most famous dancing techniques. The fest, taking place on Oct. 12, will demonstrate the history and origins of flamenco, belly dancing, salsa, tango, and ballet. Twenty leading Ukrainian and foreign troupes will take part, presenting their own dance programs: Ukrainian, Korean, Irish, Georgian, gipsy, Latin American, American, Spanish, Argentinean, Chinese, Indian, Greek, Brazilian, African and others. Special guests of the Dances of the World 2007 festival are the break dance group Antishock (absolute Champions of the CIS).
Irish show Rhythm of the Dance will take place on Oct. 20, presenting a synthesis of music, dances, and theatrical action, in which traditional folk rhythms are surprisingly combined with modern beats. This two-hour dance and music extravaganza is an inspiring epic, reliving the journey of the Irish Celts throughout history. Since its debut performance in 1999 on a stage in Norway, Rhythm of the Dance has played to over three million fans in 33 countries worldwide and has heralded a new era in Irish entertainment.
Those who especially like ballet – including the ultra modern kind – shouldn’t miss the first premiere of the season at Tarasa Shevchenko National Academic Opera and Ballet Theater. On Sept. 28 it will present the new onstage interpretation of Mikhail Bulgakov’s masterpiece novel “Master and Margarita” as a phantasmagoria ballet.
“Master and Margarita” Sept. 28
Tarasa Shevchenko National Theater of Opera and Ballet (50 Volodymyrska, 234-7165)
“Road of Dance” Flamenco Theater Oct. 1
Rhythm of the Dance Oct. 20
Zhovtneviy Palats (1 Instytutska, 279-1582)
Dances of the World – 2007 Oct. 12
Dim Ofitseriv (30/1 Hrushevskoho, 253-8072)
Festivals galore
Zhovten theater will host Ars Electronica Animation Festival 2007 on Sept. 8. The festival will present an open meeting of international experts in arts and sciences with a broad audience of highly diverse backgrounds and interests. The works from 63 countries were submitted to the 2007 Prix Ars Electronica, entered by industry pros as well as artists and students from around the world. These are films that tell their stories in very individualized ways, well-suited to the medium being used. The works cast a spotlight on society, entertain us in intelligent ways, and demonstrate the power of the illusion of motion pictures. Nearly 1,500 curators of the 2007 Ars Electronica Animation Festival have put together 10 programs that, for the first time, will be screened simultaneously in Linz, at the Museumsquartier in Vienna and in Kyiv as well. The Manhattan Short Film Festival will take place in seven cities of Ukraine (Kyiv, Kharkiv, Donetsk, Lviv, Odessa, Dnipropetrovsk and Poltava) between Sep. 28 and 30. It is the most interactive festival of shorts in the world, at which the best work is chosen by viewers, by direct vote. Action covers an audience of three continents: Eurasia, North and South America. Sept. 7-14, cultural complex Mystetskiy Arsenal and “Dakh” Center of Contemporary Art present an audio-visual-theatre-literature-philosophic art project GogolFest, dedicated to the bicentenary of Mykola Gogol. The first stage of GogolFest, “Gogol Project,” will take place at Art Arsenal and will include the visual “Gogol.Portrait” project, the theatrical “Gogol’s Death” performance and music programs.
GogolFest
Mystetskiy Arsenal (30 Sichnevoho Povstannya) Sept. 7-14
Ars Electronica Animation Festival 2007 from Sept. 9
Zhovten (26 Kostyantynivska, 205-5951)
The Manhattan Short Film Festival Sept. 28-30
Kyiv (19 Chervonoarmiyska, 251-2199)
