Premiere of Karafiát´s Fireflies in Denmark
17.04.2015 / 13:27
(This article expired 24.04.2015.)
On 23 April 2015 the premiere of the children´s musical The Fireflies will take place in the presence of distinguished guests in the Høst Hall in the Danish town of Hadbjerg. The piece was created during the Second World War under difficult conditions in the deportation camp Theresienstadt and is based on the children's book of the same name by the Czech author Jan Karafiát with the use of Czech national songs.
After the war, the musical´s libretto was lost. However, Ms. Lauren B. McConnell put the text together from the archive materials and memories of living witnesses and Mr. José-Luis Maúrtua reconstructed the music part. The musical in its new form was presented by students of Central Michigan University in the USA.
Ms. Elisabeth Clark decided to stage the renewed performance also in Denmark after her sister Karla had translated Karafiát´s book into Danish. The first copies of this Danish translation will be presented at the premiere of the musical in Hadbjerg.
Among the distinguished guests will be not only the Minister of Defence of Denmark Nicolai Wammen, Ambassador of the Czech Republic Jiří Brodský and the representative of the US Embassy in Denmark Emily Ronek, but also witnesses from Theresienstadt, Lauren B. McConnell from the United States and personalities of political and cultural life in Jutland.
The public premiere will take place on 4 and 5 May 2015 in the Høst Hall of Hadbjerg.
More information about the musical The Fireflies