''Nord-Ost'' (russian: Норд-Ост, means "North-East" in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

) is a Russian

musical theatre Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movemen ...

production that was composed by

Aleksei Ivaschenko Aleksei Igorevich Ivaschenko (russian: Алексей Игоревич Иващенко, born 12 May 1958 in Moscow) and Georgy Leonardovich Vasilyev (russian: Георгий Леонардович Васильев, born 22 June 1957 in Zaporizhi ...

and

Georgii Vasilyev Aleksei Igorevich Ivaschenko (russian: Алексей Игоревич Иващенко, born 12 May 1958 in Moscow) and Georgy Leonardovich Vasilyev (russian: Георгий Леонардович Васильев, born 22 June 1957 in Zaporizhi ...

, based on the novel ''

The Two Captains ''The Two Captains'' (russian: Два Капитана) is a novel written by Soviet author Veniamin Kaverin between 1938 and 1944. It is Kaverin's best known work and is considered one of the most popular works of Soviet literature, winning the ...

'' by

Veniamin Kaverin Veniamin Aleksandrovich Kaverin (russian: link=no, Вениами́н Алекса́ндрович Каве́рин; Вениами́н А́белевич Зи́льбер (Veniamin Abelevich Zilber); , Pskov – May 2, 1989, Moscow) was a Sov ...

. It is a fictional story based around the historical events surrounding the discovery of the

Severnaya Zemlya Severnaya Zemlya (russian: link=no, Сéверная Земля́ (Northern Land), ) is a archipelago in the Russian high Arctic. It lies off Siberia's Taymyr Peninsula, separated from the mainland by the Vilkitsky Strait. This archipelago ...

archipelago in 1913. The musical was first staged on October 19, 2002 in the Dubrovka theatre, where it played over 400 performances. The play celebrates the Russian soldiers who fought in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. In the 1990s Georgy Vasiliyev saw ''

Les Misérables ''Les Misérables'' ( , ) is a French historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published in 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. In the English-speaking world, the novel is usually referred to by its origin ...

'' in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. He felt inspired to take theatre to Russia. He tried to buy the rights to ''Les Misérables'' but did not succeed, so he decided to start a homegrown Russian production. He spent funds to convert a former ball-bearing factory "culture hall" into a modern theatre. He spent $4 million

U.S. dollar The United States dollar ( symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

s, making the play the most expensive theatre project in the history of Russia. The tickets were 15 U.S. dollars each, making them relatively expensive. Vasiliyev showed his financiers a marketing study stating that 30% of Moscow's population fit the profile audience that would be willing to pay for the production, due to changing sensibilities and increasing incomes. The Russian theatre community had a prejudice against this kind of play. Peter Baker and

Susan Glasser Susan B. Glasser (born January 14, 1969) is an American journalist and news editor. She writes the online column "Letter from Biden’s Washington" in ''The New Yorker'', where she is a staff writer. She is the author, with her husband Peter Bak ...

said that the Russian theatre community "considered the concept the thespian version of

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hambur ...

."Baker, Peter and Susan Glasser. ''Kremlin Rising: Vladimir Putin's Russia and the End of Revolution''.

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest publi ...

, 2005
158
Retrieved from

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on November 15, 2011. Vasiliyev said "Nord-Ost was a sort of protest against tarnishing our history, against not believing in your own strength, against all this pervasive, depressing, ugly stuff in mass media. ''Nord-Ost'' is the opposite. It's a romantic story about family. It's a story that elevates us and our history. It's a story that enables us to look at our history not as the history of class struggle, wars, and repressions, but a history of people and personal achievements." On October 23, 2002 Chechen

terrorists Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

took the audience hostage in the

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

theater that was showing the production of ''Nord-Ost'', threatening to blow up the building and demanding withdrawal of Russian troops from

Chechnya Chechnya ( rus, Чечня́, Chechnyá, p=tɕɪtɕˈnʲa; ce, Нохчийчоь, Noxçiyçö), officially the Chechen Republic,; ce, Нохчийн Республика, Noxçiyn Respublika is a republic of Russia. It is situated in the ...

. Most of the hostages were released after the theatre was stormed by special forces. 130 hostages died from

poison gas Many gases have toxic properties, which are often assessed using the LC50 (median lethal dose) measure. In the United States, many of these gases have been assigned an NFPA 704 health rating of 4 (may be fatal) or 3 (may cause serious or perma ...

used by Russian special forces; "Nord-Ost” lost 17 members of the team, including 2 child actors aged 13 (Kristina Kurbatova and Arsenii Kurilenko) and one third of all musicians in the orchestra. The producer Georgii Vasilyev had himself been among the hostages.Moscow musical fights back
BBC, 30 October 2002 After the attack, ''Nord-Ost'' returned to the same theater stage in Moscow on February 8, 2003 and continued showing there until May 10, 2003, when the producers took it off the stage, blaming a lack of audience interest on fears caused by the attack.

References

External links

Nord-Ost. Memorial Book of Lost Hostages. Detailed site in Russian & English, winner of 2007 'Golden Site' award.

Nord-ost official site

Nord-ost official site
{{in lang, ru
More versions about Nord-Ost hostage crisis

- article on The Moscow Times (subscription only) 2001 musicals Moscow theater hostage crisis Music in Moscow Severnaya Zemlya Arctic in fiction Russian musicals Musicals based on novels

See also

References

External links