Catchy music, amazing dances, spectacular stage scenes, stunning costumes and last but not least, transcendent acting. This is how the musical Nine, which was performed at the Budapest Operetta Theater over the weekend, can be described. We can say without exaggeration: director Zoltán Balázs dazzled the audience with a large-scale, all-arts performance that would stand its ground on any stage in the world.

Arthur Kopit and Maury Yeston's musical Nine has been known to the Hungarian audience through Rob Marshall's highly successful film. But we had to wait for the Hungarian premiere of the theater performance until last weekend. It was performed by a triple cast in the Budapest Operetta Theatre under the direction of the Jászai Mari- Prize winning Zoltán Balázs.

During the nearly three-hour performance, we fell from one amazement to another. Mainly because of the spectacular, monumental staircase, stunning costumes, catchy melodies and amazing dances.

Zoltán Balázs flew us to Folies Bergère, one of Paris’ and the World’s most famous nightclubs, while in other scenes a whole carnival cavalcade came to life on stage with various acrobats.

And when the orchestra started to play one of the most famous songs in the performance, Folies Bergère, the applause broke out. Instead of telling the story, the director focused on conveying feelings. And how well he did it! After all, in addition to evoking the age of innocence, childhood, he was able to create something very unique, very breakthrough, and show the spiritual depths and heights. Thus, we can say without exaggeration: a large-scale, all-arts production was born that would stand its ground on any stage in the world.

According to the story, Guido Contini is suffering from a creative crisis, and while he is researching the theme for his upcoming film, women who play an important role in his life surround him and tangle his life and feelings even more. The piece perfectly depicted the role these women - from the wife to the muse - played in Guido’s life, what relationship he had with each, and what he could learn from them.

Of course, Attila Dolhai, who played Guido, did not disappoint us this time either. His stage presence and singing were confident, but he was not one I was the most impressed by, but by three actresses: Ágota Siménfalvy, who played her producer, Petra Gubik, who impersonated her lover, and Anna Peller, who shaped the character of the prostitute.

They not only moved incredible energies as they sang their songs, but they also became completely one with the role. All three showed their side on stage that we could see a few times only. In addition, all the actors deserve huge recognition for learning to walk on the dangerous stair system. Plus, they were doing it in a way that made it seem as if it was easy.

We still have to talk about three things: Éva Szendrényi's unique set, Anikó Németh's costumes that fit into fashion magazines, and the catchy melodies. These are all important pillars of the performance. Several iconic hits (Cinema Italiano, Take It All, Guarda la Luna) were performed in the musical, but it became quite unique because each song had a different character: in addition to the wide-ranging lyrical songs, we also heard swing and Latin music.

Zoltán Balázs vividly portrayed the protagonist's struggles, and placed at least as much emphasis on the milieu around him. On the other hand, we can state beyond a shadow of a doubt that the abundance of sparkle, and all that we have seen on the surface, has not become forced or tasteless for a moment. But in order to decipher the deeper layers of the piece, its message, it is worth several watching. So whoever can, watch the performance in all three casts.

Gabriella Petrovics, Magyar Nemzet, 2021

Translation by Zsuzsanna Juraszek